Form I-864 and Public Charge

Form I-864 and Public Charge As a U.S. citizen, you should be prepared to prove that you meet the income requirement of a sponsor. When your parent has been scheduled for an immigrant visa interview with a consular officer overseas, or when your parent is about to submit an application for adjustment to permanent resident (Form I-485), you will need to complete an I-864 Affidavit of Support. The USCIS Form I-864 - Affidavit of Support is required for family-sponsored immigration. An affidavit of support is a guarantee to U.S. government that an immigrant will not become a public charge. The affidavit could be offered by the petition sponsor or someone who could provide financial assistance to the immigrant in the event that such help would be necessary. All petitioners, regardless of whether or not they have been working or living in the U.S. since the past three years, must submit a notarized Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, for the beneficiaries of the petitions. The determination of a possible public charge must be made in all cases. A public charge is defined as someone who cannot support him or herself, and may therefore become reliable on the adopted country - the United States. For more information, please see Form I-485 - Form I-864 and Public Charge

The Benefits and Conditions of K-1 Visa

The Benefits and Conditions of K-1 Visa The K-1 fiancée visa is a nonimmigrant visa which allows the fiancé or fiancée of a U.S. citizen to enter into the U.S. and get married to the U.S. citizen. The benefits of the K-1 visa include: 1) The K-1 fiancée visa generally has a shorter processing time compared to marriage-based immigration visa petitions; 2) The alien fiancée/fiancé can apply for a work permit by filing Form I-765 and engage in employment; 3) The children of alien fiancée/fiancé can accompany the alien to the U.S. on the K-2 dependent visa, as long as they are named in the fiancée visa petition. Until the marriage takes place, the alien fiancée/fiancé is considered a non-immigrant. The fiancée/fiancé may enter the United States only one time with a fiancée visa. If the fiancée/fiancé leaves the country before you are married, the fiancée/fiancé may not be allowed back into the United States without a new visa. If the marriage does not take place within 90 days, or the fiancée/fiancé marries someone other than the U.S. citizen filing the petition, the fiancée/fiancé will be required to leave the United States. If the fiancée/fiancé intends to live and work permanently in the United States, the fiancée/fiancé should apply to become a permanent resident after the marriage. If the fiancée/fiancé does not intend to become a permanent resident after the marriage, the new spouse must leave the country within the 90-day original non-immigrant admission. For more information, please see The Benefits and Conditions of K-1 Visa

The Family-Sponsored Immigration

The Family-Sponsored Immigration Family-sponsored immigration is to become a U.S. permanent resident through certain family relations. Normally, a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident would file an immigration petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS). The U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident is called the sponsor. The alien relative for whom the immigration petition is filed is called the beneficiary. A U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident can be the sponsor of a family-sponsored immigration petition. However, the sponsor has to meet certain requirements and legal obligations. The sponsor has to submit a legally binding affidavit of support for the beneficiary to USCIS, in which the sponsor guarantees to maintain the standard of living of the intending immigrant at a level not lower than 125% of the national poverty level. This obligation continues until the beneficiary has become a U.S. citizen, or has worked in the United States for 40 qualifying quarters. Spouses of U.S. citizens are eligible for permanent resident status as "immediate relatives". The process of completing and submitting an immigrant visa application for relatives can be confusing. As a U.S. citizen, you can submit an immigrant application if you have a close family relation, and you can sponsor the following family members: · Husband or wife; · Widow or widower of a U.S. citizen; · Brother or sister (including half-brothers and half-sisters); · Son or daughter (including illegitimate children); · Stepson or stepdaughter; · Stepparent of a U.S. citizen child; · Adopted son or daughter; · Adopted parent; · Father or mother; · Battered or abused spouse or child. For more information, please see Family-sponsored immigration

