Benjamin Beijing Wang Attorney at Law - Member of AILA

Immigrant Visas

Immigrant visas are issued to foreign nationals who enter the for permanent residence.  Foreign nationals who seek to immigrate to the permanently must have an intent to live in the permanently, and must have a qualified family relationship or employment relationship, or must be participants in the diversity program.  Foreign nationals with immigrant visas are automatically authorized to work in the , and they receive alien registration cards (“Green Cards”) after they enter the .

Immigrant visas consist of two groups:   immigrant visas subject to numerical limitations and those that are not.   Visas without numerical limitations are issued to immediate relatives of US citizens, including parents, children and spouses of citizens.  To qualify as a “child” of a US citizen, the person must be unmarried, under the age of 21 years old, and either a legitimate child, stepchild, illegitimate child, adopted child, an orphan adopted abroad, or an orphan coming to the US for adoption.  To apply for a parent, the citizen child must be 21 years or older.  To qualify as a spouse of a citizen, the person must have a valid marriage recognized by the INA. 

Visas subject to numerical limitations are issued to foreign nationals who qualify for preference family, employment and diversity visas.   There are four family-based preferences:   (1)  unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens;  (2)  spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents; (3)  married sons and daughters of US citizens and their spouses and children; and (4)  brothers and sisters of US citizens. 

There are five employment based preferences:   (1)   priority workers; (2)  professional workers with advanced degree or aliens with exceptional ability; (3)  skilled workers, professionals(without advance degrees), and certain unskilled workers; (4) ministers, religious workers and other special immigrants; and (5)  employment creation immigrants or investors. 

The application process is a multi-step one.   For family-based applications, the relative must first file with the INS a petition with the required supporting documentation.   After the petition is approved, the State Department must determine whether a visa number is immediately available to the foreign national.  If the foreign national is already in the , and eligible for adjustment of status, he/she must apply for adjustment of status when the visa number has become available.  If he/she is outside the , he/she must go to the consulate for an application for an immigrant visa when a visa number has become available.  The employer sponsored visa application goes through a similar multi-step process with the added requirement that the employer file a labor certification application and its approval is the prerequisite for filing the immigrant petition in certain categories. 

Another method of gaining permanent residence is through the diversity immigration program.  Under this program, 55,000 immigrant visas are available annually to people who are natives of low admission countries.  A person is eligible for a diversity visa if he/she has at least a high school education or its equivalent, or within the preceding five years, two years work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years training or experience.