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Applying for U.S. Green
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Applying for U.S. Green
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1. The Employment-based First Preference Immigration Category (EB1)
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) permits multinational executives and managers to apply for U.S. permanent residence under the employment-based immigration first preference category (EB1). The employment-based first preference category are not subject to a Labor Certification requirement. The first preference immigration category consists of three subcategories, each has different eligibility requirements:
a) Aliens with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business or athletics (EB-1A or EB1-EA);
b) Outstanding professors or researchers (EB-1B or EB1-OR);
c) Multinational executives or managers (EB-1C).
In order to qualify as a multinational executive or manager under this category, during the three years preceding the application, the applicant must have been employed for at least one year by the same multinational firm or other business entity (affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or branch of the U.S. employer) that employs them in the United States. Furthermore, the applicant must seek to continue rendering services to the same employer in a managerial or executive capacity. The labor certification is not required for international managers and executives. The EB-1C petition requires the individual to have a permanent job offer from the U.S. company to work in an executive or managerial position.
Many multinational executives or managers may wonder whether they could qualify for the EB1 Multinational Executives or Managers immigration visa classification. The common misunderstanding could be that the EB1 Multinational Executives or Managers immigrant visa application is very hard to get approval. Therefore, some alien executives or managers may apply for Green Card in other categories.
Due to the immigrant visa number retrogression for some countries, the alien applicants from these countries need to wait for years to get Green Card application approval in EB-2 and EB-3 categories. Many new immigrants are looking for other options. The EB1 Multinational Executives or Managers immigration visa category is such an option for those aliens with executive capacity or manager capacity in multinational companies. Because the EB-1C category is in the First Preference, and the immigrant visas are immediately available.
2. Multinational Executives and Managers EB-1C Subcategory
This subcategory of the EB-1C priority worker category is limited to executives or managers who have been working for a qualified company outside the U.S. for at least one out of the past three years. Or, if the person is already in the U.S. on a temporary visa, it’s possible to qualify based on having been employed as an executive or manager at that company for one of the three years before arrival in the United States.
The foreign national must be planning to take a managerial or executive position with a U.S. branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of the very same company. The U.S. office will need to show that it has been in business for at least one year. The prerequisites are similar to those for L-1 intra-company transferee nonimmigrant visas.
Not only does the foreign national need to meet the various qualification requirements under this subcategory, but the employer, including its foreign and U.S.-based offices, must also meet certain qualifications, including that the two are either:
different branches of the same company;
a joint venture where the parent company owns half or has equal control and veto power;
related so that one company is a majority-controlled subsidiary of the other, or;
affiliated such that both companies are under the control of the same person, persons, company, or group of companies.
Care must also be taken to ensure that the job position, both inside and outside of the U.S., is demonstrably executive or managerial.
3. Applying for U.S. Permanent Residency as a Multinational Executive or Manager
Owners, executives, or managers of multinational companies seeking to expand to or relocate in the United States may wish to seek permanent residence in the United States. The most appropriate immigration category for owners, executives and managers of such companies is the EB1 Multinational Executives and Managers.
Most executives and managers of multinational companies will be able to seek permanent residence under the first employment-based preference as multinational managers and executives (EB-1C). This process does not require Labor Certification. The requirements for multinational executives and managers under the first employment-based preference are similar to those for executives and managers under the L-1A non-immigrant visa.
In addition to the requirements applicable to L-1A non-immigrants visa, a multinational executive or manager seeking permanent residence must have assumed an executive or managerial position abroad, and the U.S. operation must already have been doing business for at least one year.
The requirements for multinational manager or executive include:
1) The alien manager or executive should have been employed outside the U.S. in the 3 years preceding the petition for at least 1 year, by a multinational firm or corporation.
2) The alien manager or executive should enter the U.S. to continue service for the multinational firm or organization.
3) Outside the U.S., the employment of the alien applicant should be in a managerial or executive capacity, with the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary of the employer.
4) The petitioning employer for EB1 Multinational Manager or Executive (EB-1C) must be a U.S. employer. The U.S. employer should have been doing business for at least 1 year, as an affiliate, a subsidiary, or as the same corporation or other legal entity that employed the alien manager or executive abroad.
