IMMIGRANT VISAS
At the Law Offices of Mike S. Manesh, our immigration attorneys and experienced staff can help you determine which category may be appropriate for you and guide you through the difficult and lengthy process of filing any of the following employment based Green Card Applications:
Family Based Green Card Applications:
Categories:
- Immediate Relatives: Immediate relatives are the children, spouses, and parents of United States Citizens. If the U.S. Citizen person and the relative are in the United States, petition process usually takes six months. If the child, spouse or parent is in a foreign country, he or she must apply at a consulate in his or her country. The petitioning U.S. Citizen must be financially responsible for the relative and must have a level of income that is sufficient under the poverty guidelines. Joint U.S. Citizen sponsor(s) is or are allowed as well.
- Other Relatives:
First Preference: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens.
Second Preference: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents:
- Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
- Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.
Third Preference: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens.
Fourth Preference: Brothers and Sisters of U.S. Citizens. A U.S. citizen can sponsor his or her brother or/and sister for green card. This is a long process, but it is after all a process and you have nothing to lose. We recommend the U.S. Citizen sponsor to file for the I-130 form for his or her brother and get a priority date and wait until the green card visa date is current and file for green card thereafter.
To check the priority dates of visa availability please visit the U.S. Department of state website
Battered Spouses / Children of U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents
In 1994, Congress passed a law referred to as "VAWA," which stands for the Violence Against Women Act, creating special routes to immigration status for certain battered noncitizens. Among the basic requirements for eligibility, a battered noncitizen must be the spouse or child of an abusive U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Through a self-petitioning process, the battered spouse/child may apply for permanent residency without the involvement of the abuser. Battered spouses or children of U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are the subjects of deportation proceedings may also be eligible for this form of relief through cancellation of removal.
Battered spouses who have been granted conditional residence through marriage to a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident may also be eligible to apply for relief to remove the conditions of his/her residence by independently filing a Form I-751 application.
There is extensive evidence that must be gathered in support of these forms of relief, including evidence of battery/abuse/extreme cruelty and proof of the qualifying relationship to the abuser.
Employment Based Green Card Applications:
- First Preference:
Extraordinary ability is defined as a level of expertise indicating that you are an individual who is one of that small percentage who has risen to the top of your field of endeavor. You should be recognized in the field of science, art, education, business or athletics, which must be substantially documented.
Outstanding Professors or researchers mean that you are recognized internationally as outstanding in an academic area, have at least 3 years experience in that area, and have the required offer of employment. Although no labor certification is required, you must get a letter from a U.S. university offering you a teaching or research position or from a private or non-profit employer offering you comparable research position.
Multinational Manager or Executive means that you have been working in such capacity for one year out of the three years preceding the application and seeking employment in that capacity here in the U.S. No labor certification is required. You must have extensive credentials.
- Second Preference:
Aliens of Exceptional Ability in the sciences, arts, or business. An alien will qualify for registration in this category if he or she has a specific offer of employment and is seeking to enter in the United States in his or her field and the entry of such alien will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural, or educational interests, or welfare of the United States.
Exceptional ability has been defined as something more than what is usual, ordinary, or common, and requires some rare or unusual talent, or unique or extraordinary ability in a calling which, of itself, requires that talent or skill. The possession of a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award from a college, university, school, or other institution of learning or a license to practice, or certification for a particular profession or occupation, shall not, by itself, be considered sufficient evidence of such exceptional ability.
Members of Professions holding advanced degrees An alien will qualify in this category if they have a specific offer of employment and labor certification and if they have an advanced degree as showen by a masters degree or its equivalent in education and work experience.
- Third Preference:
This category encompasses college graduates or skilled workers with two years minimum experience. Labor certification is required, which is currently known as the PERM process. The employer must conduct recruitment process and if the campaign did not produce any qualified individuals, then the labor certification is filed on behalf of the alien if the alien has the required experience and education.
- Fourth Preference:
Designed for persons seeking reacquisition of citizenship/and returning resident and for religious workers.
Requirements for religious workers:
- Must be a member of a religious denomination having bona fide, non-profit, religious organization in the U.S., 2 years immediately preceding the application;
- Must seek only to carry out vocation as a minister or if before October 1, 2008, must seek to work in a professional capacity in a religious vocation or occupancy or to work for an organization or affiliate in a religious vocation and occupation;
- Must have been carrying on such vocation for two years. Voluntary service is excluded.
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