• FAMILY BASED IMMIGRATION

The concept of FAMILY BASED IMMIGRATION is family unification. Family Based Immigration consists of the following groups:
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens with no annual limit on the number of individuals that can immigrant to the United States each year:
Spouses (husband, wife), Children (unmarried and under the age of 21 years), Parents.

Other Preference Categories for Family Members of U.S. Citizens or Residents:
- Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens (over the age of 21) 1st Preference
- Spouses and unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents 2nd Preference
- Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens 3rd Preference
- Brothers and Sisters of U.S. Citizens 4th Preference

EMPLOYMENT BASED IMMIGRATION

There are five categories for granting permanent residence to foreign nationals based on employment skills:

1. EB-1 Priority workers:
   • Foreign nationals of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics
   • Foreign nationals that are outstanding professors or researchers
   • Foreign nationals that are managers and executives subject to international transfer to the United States
   
2. EB-2 Professionals with advanced degrees or persons with exceptional ability
   • Foreign nationals of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business
   • Foreign nationals that are advanced degree professionals
   • Qualified alien physicians who will practice medicine in an area of the U.S. which is underserved
   
3. EB-3 Skilled or Professional Workers
   • Foreign national professionals with bachelor’s degrees (not qualifying for higher preference category)
   • Foreign national skilled workers (minimum two years training and experience)
   • Foreign national unskilled workers
   
4. EB-4 Special Immigrants
   • Foreign national religious workers
   • Employees and former employees of the U.S. • Government abroad
   
5. EB-5 Immigrant Investors

DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY PROGRAM
The Diversity Lottery (DV) Program selects 55,000 immigrants through a lottery from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The Department of State holds the lottery every year, and randomly selects approximately 110,000 applicants from all qualified entries. Lottery visas are distributed among six geographical regions:

• Africa: All countries on the continent of Africa and adjacent islands
• Asia: From Israel to all North Pacific Islands, including Indonesia
• Europe: From Greenland to Russia – includes all countries of the former Soviet Union
• North America: Usually includes only one qualified country, The Bahamas
• Oceania: Includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and all countries and islands in the South Pacific
• South America: Includes Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean countries

LABOR CERTIFICATION
The first step in nearly all employment based, permanent residency application cases is Labor Certification (LC). The goal of the Labor Certification process is to determine that the insufficiency of U.S. workers in the local area warrants the hiring of a foreign worker for the position. A Labor Certification application is filed with the state labor agency. And extensive advertising takes place along with interviews by the employer with applicants that meet job requirements.

more info...

• A Visa
• B1 Visa
• B2 Visa
• C Visa
• D Visa
• E-1
• E-2 Visa
• F Visa
• G Visa
• H-1A Visa
• H-1B Visa
• H-2A Visa
• H-2B Visa
• H-4 Visa
• I Visa
• J Visa

• K-1 Visa
• K-2 Visa
• L-1 Visa
• L-2 Visa
• M Visa
• N Visa
• O-1 Visa
• P-1 Visa
• Q Visa
• R Visa
• S Visa
• T Visa
• TN Visa
• U Visa
• V Visa

B-1 VISA:
Temporary visitor for business

B-2 VISA:
Temporary visitor for pleasure

C VISA:
Aliens traveling trough the U.S.

D VISA:
Crew member (Sea or Air)

E-1 VISA:
Treaty Trader, spouse and children.

E-2 VISA:
Treaty Investor, spouse and children.

F VISA:
Student, or the spouse or child thereof

G VISA:
Principal resident representative of recognized foreign member government to international organization, staff or immediate family.

H-1A VISA:
Registered Nurse.

H-1B VISA:
Specialty Occupations, DOD workers, fashion models

H-2A VISA:
Temporary worker performing agricultural services unavailable in the United States. 

H-2B VISA:
Temporary worker skilled and unskilled.

H-4 VISA:
Spouse or child of H-1, H-2, H-3

I VISA:
Visas for foreign media representatives.

J VISA:
Exchange visitor for study or research. May be required to return to the last country of residence before qualifying for immigration.

K-1 VISA:
Fiance(e)

K-2 VISA:
Minor child of K-1

L-1 VISA:
Executive, managerial  

L-2 VISA:
Spouse or child of L-1

M VISA:
Vocational (non-academic) student, or his/her spouse or child.

N VISA:
Parent of an alien classified as a special immigrant or the child of such parent.

O-1 VISA:
Extraordinary ability in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics  

P-1 VISA:
Individual or team athletes.

Q VISA:
Available for participants in programs/activities of cultural enrichment. Can be applied in conjunction with a business activity.

R VISA:
Religious worker: minister, evangelist, teachers, translators, music directors and others working for a non-profit religious/spiritual entity.

S VISA:
Available to officials, employees or persons associated with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

T VISA:
Victims of a Severe Form of Trafficking in Persons.

TN VISA:
Trade visas for Canadians and Mexicans

U VISA:
Victims of Certain Crimes

V VISA:
Spouse of an LPR who is the principal beneficiary of a family-based petition (Form I-130) which was filed prior to December 21, 2000, and has been pending for at least three years