5) The U.S. employer must file USCIS Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.There is no requirement for the alien to have first obtained L-1A status. For example, an eligible alien may enter under E-1 or E-2 status and then seek permanent residence as a multinational executive or manager once the U.S. business has been operating for at least one year. To obtain permanent residency as a Multinational Executive or Manager, the alien must have been employed outside the U.S. in a managerial or executive capacity for at least one of the three years immediately preceding the filing of the petition; the foreign worker must be coming to U.S. to work in an executive or a managerial capacity; and there must have been corporate relationship for at least one year between the two affiliated companies.
Evidence must be submitted to support a Form I-140 Petition for Multinational Executives or Managers. Unlike the requirement for EB1 Outstanding Researcher or Professor Petition, in which alien applicant must demonstrate that the alien is recognized internationally as outstanding in the academic field, and unlike the EB1 Extraordinary Ability Petition, in which the alien applicant must have garnered "sustained national or international acclaim in the field of endeavor", an alien beneficiary for EB-1C petition should prove that he or she is "in executive capacity or manager capacity in U.S.", and "the U.S. employer should have the ability to pay the offered wage or salary."
4. Advantages of EB1 Multinational Executives or Managers over Other Green Card Options
The EB1 Multinational Executives or Managers Green Card is attractive because it is fast, and there is no Labor Certification required. Also, It is more likely than other immigration categories to be approved by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), if the applicant meets all the regulatory requirements.
If you are a multinational executive or manager, you do not have to follow the requirements of Labor Certification to obtain an U.S. Green Card. To be eligible to the EB-1C immigration category, you must have been employed as a manager or executive for at least one of the last three years by the same employer, an affiliate, or a subsidiary. The employer petitioning your Green Card application must have been conducting business in the United States for at least one year.
The immigration category of EB1 Multinational Executives or Managers for U.S. permanent residency has the following advantages:
The immigrant visas are current for EB1, so it is much faster to obtain a U.S. Green Card in this category than other categories under EB2 and EB3;
Avoiding the long Labor Certification process reduces the huge burden of obtaining a Green Card in the United States;
Because it does not require a Labor Certification, it speeds up the permanent residency process considerably;
Your employer does not need to show that there are no qualified U.S. workers for the position;
It allows you to obtain work and travel authorization for yourself and your family members quickly;
It is less likely than other immigration categories to be denied by USCIS, if the applicant meets all the regulatory requirements.
5. The Priority Date of an EB1 Multinational Executives or Managers Petition
The EB-1C immigrant executive or manager receives a priority date upon approval of the Form I-140 petition. The date is retroactive to the date of receipting of the Form I-140. The priority date (i.e., the Receipt Date) is noted on the Form I-797, Approval Notice.
Immigrant visa numbers for EB-1C and other first preference priority workers are immediately available for most time. However, the Department of State monthly Visa Bulletin should be consulted to be sure that the priority date of the EB-1C beneficiary is CURRENT at the time the beneficiary seeks to file the Form I-485 application to obtain Permanent Residence or adjust the beneficiary legal status in the United States.
At the time the Form I-485 is filed, the beneficiary must be in a lawful nonimmigrant status, must not have worked without authorization, and the priority date must be current In other words, a visa number in the EB-1C category must immediately be available. If the priority date is not current - that is, if the quota cut-time backlogs, the beneficiary of the EB-1C immigrant petition cannot file the Form I-485 concurrently with the Form I-140. The I-485 would have to be held until the priority date becomes current.
6. The Spouse and Children of the EB-1C Beneficiary
Assuming the priority date for the EB-1C immigrant petition is current, the spouse and unmarried minor children under twenty-one years old (the derivative aliens) of the EB-1C beneficiary (the principal alien) are eligible to apply for lawful permanent resident status, either by an accompanying Form I-485 application to adjust status if they are already in the United States in a lawful status, or by a following-to-join application through consular processing if they are not in the United States.
