Obtaining Green Card through Marriage to a U.S. Citizen

Obtaining Green Card through Marriage to a U.S. Citizen A lawful permanent resident is a foreign national who has been granted the privilege of permanently living and working in the United States. If a foreign spouse wants to become a lawful permanent resident based on the fact that he or she married a citizen of the United States, the USCIS will approve an immigrant visa petition, Form I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative. This petition is filed by the U.S. citizen spouse and must be accompanied by proof of the marriage relationship. http://www.greencardfamily.com/citizenspouse.htm When a foreign national marries a U.S. citizen, he or she is considered as an immediate relative of the U.S. citizen. The foreign spouse in the U.S. can file an immigrant application for permanent residence simultaneously with USCIS once the marriage has taken place. The applicant will be required to demonstrate to USCIS that the marriage was entered into good faith and not solely for the purpose of securing immigration benefits for the foreign national. If a U.S. citizen marries an alien abroad, an I-130 petition must be filed after the marriage to begin the immigration process for the alien spouse (husband or wife). This can be filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States. http://www.greencardapply.com http://www.greencardfamily.com

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. http://www.greencardfamily.com/citizenspouse.htm 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. http://www.greencardapply.com http://www.greencardfamily.com

The EB1 Immigration Categories and the Persons of Extraordinary Ability

The EB1 Immigration Categories and the Persons of Extraordinary Ability EB1 has three separate subcategories of case types that can enjoy this classification. The unifying element is that none of these cases requires a labor certification. Each starts at the I-140 petition stage. The categories are: Persons of Extraordinary Ability (EB1A); Outstanding Professors and Researchers (EB1B); and Multinational Executives and Managers (EB1C). There are no other types of EB1 cases. A labor certification-based EB2 or EB3 cannot simply be switched over to EB1 when an individual has more work experience, etc. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0725.htm The EB1 - Extraordinary Ability category is intended for the small percentage of individuals who have risen to the very top of their respective fields of endeavor, and can be based on self-sponsorship. That is, the foreign national does not need an employer as the sponsor. The person of "extraordinary ability," however, must seek to enter and/or remain in the United States to continue to work in his or her area of prospective benefit to the U.S. The extraordinary ability can be in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. This ability must be demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim. There must be extensive documentation of the recognized achievements in the field. The required evidence of sustained national or international acclaim can include evidence of a one-time achievement, such as a major international award. The typical example of this is a Nobel Prize. For those who have not received such accolades, it is necessary to show documentation of three categories of evidence out of a list of ten. The categories of evidence are: 1. documentation of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor 2. documentation of membership to associations in the field for which the classification is sought, which require outstanding achievements of their members as judged by recognized national or international experts in their disciplines or fields 3. evidence of the candidate's participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied field of specification for which classification is sought 4. published material about the individual in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the foreign national's work in the field for which classification is sought 5. evidence of the foreign national's authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media 6. evidence of the foreign national's original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field 7. evidence of the display of the foreign national's work in the field of artistic exhibitions or showcases 8. evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disc, or video sales. 9. evidence that the foreign national has commanded a high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field 10. evidence that the foreign national has performed in a leading or critical role for organizations that have a distinguished reputation. http://www.greencardapply.com http://www.greencardfamily.com

The EB1 Multinational Manager or Executive Green Card Application

The EB1 Multinational Manager or Executive Green Card Application The EB-1 Multinational Manager or Executive Green Card is an immigration category that will permit a foreign worker to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. Once the green card is issued, the worker is free to do what he or she likes and may discontinue working for the employer/sponsor. To qualify for the EB-1 Multinational Manager or Executive Green Card, an applicant must prove all of the following: 1) There must be a U.S. company or organization that is active and conducts regular and systematic operations It is called the “U.S. Employer.” A U.S. company or organization must be established for at least one year and must be active. Its operations must occur on a regular, ongoing basis. Applicants must provide evidence of activity, such as the business registration, lease or deed for business premises, occupational license, photographs of the business premises and operations, proof that the business has employees (such payroll tax records), advertising, receipts for business expenses, invoices, contracts, and recent financial information (such as balance sheets, financial statements, company income tax return, and recent bank statements for the company). 2) There must be a company or organization located outside of the U.S. that is active and conducts regular and systematic operations It is called the “Foreign Employer.” The applicant must provide evidence that a company or organization located outside the U.S. is currently active and conducts business on a regular, ongoing basis. This foreign company or organization must continue to be active for the duration of the applicant’s EB-1 application. Once the green card is approved, it does not matter if the Foreign Employer is no longer active. 3) The U.S. Employer and the Foreign Employer must be related entities To be “related entities,” the U.S. Employer and the Foreign Employer must be affiliates OR one should be the subsidiary of the other. To qualify as affiliates, the same individual or groups of individuals must own a controlling interest (at least 50%) in both the U.S. Employer and the Foreign Employer. To qualify as a subsidiary, the Foreign Employer must own the U.S. Employer or vice versa. Evidence must be provided to show who owns the U.S. Employer and the Foreign Employer, such as U.S. and foreign company income tax returns and stock certificates. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0702.htm For example, if Sam owns 100% of an active company in the U.K., and recently purchased 50% of an active business in the U.S., then he owns a controlling interest in both companies. The companies are affiliates, meaning they are related and will qualify for an L-1 Visa. The U.S. Employer and the Foreign Employer do not have to engage in the same line of business, though it helps the application if there is some logical connection between the two entities. http://www.greencardapply.com http://www.greencardfamily.com

