QUALIFICATIONS & CHARACTERISTICS

Employment-based Immigrant Visas are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of U. S. immigration law. Employment based Immigrant Visas are divided into five preference categories. Certain spouses and children may accompany or follow-to-join employment-based immigrants.

Employment First Preference (E-1) Visa: Priority Worker and Persons of Extraordinary Ability

There are three sub-groups within this category:

1. Persons with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Applicants in this category must have extensive documentation showing sustained national or international acclaim and recognition in their fields of expertise. Such applicants do not have to have specific job offers, so long as they are entering the U.S. to continue work in the fields in which they have extraordinary ability.  Such applicants can file their own Immigrant Petitions for Alien Worker, Form I-140, with the USCIS.
2. Outstanding professors and researchers with at least three years’ experience in teaching or research, who are recognized internationally.  Applicants in this category must be coming to the U. S. to pursue tenure, tenure track teaching, or a comparable research position at a university or other institution of higher education. The prospective employer must provide a job offer and file an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, with the USCIS.
3. Multinational managers or executives who have been employed for at least one of the three preceding years by the overseas affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or branch of the U. S. employer. The applicant’s employment outside of the U. S. must have been in a managerial or executive capacity, and the applicant must be coming to work in a managerial or executive capacity. The prospective employer must provide a job offer and file an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, with the USCIS.

QUALIFICATIONS & CHARACTERISTICS 

Employment-based Immigrant Visas are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of U.S. immigration law. Employment-based Immigrant Visas are divided into five preference categories. Certain spouses and children may accompany or follow-to-join employment-based immigrants.  

Employment Second Preference (E-2): Visa for Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability 

A Second Preference applicant must generally have a labor certification approved by the Department of Labor. A job offer is required and the U.S. employer must file an Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, on behalf of the applicant. Applicants may apply for an exemption, known as a National Interest Waiver, from the job offer and labor certification if the exemption would be in the national interest. In this case, the applicant may self-petition by filing the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, along with evidence of the national interest. Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability receive 28.6% of the yearly worldwide limit of employment-based Immigrant Visas, plus any unused Visas from the Employment First Preference category. 

There are two subgroups within this category: 

1. Professionals holding an advanced degree (beyond a baccalaureate degree), or a baccalaureate degree and at least five years progressive experience in the profession. 
    
2. Persons with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business. Exceptional ability means having a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the sciences, arts, or business. 

QUALIFICATIONS & CHARACTERISTICS 

Employment-based Immigrant Visas are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of immigration laws of the U. S.  Employment-based Immigrant Visas are divided into five preference categories. Certain spouses and children may accompany or follow-to-join employment-based immigrants.  

Employment Third Preference (E-3): Visa for Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Unskilled Workers (Other Workers) 

A Third Preference applicant must have an approved Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, Form I-140, filed by the prospective employer. All such workers generally require labor certification approved by the Department of Labor. Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Unskilled Workers (Other Workers) receive 28.6% of the yearly worldwide limit of Employment-based Immigrant Visas, plus any unused Visas from the Employment First Preference and Second Preference categories. 

There are three subgroups within this category: 

1. Skilled workers are persons whose jobs require a minimum of two years training or work experience that are not temporary or seasonal.
2. Professionals are members of the professions whose jobs require at least a baccalaureate degree from a U.S. university or college or its foreign equivalent degree.
3. Unskilled workers (Other workers) are persons capable of filling positions that require less than two years training or experience that are not temporary or seasonal. 

QUALIFICATIONS & CHARACTERISTICS

Employment-based Immigrant Visas are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of immigration laws of the U. S.  Employment-based Immigrant Visas are divided into five preference categories. Certain spouses and children may accompany or follow-to-join employment-based immigrants. 

Employment Fourth Preference (E-4): Visa for Certain Special Immigrants

A Fourth Preference applicant must be the beneficiary of an approved Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, Form I-360, with the exception of Certain Employees or Former Employees of the U. S. Government Aboard (see number 3 below).  Labor certification is not required for any of the Certain Special Immigrants subgroups.  Special Immigrants receive 7.1% of the yearly worldwide limit of employment-based Visas.

