There are millions of requests each year for foreign nationals of other countries to become an immigrant into the United States. Many immigrants are admitted into the United States each year.
For instance, 1,052,415 people became Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States (LPRs) in 2007. These residents are given Permanent Resident Cards, commonly called “green cards.” With these cards, they may live and work permanently anywhere in the United States, and own property, attend schools and apply to become U.S. citizens.
The majority of the new permanent residents (59 percent) were already living in the United States when they got permanent residence. Two-thirds of all new LPRs were granted permanent residence based on a qualifying family relationship with a U.S. citizen or LPR.
There are five general categories of persons able to immigrate to the United States. They are immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen, family-sponsored immigrants, employment-based immigrants, diversity immigrants and those granted permanent residence after holding refugee or asylum status in the United States.
The government has imposed limits on the number of aliens who can become LPRs through the family sponsored, employment-based and diversity categories.
Employment-Based Immigrants
Employment-based petitions are filed by U.S. companies, organizations and individuals in order to employ foreign workers. These workers may be non-immigrants within the United States or people in other countries willing to immigrate for employment. A prospective employer needs to file an employment-based visa petition (Form I-140) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to sponsor the alien as an immigrant worker.
The annual limit, as of 2008, for employment-based visas is 140,000 plus any family-based preference visas that went unused in the prior fiscal year. In some recent years, such as 2005-07, the number of employment-based visas issued by the government has been substantially higher than 140,000 because of visas issued to the immigrant worker and his or her spouse and children that are not already U.S. citizens or LPRs.
If you want to become an immigrant based on the fact that you have a permanent employment opportunity in the United States, or if you are an employer that wants to sponsor someone for lawful permanent residency based on permanent employment in the United States, you must go through a multi-step process.
Steps to Immigration through Employment
Foreign nationals and employers must determine if the foreign national is eligible for lawful permanent residency under one of USCIS’s paths to lawful permanent residency.
Most employment categories require that the U.S. employer complete a labor certification request (Form ETA 750) for the applicant, and submit it to the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration. The Department of Labor either approves or denies the request.
The USCIS must approve an immigrant visa petition, Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker, for the person wishing to immigrate to the United States. The employer wishing to bring the applicant to the United States to work permanently files this petition. However, if a Department of Labor certification is needed, the application can only be filed after the certification is granted. The employer acts as the sponsor (or petitioner) for the applicant (or beneficiary) who wants to live and work on a permanent basis in the United States.
The State Department must give the applicant an immigrant visa number, even if the applicant is already in the United States. When the applicant receives an immigrant visa number, it means that an immigrant visa has been assigned to the applicant.
If the applicant is already in the United States, he or she must apply to adjust to permanent resident status after a visa number becomes available. If the applicant is outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available, he or she will be notified and must complete the process at his or her local U.S. consulate office.
The process may seem cumbersome, but the rewards are great: to be able to work and live in the United States.