Both the spouse and unmarried children under twenty-one years old but of working age may apply for an EAD (Employment Authorization Document) when filing their Form I-485 applications to adjust status.
7. What If My Employer Does Not Sponsor Me for the EB1 Multinational Executive and Manager Petition?
The EB1 Multinational Executive and Manager petition needs the alien's employer as a sponsor to file the USCIS Form I-140, and the alien employee cannot file EB-1C by himself or herself without the U.S. employer's sponsorship.
If your employer does not sponsor you for the EB1 Multinational Executive and Manager petition, you can consider the EB1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability Petition (EB-1A) or EB2 National Interest Waiver Petition (NIW), if you can meet their regulation requirements. Both of them do not need the job offer, and therefore do not need the Labor Certification and U.S. employer's sponsorship.
To file an EB-1A petition for alien with extraordinary ability, an alien applicant needs to prove that he or she has “extraordinary ability” in a field, which normally requires greater achievement and ability. Also, for EB1 Extraordinary Ability applicants, they need to show a major internationally recognized award, or documentation from at least three of ten criteria of EB-1A petition.
For EB2 National Interest Waiver Green Card petition or NIW immigrant visa petition, the regular Labor Certification requirement is waived, and an immigration applicant can apply for an EB2 national interest waiver green card without a labor certification or a job offer from a U.S. employer. Thus, National Interest Waiver green card application has clear advantages for scholars, researchers, post doctoral research fellows, Ph.D. students, and other advanced degree professionals.
8. How to Get Help for Your Multinational Executive or Manager Petition (EB-1C) Petition
The burden of EB-1C petition approval rests with the petitioner. The petitioner should provide substantial evidence to meet the regulation requirements of the EB-1C immigrant visa. If the alien beneficiary is qualified, then the success depends largely on the way the petition is presented to USCIS.To help you obtain U.S. Green Card easily and quickly, we provide the high quality and case-proven Complete Do-It-Yourself Package for EB1 Multinational Executive or Manager (EB-1C) Petition, based on our extensive and practical employment immigration experience.
As added value in the Complete Do-It-Yourself Package for EB1 Multinational Executive or Manager Petition, we provide comprehensive instructions on U.S. immigration application requirements and processing, and we also provide you the methods of how to prepare the EB-1C petition, how to collect evidence, how to show your executive or manager capacity, how to prove your qualification and achievements, and how to write the petition cover letter.
We also provide step-by-step procedures for EB1 Multinational Executive or Manager petition, various petition strategies, detailed sample cover letters, samples of filled forms, complete petition check list, petition required forms, detailed explanations of many petition related important issues, and more.
9. File a U.S. Green Card Application By Youself
Most of the employment-based immigration categories require a U.S. employer to sponsor the foreign workers for their immigration application (U.S. Green Card Application), there are actually a few immigration categories that allow for self-petition if certain requirements can be met by the alien applicants.
The employment-based first preference (EB1) immigration category has three subcategories, i.e, EB1 Extraordinary Ability (EB-1A, or EB1-EA), EB1 Outstanding Professor or Researcher (EB-1B, or EB1-OR), and EB1 Multinational Executive or Manager (EB-1C, or EB1c). Only one of these 3 subcategories, EB1 Extraordinary Ability, allows for self-petition. This immigration category is available for alien applicants with extraordinary ability in business, science, art, education, or athletics. The alien applicants who may qualify for the EB1 Extraordinary Ability application are generally those who are recognized as being at the top of their respective fields, and who intend to continue to work in that field in U.S.
Another immigration category allowing for self-petition is the EB2 National Interest Waiver (EB2 NIW, or NIW). This immigration category falls within the employment-based, second preference (EB2) immigration category, which is reserved for professionals with advanced degrees and individuals with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business.
The EB2 immigration category generally requires a job offer from an U.S. employer, and it also requires a PERM labor certification approved by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The labor certification process is designed to protect U.S. workers. However, U.S. immigration law allows for a waiver of the PERM labor certification requirement in some cases, in which the alien applicant's contributions for United States are at such a level that the U.S. nation's interests can be better served by not having the alien applicants undergo the PERM labor certification process.
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