Individuals who intend to reside indefinitely in the United States and work freely in any field, must obtain a "Permanent Resident Card of the United States" commonly known as "Green Card".
A green card can be obtained through different classification categories that reflect the interest that the United States has to accommodate the applicant; this means that the higher categories will require important professional profiles, but it will also facilitate the process of the foreign individual to enter the United States.
The EB-1 classification has the advantage of leading to a green card without the need for a sponsor.
This visa is for:
Individuals with extraordinary abilities;
Multinational Executives;
Outstanding University Professors and Exceptional Researchers.
Any field of application can be included in this category.
To obtain a green card under this category, it will be necessary to demonstrate to have obtained an award of absolute level in a field, or to demonstrate extraordinary abilities in other ways.
Therefore, the award of absolute level is sufficient itself. However, if such award is missing, it will still be possible to demonstrate extraordinary abilities by presenting alternative evidence, substantially identical to those required for the O-1 visa. In this case, however, the evaluation criteria will be more stringent than the ones used in the O-1 visa, and to obtain a green card it will be necessary to produce particularly convincing evidence.
The EB-1 classification also applies to managers or executives to be transferred within the same company, from an office abroad, to a branch, subsidiary or affiliate in the United States. However, it is essential that during the three years prior to the visa application, the applicant has worked continuously for at least one year for the company abroad and has held executive or managerial functions.
The similarity of the EB-1 classification for multinational managers with the L visa is evident. The main practical difference is that, for purposes of EB-1, the U.S. office must already be substantially operative, and not in a start-up phase (which is possible under the L visa). Obviously, there is also a basic difference in the approach between the two visas, since the L visa is a nonimmigrant visa, and the EB-1 classification allows obtaining a green card for permanent residents.
NOTE: it is often stated that the L visa is a necessary requirement prior to apply for a green card through the EB-1 classification as a Multinational Manager. This statement does not correspond to the truth. Although the chances of obtaining an EB-1 are higher where an L visa has already been renewed, it is possible to request directly a green card through the EB-1 procedure. The two (2) visas are independent.
The EB-1 classification for university professors requires at least three years of experience in teaching or researching in a particular academic field, along with proof of a formal international recognition for exceptional achievements in the same field. Unlike other EB-1 categories, this classification requires a full-time job offer from a higher education institution in the United States.
Family Members of the Applicant:
Spouse and unmarried children under 21, can apply for permanent residence by using the applicant’s petition. Obviously, once the green card is obtained, it will be possible, after the appropriate period of time, to apply for US citizenship.
EB-2 is a visa to obtain residence in the U.S. for professionals with an advanced or doctorate degree and for individuals with exceptional skills, superior than those normally present in their field. To note how the U.S. Immigration Department considers exceptional skills as a concept that is legally different from the extraordinary capabilities of EB-1. It is possible to include different types of workers in this category, such as architects, doctors, engineers, lawyers and teachers working in primary, secondary, high school or university.
There are three different EB-2 visa categories:
EB2-A: for professionals in possession of a master's degree or other higher education obtained in the United States, as long as they have already received a job offer from a company in the United States;
EB2-B: for individuals with exceptional skills in science, business or art, as long as they have already received a job offer from a company in the United States;
EB2-C o EB2-NIW: for individuals with exceptional abilities, it can be demonstrated that their activity will be of great benefit to the relevant interests for the United States. In this case, the applicants will not necessarily have received a job offer from a U.S. company. This procedure is called "National Interest Waiver".
The EB2 category has much longer timelines and a more complex structure compared to the EB-1. However, it is faster than the EB-3 procedure.
Both the EB-3 category and the EB-2 require completion of the labor certification process (c.d. PERM) that will certify that there is no resident of the United States with the necessary qualifications for the job for which the green card is required.
The structure of EB2 and EB3 is substantially similar, with different timelines for approval.
Both EB categories include the following phases. Each phase can only start after the previous one has been successful:
Request to the United States Department of Labor to issue the prevailing wage (minimum salary level) for the position for which a work visa is requested;
Complex phase of advertisements and evaluation of the credentials/resumes (if received) by individuals other than the applicant;
Petition for the foreign worker;
Green Card application.
The EB-2 procedure is extremely complex and can be denied even due to typing or calculation errors. It is a process that must be established properly from the very first stages or the chances of obtaining the green card will drastically decrease.
Spouse and unmarried children under 21, can apply for permanent residence by using the applicant’s petition. Obviously, once the green card is obtained, it will be possible, after the appropriate period, to apply for U.S. citizenship.
EB-3 classification represents another permanent visa category for those individual who do not have a sufficiently structured academic profile to apply for an EB-1 or EB-2 visa. In fact, the requirements for an EB-3 are less strict and allow almost any type of worker to be included in this category. However, waiting times are longer compared to the other EB categories.
The process is the same as for the EB-2 classification. Therefore, please refer to the EB-2 category section for more information.
Spouse and unmarried children under 21, can apply for permanent residence by using the applicant’s petition. Obviously, once the green card is obtained, it will be possible, after the appropriate period, to apply for US citizenship.
This classification is intended for workers who wish to reside permanently in the United States to work in particular fields, such as religious, consular, medical, military, etc. There is a limit of ten thousand visas per year for this category, but it is generally never reached. For this category, a labor certification (PERM) is not required.
The EB-5 visa is for entrepreneurs and investors who wish to invest at least five hundred thousand dollars, or one million dollars in a business that will create at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. residents. The amount of investment required depends on the geographical area in which the jobs will be created. It is also very important to note that the investment can also be a passive one. Particularly, instead of creating a business from scratch, it is possible to invest five hundred thousand dollars in a specific project already started and certified for the EB-5 program. Such projects are created and sponsored by Regional Centers. These passive investments, however, will generate a profit through the interest that is recognized by the EB-5 project in which the capital investment is disbursed.
Spouse and unmarried children under 21, can apply for permanent residence by using the applicant’s petition. Obviously, once the green card is obtained, it will be possible, after the appropriate period, to apply for U.S. citizenship.
