Immigration to the United States can be divided into
two main categories, Immigrant and Non Immigrant.
IMMIGRANT
Immigrant Visa means permanent residence which is
commonly referred to as the Green Card@. The two main
ways of obtaining permanent residence are through close
family members filing for the applicant or sponsorship
by a business. The family sponsors must be permanent
residents or U.S. Citizens depending on which
Immigration category the relationship to the non
resident applies.
A business may sponsor someone through a Labor
Certification process which requires the business to go
through a marketing process to determine that there are
no available U.S. workers for the position.
In addition, Permanent Residence may be obtained via a
multinational transfer or by investing a million dollars
into a business and having ten full time employees
working in the business. A small group of people may be
entitled to permanent residence if he or she is an alien
of extraordinary ability where their qualifications are
so high that the U.S. would benefit from having them
live and work in the country.
NON IMMIGRANT
A Non Immigrant visa is one which is temporary. This is
generally a visa for visiting or working. There are many
types of non immigrant work visas. Some of the most
popular are the E-2 investor visa, the L-1 Intra company
transfer visa, and the H-1B specialty worker visa.
E-2 TREATY INVESTOR VISA
In order to qualify for an E-2 Investor Visa the
applicant most be a national of a country that is a
member of a requisite treaty with the United States that
permits the nationals of the country to apply for E-2
status. Most Western European countries are members of
the necessary treaties.
The applicant must be investing a substantial amount of
money into the United States. The person must be coming
to the U.S. to direct and control the enterprise. The
business should not be marginal in nature, meaning that
the enterprise should create employment in the United
States and not just for the purposes of only providing a
living for the applicant's family. The investment must
be into a real and active commercial enterprise. This
means that the qualifying investment cannot be made by
just placing funds in a bank account and no commitment
towards actual investment into a business.
L-1 MULTI NATIONAL INTRA
COMPANY TRANSFER
In order to qualify for an L-1 visa the applicant who is
being transferred must have worked one full year in the
past three years in the foreign company in a managerial,
executive or specialized knowledge capacity. The person
must be coming to the U.S. branch to active in an
executive, managerial or special knowledge capacity in
the United States branch or subsidiary of the foreign
company.
The foreign company and the U.S. company must both have
the same majority ownership and continue to operate
during the time of the transfer and application with the
Immigration Service.
H-1B1 VISA
In order to qualify for an H-1B1 visa the job offered
most require the equivalent of a U.S. Bachelors Degree
or higher. The applicant must have obtained a Bachelors
Degree from the United States or have an equivalency
evaluation done to show that their foreign credentials
are equivalent to a U.S. Bachelors degree. The employer
must be willing to pay the prevailing wage or higher to
the applicant. The amount is determined by the U.S.
Department of Labor based on the job offered and the
necessary credentials required to perform the job.
There are other options to apply for either permanent
residence in the United States or non immigrant work
visas. Please contact our office for additional
information or if you would like to retain our office to
represent you regarding your immigration applications in
the United States.
