GREEN CARD FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS

EMPLOYMENT-BASED CATEGORIES INCLUDE:

Employment-based (EB) “preference immigrant” categories include:

First preference (EB-1) – Priority workers

• Aliens with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics;
• Outstanding professors and researchers;
• Multinational executives and managers.

Second preference (EB-2) – Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability

• Aliens who, because of their Exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, will substantially benefit the national economy, cultural, or educational interests or welfare of the United States;
• Aliens who are members of professions holding advanced degrees or the equivalent.

Third preference (EB-3) – Professional or Skilled Workers

• Professionals with a baccalaureate degree;
• Aliens capable of performing skilled labor (requiring at least 2 years of training or experience) for which qualified workers are not available in the United States;
• Aliens capable of performing unskilled labor for which qualified workers are not available in the United States.

Fourth preference (EB-4) – Special Immigrants

• Religious workers;
• Panama Canal Company, Canal Zone Government Employees;
• Certain physicians;
• Certain others;

ELIGIBILITY FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS

If you are currently in the United States, in order to be eligible for a Green Card as an EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 immigrant, you must meet the following requirements:

• You properly filed Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status;
• You were inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled into the United States;
• You are physically present in the United States at the time you file your Form I-485;
• You are eligible to receive an immigrant visa;
• An immigrant visa is immediately available to you at the time you file your Form I-485 and at the time USCIS makes a final decision on your application. (For information on visa availability, see Visa Availability and Priority Dates, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts, and the Department of State website to view the Visa Bulletin);
• The job offered to you in Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker still exists with the employer that filed the Form I-140 on your behalf, and you plan to accept the job once USCIS approves your Form I-485. If you filed Form I-140 as a self-petitioner, you must plan to work in the same or similar occupational field as specified in your Form I-140;
  • Note: Even if you have a new job or employer, section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)allows the approved Form I-140 to remain valid for adjustment of status purposes if:
    • You submit evidence that the new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the job in the original Form I-140.
    • The Form I-485 you filed based on the Form I-140 remains unadjudicated for 180 days or more; and
• None of the applicable bars to adjustment of status apply to you;
• You are admissible to the United States for lawful permanent residence or eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility or other form of relief; and
• You merit the favorable exercise of USCIS’ discretion.

Inspected and Admitted or Inspected and Paroled, Eligibility to Receive an Immigrant Visa

You are eligible to receive an immigrant visa, if you are the beneficiary of:

• An approved Form I-140 was filed on your behalf;
•  A pending Form I-140 (that is ultimately approved); or
•  A Form I-485 was filed together with the Form I-140 (and the Form I-140 is ultimately approved).

HOW TO APPLY

If you are currently in the United States, an immigrant visa is immediately available to you as an EB-1, EB-2, or EB-3 immigrant, and you meet certain other requirements, you may file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, to apply for a Green Card without leaving the country. This is called “adjustment of status.” If a visa is immediately available, you may file your Form I-485:

• Together (“concurrently”) with Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker filed on your behalf;
• While the Form I-140 is pending; or
• After Form I-140 is approved (and remains valid).

For information on visa availability, see Visa Availability and Priority Dates, Adjustment of Status Filing Charts, and the Department of State website to view the Visa Bulletin.

WHAT TO SUBMIT (PRINCIPAL APPLICANT)

If you are the named beneficiary of Form I-140, you are called the principal applicant. As the principal applicant, you should submit the following documentation and evidence to apply for a Green Card as an employment-based immigrant who is already in the United States:

• Copy of the Form I-797, Approval or Receipt Notice, for the Form I-140 filed on your behalf (unless you are filing your Form I-485 together with the Form I-140);
• Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status;
• Form I-485 Supplement J, to confirm that the job offered to you in Form I-140 remains a bona fide job offer that you intend to accept once your Form I-485 is approved.

EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION AND ADVANCE PAROLE DOCUMENTS

Generally, when you have a pending Form I-485, you may apply for employment authorization by filing Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.

You may also apply for an advance parole document by filing Form I-131, Application for Travel Document. An advance parole document authorizes you to appear at a port of entry to seek parole into the United States after temporary travel abroad. If you need to leave the United States temporarily while your Form I-485 is pending, please see the Instructions for Application for Travel Document for more information. 

Important that, if you have a pending Form I-485 and you leave the United States without an advance parole document, you will have abandoned your application.