There are many subgroups within this category:

1. Broadcasters in the U.S. employed by the International Broadcasting Bureau of the Broadcasting Board of Governors or a grantee of such organization
2. Ministers of Religion
3. Certain Employees or Former Employees of the U.S. Government Abroad - Must use Form DS-1884, Petition To Classify Special Immigrant Under INA 203(b)(4) As An Employee Or Former Employee of the U.S. Government Abroad
4. Certain Former Employees of the Panama Canal Company or Canal Zone Government
5. Certain Former Employees of the U.S. Government in the Panama Canal Zone
6. Certain Former Employees of the Panama Canal Company or Canal Zone Government on April 1^st, 1979
7. Iraqi and Afghan interpreters/translators who have worked directly with the United States armed forces or under Chief of Mission authority as a translator/interpreter for a period of at least 12 months and meet requirements. This classification has an annual numeric limitation of 50 Visas. See Special Immigrant Visas for Iraqi and Afghan Translators/Interpreters for more information.
8. Iraqi and Afghan nationals who have provided faithful and valuable service while employed by or on behalf of the U. S. government in Iraq for not less than one year on or after March 20^th, 2003 and prior to September 30, 2013, or while employed by, or on behalf of the U.S. government, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), or a successor mission in Afghanistan for a period of not less than one year between October 7^th, 2001 and December 31, 2023, and have experienced an ongoing serious threat as a consequence of that employment. See Special Immigrant Visas for Iraqis - Worked for/on behalf of the U.S. Government and Afghans - Worked for/on behalf of the U.S. Government for more information.
9. Certain Foreign Medical Graduates (Adjustments Only)
10. Certain Retired International Organization Employees
11. Certain Unmarried Sons and Daughters of International Organization Employees
12. Certain Surviving Spouses of deceased International Organization Employees
13. Special Immigrant Juveniles (no family member derivatives; Adjustments Only)
14. Persons Recruited Outside of the United States Who Have Served or are Enlisted to Serve in the U.S. Armed Forces
15. Certain retired NATO-6 civilians
16. Certain Unmarried Sons and Daughters of NATO-6 civilians
17. Certain Surviving Spouses of deceased NATO-6 civilian employees
18. Persons who are beneficiaries of petitions or labor certification applications filed prior to September 11^th, 2001, if the petition or application was rendered void due to a terrorist act on September 11^th, 2001
19. Certain Religious Workers

QUALIFICATIONS & CHARACTERISTICS 

Employment-based Immigrant Visas are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of immigration laws of the U. S.  Employment-based Immigrant Visas are divided into five preference categories. Certain spouses and children may accompany or follow-to-join employment-based immigrants. 

Congress created the EB-5 Program in 1990 to stimulate the U. S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors.  In 1992, Congress created the Immigrant Investor Program, also known as the Regional Center Program, which sets aside EB-5 Visas for participants who invest in commercial enterprises associated with Regional Centers approved by USCIS, based on proposals for promoting economic growth.

On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117-103), which created new requirements for the EB-5 Immigrant Visa category and the Regional Center Program. Immigrant Visas are authorized under the Regional Center Program through Sept. 30, 2027. 

Employment Fifth Preference (E5): Visas for Immigrant Investors

Immigrant Investor Visa categories are for capital investment by foreign investors in new commercial enterprises in the United States which provide job creation. 

The U. S. State Department explains the Visa application process for Employment Fifth Preference (E5) Immigrant Investors, also called Immigrant Entrepreneurs.  Additional employment-based Visas can be viewed at Employment Based Immigrant Visas.

U. S. immigration law makes Visas available to Immigrant Investors seeking to enter the United States to engage in new commercial enterprises that benefit the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment. E-5 investors receive up to 7.1% of all employment based-immigrant Visas issued worldwide each year.

To qualify as an Immigrant Investor for petitions filed on or after November 21, 2019, a foreign national must invest, without borrowing, the following minimum qualifying capital dollar amounts in a qualifying commercial enterprise, which are typically referred to as TEAs (Targeted Employment Areas). TEAs are areas designated as high unemployment areas or rural areas: 

• $1,050,000 (U.S.) minimum investment in areas NOT designated as TEAs; or 

• $800,000 (U.S.) in a high-unemployment or rural area, which are considered TEAs.   

A qualifying investment must, within two years, create full-time jobs for at least 10 U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or other immigrants authorized to work in the United States, not including the investor and the investor’s spouse, sons, or daughters. 

Immigrant Investor Visa categories are: 

• Employment creation outside a targeted area – C5 

• Employment creation in a targeted rural/high unemployment area – T5 

• Investor Pilot Program not in a targeted area – R5 

• Investor Pilot Program in a targeted area – I5 

To be considered for an E-5 immigrant investor visa, an applicant must file Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, with U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  For more information on qualifying as an immigrant investor and filing the Form I-526 petition, see EB-5 Immigrant Investor, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Process, EB-5 Regional Centers, and Permanent Workers on the USCIS website. 

Labor certification is not required for immigrant investors. 

The Form I-526 petition must be approved by the USCIS before applying for an immigrant Visa at a U. S. Embassy or Consulate outside the United States.