How to Conduct the PERM Labor Certification Recruitment Process

Question: My company needs to hire a Computer Engineer who is now a F-1 student, and will start the Labor Certification process for his Green Card application after his employment. Please let us know how to conduct the PERM Labor Certification recruitment process? and do we have to also post the job position in the Job Bank of State Labor Department? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has policies for the required PERM Labor Certification recruitment process for employers. The U.S. employers should use newspaper and 3 other forms for additional recruitments. Also, an employer should also post the job position in the Job Bank of its State Labor Department. In the recruitment process, the employer should respond to all applicants and their resumes properly. Also, the employer should have an appropriate candidate screening process and interview process. For more information, please see PERM Labor Certification Recruitment

Extraordinary Ability - EB1 Two-Step Adjudication Process

Question: I am a new Assistant Professor in a major research university of U.S. and I plan to apply for Green Card in both EB1 categories of EB1 Extraordinary Ability and EB1 Outstanding Researcher or Professor, by using your excellent Green Card DIY Application packages. Please let me know what is the "Final Merits Determination" in the EB1 two-step adjudication process? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: For EB1 Extraordinary Ability Green Card application (EB-1A or EB1-EA) and EB1 Outstanding Researcher or Professor Green Card application (EB-1B or EB1-OR), the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudicators are now using the two-step adjudication process, which uses the second step as the Final Merits Determination for each EB-1A and EB-1B green card application. The two-step adjudication process will have a final review of all submitted materials and all evidence to determine if an applicant can meet the overview requirements of "extraordinary" for EB1 Extraordinary Ability application, or if the applicant can meet the overview requirements of "outstanding" for EB1 Outstanding Researcher/Professor application. Therefore, this final review process may result in more Requests For Evidence (RFE), or even a higher rate of possible denial for EB-1A and EB-1B application. For more information, please see Extraordinary Ability - EB1 Two-Step Adjudication Process

Please Help Me to Understand the RFE, and Let Me Know What I Should Do?

Question: As a Post-Doctor, I filled the Green Card petition in EB-1A several months ago, with 11 published papers and more than 35 citations. I received a Request For Additional Evidence notice from USCIS this week asking for more evidence of my "individual accomplishments". The RFE also mentioned that "publications and citations are expected for Post-Doctors", so "not evidence of his or her extraordinary or outstanding ability." I got confused for the RFE notice. Please help me to understand the RFE, and let me know what I should do? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answer: For Post-Doctor's petition in EB-1A, an USCIS adjudicator often indicates that the publications are expected for Post-Doctors, therefore not the claimed accomplishments, or not evidence of extraordinary ability or outstanding ability. Similarly, an USCIS adjudicator may also minimize the applicant's value of citations as a necessary part of the publications criterion. The USCIS adjudicator may also dismisses the applicant's collaborative research work as not the individual accomplishments. Therefore, in your RFE response, you need to prove your own contributions in the collaborative work, and also prove that your publication and citation records are above your colleagues in your field, and they are indeed the evidence of your extraordinary ability. For more information, please see EB1-Extraordinary Ability - Request For Evidence

File EB1-Extraordinary Ability and National Interest Waiver at the Same Time

Question: I am a medical research scientist and I have several U.S. patents. I want to file EB1-Extraordinary Ability (EB-1A) and National Interest Waiver applications (NIW) at the same time with the help of your DIY packages. If one of my Form I-140 application gets approved, what would happen with the other pending form I-140 petition? do I have to withdraw the pending I-140 application? Answer: If one of your form I-140 application has been approved, you do not need to withdraw the other pending Form I-140 application. You should keep your EB-1A and NIW application intact, until you receive a Green Card after you file adjustment of status application by using Form I-485. The approved I-140 petition cannot be transferred to other, and the I-485 application approval will take one immigrant visa number form the immigrant quota. For more information, please see EB1-Extraordinary Ability - File EB1-Extraordinary Ability and National Interest Waiver at the Same Time

