| EMPLOYMENT BASED PERMANENT RESIDENCY |
| 3 Basic Steps to Employment-Based Green Cards
Many companies choose to apply for permanent residency (i.e. “green cards”) on behalf of their employees as a way of increasing their employee retention rates.
There are three basic steps to employment-based permanent residency petitions:
Step One: Labor Certification
§ Labor Certification is a procedure done through the United States Department of Labor whereby it is determined that there are no United States workers “ready, willing, and able” to fill the position. Labor Certification is not necessary if the employment-based permanent residency petition is based on a first preference filing category. The Labor Certification if filed through an online filing system called 'PERM.'
Step Two: The Petition
§ The Employer files the Employment-Based Green Card Petition with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service.
Step Three: Adjustment of Status
§ The Employee files an Adjustment of Status Application with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service upon approval of the Employer’s petition. Concurrent filing of the Employer petition and the Adjustment of Status petition is now available in cases where for filing categories where there is no quota backlog.
Overview of Employment-Based Filing Categories
The employment-based filing categories are all subject to yearly quota limits. As such, often advantages exist between the various filing categories due to quota backlogs. The State Department publishes a monthly “Visa Bulletin” which lists the status of the various categories (i.e. which ‘priority dates’ are current).
The categories are as follows:
EB1
§ Persons of Extraordinary Ability in the Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics
§ Outstanding Professors and Researchers
§ Multinational Executives and Managers
Please note, Labor Certification is not necessary if the permanent residency filing is based on the EB1 filing category.
EB2
§ Workers with Advanced Degrees
§ Workers with Exceptional Ability in the Sciences, Arts, or Business
EB3 § Skilled Workers and Professionals
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