If you are a foreign national who has professional skills which are in demand by U.S. employer, a prospective employer or agent must first obtain a labor certification approval from the Department of Labor. Employment based immigrant visas are divided into five preference categories. In most cases, these workers have specific medical skills, technical ability and bilingual experience and work as engineers, doctors or nurses, teachers, computer scientists or researchers.

There are many categories for this kind of visa with some requirements:

EB-1 - The First Preference includes:

• Aliens of Extraordinary Ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; such as outstanding researchers, professors, artists, executives, athletes, and multinational managers and executives.
• Candidates in the first preference can petition for permanent residency without a sponsor and without going through the lengthy labor certification process.

EB-2- The Second Preference includes:

• Aliens holding advanced degrees or with exceptional training and ability.
• Qualified alien physicians who will practice medicine in underserved areas of the U.S.

EB-3- The Third Preference includes:

• Professionals (with a minimum of a bachelor degree or its foreign equivalent)
• killed workers (workers with at least two years of training or experience performing skilled labor), and
• Other workers" (all other workers that are not professional or skilled).

EB-4- The Fourth Preference-Special immigrants & religious workers includes:

• Religious workers
• Border commuters
• Retired employees of international organizations
• Returning residents
• Employees and former employees of the U.S. government abroad

EB-5- The Fifth Preference-Employment creation investors includes:

• Investors in new companies employing 10 or more workers, investing at least $500,000 the certain area
• Investors in new companies employing 10 or more workers, investing at least $1,000,000 in any location.

If you have questions about employment-based immigration visas, or would like assistance with preparation and filing of an employment-based permanent residence petition, talk to an experienced immigration attorney like Timothy Gambacorta.