I-485 Application - Adjusting to United States Permanent Resident

I-485 Application - Adjusting to United States Permanent Resident After your I-140 petition approval, the Form I-485 is used to apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjust your status to U.S. permanent resident.You may apply to adjust your status if an immigrant visa number is immediately available to you, based on an approved I-140 Form. An adjustment of status application is filed by a beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition. The adjustment application is filed after the receipt of an immigrant visa approval notice from the USCIS. When an immigrant visa number becomes available, you can file an I-485 Adjustment of Status application to adjust your status from non-immigrant status to U.S. permanent resident. You need to provide personal information and your dependent information to the USCIS, and USCIS will use the information to determine if there is any reason why permanent residence should not be granted. When you send your I-485 application to USCIS, you may also submit the I-765 form for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) application, if you and your spouse want to work in the United States while your I-485 application is in process. If you have applied for adjustment of status and want to travel abroad while the I-485 application is pending, you may need permission to return to the United States after traveling abroad. If you do not apply for Advance Parole before you leave the U.S. and your current status in U.S. is not H or L, you may be abandoning your I-485 application with the USCIS, and upon your return, you may be refused admission to the United States. For more information, please see Form I-485 Application - Adjusting to United States Permanent Resident

The Requirements for Multinational Executives and Managers Under the EB1 Immigrant Category

The Requirements for Multinational Executives and Managers Under the EB1 Immigrant Category To qualify for a Green Card as an EB1 Multinational Executive or Manager, the foreign worker must show that he or she was employed by a company affiliated with the current U.S. employer as an executive or manager outside the U.S. for at least one year out of the three years before the transfer to the United States. The requirements for multinational executives and managers under the immigration first preference are similar to those for executives and managers under the L-1A non-immigrant subcategory. A non-immigrant worker under L-1A status may generally qualify under the immigration first preference category. However, there is no such equivalent of immigration first preference category for the specialized knowledge L-1B workers. The basic requirements for multinational executives and managers under the EB1 first preference are as follows: a) the alien must have been employed outside the United States in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one year in the three years prior to the filing of the petition; b) if the worker is currently in the U.S. working for the same prospective U.S. employer, the three year period is the time preceding his or her entry to the U.S. as a non-immigrant; c) the foreign employer must have been the same employer, an affiliate or a subsidiary of the prospective U.S. employer; d) the alien must be coming to the U.S. to work in an executive or managerial capacity; and e) the prospective U.S. employer must have been doing business for at least one year. This means that a multinational executive or manager is the one who has been employed outside the U.S. in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one of the three years immediately preceding the filing of the petition. The U.S. employer must file the petition for the manager or executive. The petition must be accompanied by a statement from the U.S. employer affirming all of the pertinent requirements, including a description of the job duties to be performed by the foreign executive/manager in the United States, the job duties performed by the foreign executive/manager abroad, and the periods of employment by the foreign executive/manager abroad. For more information, please see EB1 Multinational Executives and Managers - The Requirements for Multinational Executives and Managers Under the EB1 Immigrant Category

The Outstanding Researchers and Professors EB-1 Subcategory

The Outstanding Researchers and Professors EB-1 Subcategory If a foreign national has an international reputation for being outstanding in a particular academic field, that person may, with an offer of work from a U.S. employer, qualify for a Green Card as a priority worker within the outstanding professors and researchers subcategory. The foreign national will have to show at least three years experience at either teaching or research in the relevant academic field. The job offer for which the applicant is coming to the U.S. must be a specific tenured or tenure-track teaching or research position at a university or an institution of higher learning. Or, if the position is at a research organization, it must be a permanent position - showing permanence can be a bit dicey in cases where the position is based on grant money that will run out in a year, but this can be overcome by showing that the employer intends to seek continued funding and that a reasonable expectation of success exists, such as a track record of renewed funding. Not every type of employer can make use of this visa category. It must be a qualified employer, meaning either a university or institution of higher education or a department, division, or institute of a private research entity with at least three full-time researchers on staff. The private U.S. employer will also need to show a history of making significant achievements in research. For more information, please see EB1 Outstanding Researchers and Professors EB-1 Subcategory

