THERE are 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas available yearly and these employment-based immigrant visa are divided into five preference categories: Priority Workers (E1); Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability (E-2); Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Unskilled Workers (Other Workers) (E-3); Certain Special Immigrants (E-4); and Immigrant Investors (E-5).
There are several steps for employment-based immigrant petitions. A labor certification (PERM) is the first step for an E-2 (unless with a national interest waiver) and E-3 employment immigrant petitions. This is filed with the Department of Labor (DOL). Most applicants fall in these two categories. There is no labor certification requirement for the three (3) other categories: E-1. E-4 and E-5.
After the petitioning employer has conducted a series of recruitment activities to test the labor market, the employer can file a PERM labor certification application with the DOL. If approved, the DOL will certify to the USCIS that there is no US worker able, willing, qualified, and available to accept the job offered to the alien worker.
Thereafter, the petitioning employer must file the I-140, Immigration Petition for Alien Worker, with the USCIS before the expiration of the labor certification.
If the I-140 is approved and the priority date (established during the filing of the labor certification applications, if applicable), the alien worker can file an I-485, Application to Adjust Status to Permanent Resident (commonly called a “green card”) if the alien is physically in the US. If the alien is outside of the US, the National Visa Center (NVC) will notify the alien to commence the consular processing of the immigrant visa. Spouse and minor children (under 21 years old) of the alien worker may apply for immigrant visa with the worker.
Because there are numerical limitations for each preference categories as earlier stated, the waiting period for each category is different. Under the January 2016 visa bulletin released by the Department of State, E-2 petitions for those aliens whose country of chargeability is “Philippines” is CURRENT. Therefore, the alien can simultaneously file the I-485 application with the I-140 application. On the hand, E-3 petitions under the same visa bulletin have an eight (8) year waiting period because only those EB3 petitions with a priority date of November 1, 2007 (Philippines) are currently being processed.
If you are contemplating of filing any immigrant or non-immigration application, it is advisable to seek the counsel of an immigration lawyer to guide you on the intricacies of filing for such a petition.
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Atty. Gwendolyn Malaya-Santos is a member of the State Bar of California and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. To schedule for a free initial in-person consultation, please call Tel. Nos. (213) 284-5984 or (626) 329-8215. Atty. Santos’ office is located at 3450 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1200-105, Los Angeles, CA 90010.
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Information contained in this article does not, nor is it intended to, constitutes legal advice for any specific situation and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. It likewise does not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.
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