One of the most common methods of obtaining U.S. Permanent Residency (also known as a “green card”, or an “immigrant visa”)--for persons who do not qualify based on family relationships--is through an employment based petition. There are various employment based avenues (i.e., immigrant categories) for obtaining U.S. Permanent Residency.

If your occupation is in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, and you "are one of the small percentage who have risen to the very top of your field", then you may be able to qualify under the "EB-1 Individuals with Extraordinary Ability" category, provided that you meet certain criteria.

If you possess a U.S. baccalaureate degree or equivalent foreign degree, and you have a U.S. employer who is offering you a full time position which requires that type of degree, then you may be able to qualify for U.S. Permanent Residency under the EB-3 category for "PROFESSIONALS".

If you possess an advanced degree (i.e., generally considered to be a "Masters Degree" or higher), or an equivalent foreign degree, and you have a U.S. employer who is offering you a full time position which requires that type of degree (this may be waived in the National Interest), then you may be able to qualify for U.S. Permanent Residency under the EB-2 category for individuals with "ADVANCED DEGREES".

You may be able to qualify for U.S. Permanent Residency under the EB-2 category for individuals with "EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY", if you can establish that you have "EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY" in your specialty based on the USCIS criteria, or have a U.S. baccalaureate degree or an equivalent foreign degree and have at least 5 years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in your specialty, AND you have a job offer from a U.S. employer in your field (UNLESS you obtain a National Interest Waiver of the job offer).

If you are an active investor in a U.S. enterprise in which you are investing at least $1 million (US), or $500,000 (US) in certain special locations, and the enterprise creates a certain number of jobs, then you may be able to obtain U.S. Permanent Residency under the EB-5 category.

If you are capable of performing unskilled labor and you have an employer who is offering you a full time job: you may be able to qualify for U.S. Permanent Residency based on the EB-3 "Unskilled Workers" category PROVIDED that the job is NOT on the Labor Department's "Schedule B", and a visa is available.

The chart below provides a list of the primary avenues for obtaining U.S. Permanent Residency (“Green Card” status) (also known as “Immigrant Classifications and Visas”). The chart is divided into three main groupings: (1) “General Family-Based Immigration” concerns the general types of family relationships which U.S. immigration law recognizes as providing a right to file a petition for permanent residency of the respective family members, and which is available for all nationalities; (2) “Employment-Based Immigration” concerns the general types of employment relationships, investments, or occupations which U.S. immigration law recognizes as providing a right to file a petition for permanent residency; and (3) “Other Immigrant Channels” concerns various miscellaneous avenues of petitioning for U.S. permanent residency.

The USCIS announced on November 9, 2006, that it is expanding its Premium Processing service to the EB-1 Permanent Resident category beginning November 13, 2006. "Premium Processing Service allows U.S. businesses to pay a $1,000 Premium Processing fee in exchange for 15-calendar-day processing of their case." The USCIS stated:

In Borat! The Movie (full name Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan), Borat Sagdiyev, who claims to be a Kazakhstani journalist, travels to America in order to make a documentary about the United States, at the behest of the Kazakh Ministry of Information. This raises the question: is Borat an illegal alien?

If you have job skills which require at least 2 years of training or experience, or you have a combination of education and experience which is the equivalent of a bachelor's degree, AND you have a U.S. employer who is offering you a full time position which requires those types of skills or degree, then you may be able to qualify for U.S. Permanent Residency under the EB-3 category for "SKILLED WORKERS".

EB-5 Successful Cases:  Limited Liability Partnerships investing in U.S. REAL ESTATE 

A "garden variety" direct investment in U.S real estate would NOT qualify for obtaining an EB-5 investor green card because that type of investment is considered a PASSIVE investment, and one of the key requirements of the EB-5 category is that the investment must be an ACTIVE investment, i.e., one which involves directing or managing an active enterprise. However, there have been successful EB-5 cases which involve indirect investments in real estate which get around the active investment requirement through the use of a Limited Liability Partnership.

You may be able to qualify for a fast track Green Card (EB1) if you are an executive or manager who will be employed in the U.S. in an executive or managerial position by a company, or affiliate or subsidiary of a company, which employed you outside the U.S. in a managerial or executive capacity (a) for at least 1 year in the past 3 years if you are currently outside of the U.S., or (b) for at least 1 year in the 3 years preceding your entry into the U.S. if you are currently in the U.S.

It is important that physicians who are considering applying for a green card remember that there are certain circumstances under which they may not have to first pass USMLE. There are certain exempt categories. For example, if a physician qualifies as an alien of extraordinary ability or as an outstanding professor or researcher, passage of the USMLE exam is not necessary. Of course, whether the USCIS requires that the physician have passed USMLE is a separate requirement from the requirements imposed by State licensing authorities.

Second, the USMLE requirement only applies if the physician will be involved in patient care. "Researchers, teachers, etc. are not subject to this requirement." Third, the USMLE requirement does not apply if the physician was fully and permanently licensed to practice medicine in a State of the U.S. on January 9, 1978, and was practicing medicine in a State of the U.S. on that date.

You may be able to qualify for U.S. Permanent Residency based on the EB-1 category for "Outstanding Professors and Researchers": if you are a professor who is being offered a tenured or tenure-track position, by a university or other institution of higher education, as a teacher or in a permanent position as a researcher in your academic field; or if you are a researcher being offered a permanent research position in your academic field by a qualifying private employer.

If you have been a religious worker for at least two years, and are entering the U.S. to work as a religious worker for a religious denomination that has a non-profit religious organization in the U.S., you may be able to qualify for U.S. Permanent Residency based on the EB-4 category.