Family relationships can sometimes lead to permanent residency in the United States. Generally, the relationship is limited to spouse, parent, child, sister or brother, and is dependent upon whether the petitioner is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. Unfortunately, the wait for some categories can take more than 10 years. You can check the U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for current wait times for each category.

A U.S. citizen who petitions for a spouse or parent has the shortest waiting period, generally determined by the processing time at the local office that handles the case. Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens historically have had the longest waiting period.

A fiancé visa is available for future spouses of U.S. citizens. This visa will allow the future bride or groom to enter the U.S. in order to marry the U.S. citizen. The visa is not available to persons residing in the United States.

EMPLOYMENT BASED IMMIGRATION

We provide service on a wide range of employment – based immigration matters, both non-immigrant and immigrant . We regularly work with individuals in the fields of engineering, education, nurses, fine arts, performance arts, circus arts, and Ph.D level scientific research.

NonImmigrant Procedures for Temporary Work Authorization

Extraordinary Aliens (O visa). Scientists as well as performers often qualify for this temporary visa.

Professionals:

H-1B Visa . This visa is the most common visa issued for work authorization in the United States. Individuals with college degrees or substantial experience in a professional field may qualify.  

TN Visa. This visa is available only to citizens of Canada and Mexico. Although many persons who qualify for an H visa would also qualify for a TN visa, there are significant differences.

Entertainers and Athletes (P and Q visas). Whether you perform in a packed concert hall or stadium, or give cultural demonstrations at a museum, this visa is available to fill flexible needs.

Intracompany transfers (L visa). The United States encourages people with businesses in their home country to expand to the United States in the same or different business.

Investors and Traders (E visa). This visa is available for an individual whose home country has a treaty with the US who invest in a US company or engage in international trade.

Trainees. The J and the H visa are available to trainees. The J visa requires a sponsoring organization, and the H visa requires a verifiable trainee program. While the J trainee program is common, the H trainee is much less useful due to the restrictions of the category.

Please note that spouses and children may accompany principal visa holders on related visas.

Immigrant Procedures for Permanent Residency (“Green Card”)

Labor Certification. This is the most common procedure to obtain permanent residency through employment. In March of 2005, a new procedure ( PERM) streamlined this process and made it more uniform throughout the United States. Tenure-track and permanent position professors and instructors have the benefit of a “Special Handling” procedure whereby permanent residency may be obtained by a less complicated procedure than for other labor certification applications.

Extraordinary Alien Petitions. Artists, entertainers, athletes, and research scientists are fields where individuals often are successful in obtaining permanent residency through this category. We have a very successful track record with processing these applications for members of these communities. Individuals in this category may self-petition or be sponsored by an employer.

Outstanding Professors and Researchers. This category is similar to that of Extraordinary Alien but has less difficult qualifications to meet, and may not be self-petitioned.

National Interest Waiver. This category allows an individual to file for residence without labor certification if his work is in the national interest of the United States.

Nurses and Physical Therapists. This category is pre-certified. The result is that permanent residency applications are processed very swiftly.

Priority Workers. Special provisions are made for intracompany transfers and religious workers to obtain permanent residency based upon the work that they perform.