The Requirement of “Permanent Employment” for EB1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers Petitions

The Requirement of “Permanent Employment” for EB1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers Petitions The EB1-OR category was created for Outstanding Professors and Researchers in order to speed up the process for outstanding professors and researchers to become permanent residents. One of the requirements for EB1-OR is that the alien beneficiary receives a permanent job offer from the sponsoring employer. The USCIS has clarified the definition of “permanent employment” when considering EB1-OR petitions. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0805.htm According to current definitions, “permanent” is defined as “either tenured, tenure-track, or for an indefinite or unlimited duration, and in which the employee will ordinarily have an expectation of continued employment unless there is good cause for termination.” A major concern for many has been research positions that are based on grant money received yearly. This usually means that the researchers are employed on one-year contracts. The USCIS says that if the employer petitioning for the alien shows the intention to continue to get funding and gives a reasonable expectation that funding will continue, then the employment may be considered “permanent.” The USCIS has asked adjudicators to take into consideration the circumstance of the job and its benefits. If a research position has a term limit of one year, but evidence is provided that the job will be continued beyond that one year, then it can be considered a permanent job. This is good news for many petitioners who employee researchers or are researchers. In the past, researchers may have been reluctant to file an EB1-OR petition since the job was not permanent, but was instead determined by funding on a yearly basis. Now, instead of having to file through a process such as EB2 National Interest Waiver (NIW), employers wishing to employee researchers may be able to file through EB1-OR, which in some cases has a shorter wait time than the NIW. This means that the employee can start working for his/her employer sooner. http://www.greencardapply.com http://www.greencardfamily.com

Indian and Chinese EB-2 Visa Cut-Off Dates

The State Department reportedly notified the USCIS that as of April 11, 2012, it had exhausted Indian/Chinese EB-2 visa numbers for FY 2012 and would not authorize such EB-2 visas to the USCIS. This raises a question for the State Department as to what cut-off dates they will publish for the next several months for Indian and Chinese EB-2 category. If they publish that India/China EB-2 is "Unavailable," the USCIS will not be able to receive any new EB-485 applications no matter how earlier priority dates the Indians and Chinese EB-2 cases have, not to mention their inability to adjudicate and approve pending cases. On the other hand, should they decide any specific cut-off dates for these categories, there arises a legal question as to whether the USCIS can refuse approval of the pending EB-485 applications or new EB-485 applications with earlier priority dates. The situation for May 2012 Visa Bulletin was different in that at the time the May 2012 Visa Bulletin was published, it had no information that the Indian/Chinese EB-2 annual visa allocations have been exhausted. Ideally, after the State Department learned that the visa number had been exhausted, they could have published revised visa bulleting for May 2012, which they opted not to. These two departments learned a valuable lesson from a political and legal disaster during the FY 2007 Visa Bulletin fiasco period. Additionally, the issue involves a more practical stake involved for the USCIS. Hypothetically, should the State Department set a cut-off date for the Indian/Chinese EB-2, the USCIS will be required to continuously receive EB-485 applications from Indian and Chinese professional workers with a priority date earlier than the cut-off date, albeit inability of the USCIS to approve any such pending EB-485 applications regardless of how far back of priority dates one has. This situation will keep the USCIS busy with continuing in-flow of fee funds to support the agency financially without any financial crisis. Imagine what happens if the State Department set the EB-2 visa numbers "Unavailable" for four months! During the four months, they will not be able to receive any new Indian/Chinese EB-2 I-485 applications!? Imagine its impact on the USCIS finance and idle resources!? Very curious of what has been cooked behind the spotlight on this matter between the State Department and the USCIS for the upcoming Visa Bulletins. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0508.htm www.greencardfamily.com www.greencardapply.com

Employers Face Increasing Audits and Supervisory Recruitment in PERM

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification reported in the recent stakeholder meeting that the audits and supervised recruitment would increase. At the time of report, approximately 30% cases faced either audit and supervised recruitment. In a number of cases, after receiving the responses to the audits, the agency has turned the cases into a supervised recruitment track in a number of cases. This trend has resulted in a tremendous delay in PERM processing times and potential denials for the employers that have been picked for such audits and supervised recruitment. Strikingly, such cases have been denied after wasting a tremendous time and expenses for certain incredibly unbelievable "minor" "trivial" "technical" matters. For instances, there have been a number of reports that after the audit or supervised recruitment, the agency denied the application for the reason that in the job bank job order, employer checked the box of driver license requirement or drug testing requirement, travel requirement, etc. pursuant to the job bank formats when those requirements had not been printed in the advertisements. Another large number of denials have been produced for failure to justify why the unqualified U.S. workers were not offered an on-the-job-training when arguably such on-the-job-training would make such unqualified workers qualified for the job. Another traps included missing of information among the recruitment record in a minor matter or the employer failed to contact the applicants and failed to preserve evidence. Employers are strongly advised to pay attention to the details and good record-keeping to survive in the new permanent labor certification environment and not to experience waste of money and time and denials. http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news12/news12_0509.htm www.greencardfamily.com www.greencardapply.com