Employment Based Immigration

One of the first decisions that companies must make when hiring international talent is what kind of employment visa they can sponsor for a specific position. There are two main categories of work visas: temporary employment visas and permanent employment visas. As the name implies, permanent employment visas, also called immigrant visas, allow foreign nationals to become lawful permanent residents of the U.S. These individuals are given permanent resident cards, colloquially known as “green cards.” In contrast, temporary employment visas, or nonimmigrant visas, permit international professionals to work in the U.S. only for the specific length of time outlined by their visa. Both categories are further broken down into several different types of employment visas, each of which is designated for individuals in specific situations.

We provide legal counsel on a broad range of employment visas, including: 

• Employment-based Green Cards (EB-1/EB-2/EB-3): These designations represent a wide variety of permanent employment-based visas.
  • EB-1 includes those applicants with Extraordinary Ability and can demonstrate they have risen to the top of their field of endeavor; Outstanding Professors and Researchers; and Multinational Managers or Executives who can demonstrate both they and their sponsoring company meet certain requirements.
  • EB-2 includes National Interest Waivers (NIW) self-sponsorship as well as beneficiaries who are being sponsored through the employment-based sponsorship process (nicknamed PERM) and whose job requires the minimum of a Master’s degree in order to perform the job duties.
  • EB-3 includes beneficiaries who are being sponsored through the PERM process and whose job requires the minimum of a Bachelor’s degree (Professional) or at least two years experience (Skilled Worker) or less than two years experience (Unskilled Worker).
  •  The specific visa an individual qualifies for depends on the needs of the employer, as well as the beneficiary’s credentials, including education, professional or academic success and reputation, and skillset.
  • NIW The National Interest Waiver allows foreign nationals to obtain a green card either through a sponsorship outside the normal employment-based green card process or through self-sponsorship if their business endeavor is well-positioned to aid the U.S. labor market or advance U.S. competitiveness.
• H-1B Visas: These are temporary employment visas for employers seeking to sponsor an employee in a position for which the normal minimum requirements for the job are a Bachelor’s degree in a specialty occupation.
• E-1/E-2 Visas: These nonimmigrant work visas allow professionals of treaty countries, and  their qualified employees, to enter the U.S. either to engage in trade with the U.S. (E-1) or to own and manage a U.S. business (E-2).
• L-1 Visas: L-1A and L-1B visas are intercompany transferee visas for executives, managers, and employees with specialized knowledge. These are nonimmigrant visas.
• J-1 and H-3: These nonimmigrant visas permit companies to sponsor individuals to enter the U.S. in order to acquire specific training or to complete an internship.
• P-1 Visas: These nonimmigrant visas allow athletes, musicians, artists, and others to complete duties related to internationally recognizable events within the U.S. and/or as a member of an internationally recognizable group, team, or organization.
• O-1 Visas: These temporary employment visas allow people of extraordinary ability or achievement to work in the United States for a specific employer, or through an agent, based on the length of time required to complete their activity.

We also address other types of temporary and permanent work visas, so contact us if have questions regarding an employment-based visa not listed on our site.