TABLE OF CONTENTS
The United States provides various ways for immigrants with valuable skills to come to the country on either a permanent or a temporary basis.
Temporary employment-based visa classifications permit employers to hire and petition for foreign nationals for specific jobs for limited periods. Most temporary workers must work for the employer that petitioned for them and have limited ability to change jobs. There are more than 20 types of visas for temporary nonimmigrant workers. These include L-1 visas for intracompany transfers; various P visas for athletes, entertainers, and skilled performers; R-1 visas for religious workers; various A visas for diplomatic employees; O-1 visas for workers of extraordinary ability; and various H visas for both highly skilled and lesser-skilled workers. The visa classifications vary in terms of their eligibility requirements, duration, whether they permit workers to bring dependents, and other factors. In most cases, these workers must leave the United States if their status expires or if their employment is terminated. It may be possible, depending on the type of job and the foreign national’s qualifications, for an employer to sponsor the worker for permanent employment. A foreign national does not have to be working for the employer in order to be sponsored. However, depending on the permanent immigration category sought and the foreign national’s current nonimmigrant category, he or she may be able to complete the steps to become an LPR while continuing to live and work in the United States.
The overall numerical limit for permanent employment-based immigrants is 140,000 per year. This number includes the immigrants plus their eligible spouses and minor unmarried children, meaning the actual number of employment-based immigrants is less than 140,000 each year. Any unused family preference immigrant numbers from the preceding year are added to this cap to establish the number of visas that are available for allocation through the employment-based system. The total number of available visas is then divided into five preference categories. For some categories, the sponsor must first test the U.S. labor market under terms and conditions established by the Department of Labor, and the Secretary of Labor must certify that the petitioner’s application meets certain requirements before the sponsor may file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). For some categories, the sponsor’s first step is to file a petition with USCIS or the foreign national may self-petition. The final step is the foreign national’s application for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad or an application to adjust status to LPR if in lawful status in the United States. For consular processing, the immigrant visa application cannot be filed until after USCIS approves the immigrant petition. For adjustment of status, the time to file the application depends on whether a visa number is considered to be immediately available.
The employment-based immigration system is summarized in Table 2.
Table 2: Permanent Employment-Based Preference System
| Preference Category | Eligibility | Yearly Numerical Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Persons of extraordinary ability” in the arts, science, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers, multinational executives and managers. | |
| 40,040* | ||
| 2 | Members of the professions holding advanced degrees, or persons of exceptional abilities in the arts, science, or business. | |
| 40,040** | ||
| 3 | Skilled workers with at least two years of training or experience, professionals with college degrees, or “other” workers for unskilled labor that is not temporary or seasonal. | |
| 40,040*** |
“Other” unskilled laborers restricted to 5,000 | | 4 | Certain “special immigrants” including religious workers, employees of U.S. foreign service posts, former U.S. government employees and other classes of aliens. | 9,940 | | 5 | Persons who will invest $500,000 to $1 million in a job-creating enterprise that employs at least 10 full time U.S. workers. For petitions filed on or after 11/21/2019 the investment amounts increase to $900,000 to $1.8 million, with future increases at specified intervals. | 9,940 | | *Plus any unused visas from the 4th and 5th preferences. **Plus any unused visas from the 1st preference. ***Plus any unused visas from the 1st and 2nd preference. | | | | Worldwide level of employment-based immigrants: 140,000 for principal applicants and their dependents. | | | | Source: Ruth Ellen Wasem, U.S. Immigration Policy on Permanent Admissions, (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, March 13, 2012), 4, https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL32235.pdf. | | |
In FY 2019, immigrants admitted through the employment preferences made up 13.5 percent of all new LPRs in the United States.