What is National Interest Waiver

What is National Interest Waiver The Immigration Act of 1990 created several new employment-based immigration categories. Section 203(b)(2)(A) includes members of the professions holding advanced degrees and aliens of exceptional ability in the arts, sciences or business. Popularly referred to as EB2, this category normally requires a permanent job offer and an approved Labor Certification. The Immigration Act of 1990 also created a means of avoiding these requirements, by including a provision for a "national interest" waiver of the requirement of a job offer and a Labor Certification. The Act states that "the Attorney General may, when he deems it to be in the national interest, waive the requirement...that an alien's services in the sciences, arts or business be sought by an employer in the United States." The National Interest Waiver applies to both sub-categories of EB2, members of the professions holding advanced degrees and aliens of exceptional ability. Since most scientists, researchers, international students, and university teachers have at least a Master's degree, the waiver provision can be extremely beneficial to the academic community. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also recognizes that a Bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive work experience in the area of specialty is equivalent to an advanced degree. For more information, please see What is National Interest Waiver

National Interest Waiver - Options to Apply for a U.S. Green Card

National Interest Waiver - Options to Apply for a U.S. Green Card The National Interest Waiver or NIW, is an employment-based, second preference immigration application. It is so named because it asks that the otherwise required Labor Certification requirement be waived "in the U.S. national interest." For applicants with an advanced degree - masters or above, there are three ideal options to apply for a Green Card. These options are in different classifications of Employment-based (EB) immigration, including: · EB1A: Aliens with Extraordinary Ability in science, art, and business (or EB1-EA); · EB1B: Outstanding Researchers and Professors (or EB1-OR); · EB2 NIW: Members of Professions Holding Advanced Degrees Applying for a Waiver of Labor Certification in National Interest (or NIW). Many talented scientists and researchers should have better chances when they apply for an attractive job position. However often times, they failed just because they do not have a U.S. Green Card. Some people with advanced degree do not know how to apply for U.S. Green Card in above three preferred immigration categories, but instead, these people apply for a Labor Certification. However, choosing Labor Certification is not the best strategy for people who may qualify for one of the above three ideal immigration classifications. To qualify for EB2 NIW, an alien applicant needs to demonstrate that his or her work is in the National Interest of United States, and the alien applicant should have an advanced degree and have exceptional ability in sciences, arts or business. The National Interest Waiver Green Card application can either be filed by an alien applicant, or be sponsored by a U.S. employer. An alien applicant may also file additional Green Card applications in other categories, while a National Interest Waiver application is pending. For more information, please see National Interest Waiver - Ideal Options to Apply for a U.S. Green Card

EB1 Extraordinary Ability application - The Reference Letters (Recommendation Letters)

The Reference Letters (Recommendation Letters) and Application Cover Letter For EB1 Extraordinary Ability application, an alien applicants needs to have four to five reference letters (also called recommendation letters) from experts in a field attesting to the alien's significant contributions to the field and national or international reputation in the field. It is recommended a alien should collect a variety of letters from people outside his or her current employer and/or outside the U.S., and from senior people in U.S. government and industry. The reference letters included in the EB1-Extraordinary Ability application and written by field experts should include the following: 1) Writer's qualifications to issue his/her opinion, and the position of the writer in the field; 2) How the writer knows of the alien's work, and alien's background and achievements as well as commentaries on how the alien's achievements are original contributions of major significance; 3) Commentaries on the significance of the alien's publications, awards, and any memberships in professional associations, and how the alien's work has made significant or outstanding contributions to the field; 4) The alien applicant possesses unique knowledge, abilities, or experience that sets him/her apart from the professional peers. The worst thing is to obtain several reference letters which are all look same, and may have the same repeated grammatical errors. The USCIS examiners will believe that these letters were actually prepared by the applicant, rather than by the actual referrers. Also, the EB1-Extraordinary Ability application should include a application cover letter, which should be used as a summary letter discussing the following items: 1) Describes the alien's work and how it affects the field, it’s potential for broader applications; 2) Explains the alien's current work and its future applications, both academically and in the private sector; 3) Describes how the alien is essential or intimately connected to the work, the effects of this work on the U.S. and its people. The application cover letter and reference letters should be written in plain English. Immigration officers with bachelor's or higher degrees will usually read these letters. They may not know the alien's field, but they do spend most working days evaluating and synthesizing information and drawing conclusions. Therefore, an alien applicant should convince them that the alien is doing exceptional work and that somewhere down the line this work will help someone they know. For more information, please see EB1 Extraordinary Ability application - The Reference Letters (Recommendation Letters)