Immigrating into the U.S.
There are a few ways to immigrate into the United States. The most common ways include:
- Through Family Members who are USC (U.S. Citizens) or LPR (Lawful Permanent Residents).
- Through Employment
- Through Investment
- Through the Immigration Visa Lottery
Status v. Visa
The USCIS does not issue any visas, it only regulates the statuses of aliens in the U.S. Thus, while non-immigrants can change or extend their status while staying in the U.S., they will not have a new visa in their passports until they go through consular processing (i.e., by filing DS-160).
B-1/B-2 v. Visa Waiver Program (ESTA: Electronic System for Travel Authorization)
People who come to the U.S. on a B-1/B-2 visa can change or extend their status since B-1 and B-2's are visas and provide the holders with a status. On the other hand, people who come to U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program or through ESTA cannot change or extend their status as they have no visa and no status.
Family Based
The following people will need to check a monthly visa bulletin issued by the Department of State to see if they can file an I-485 (Adjustment of Status) application or their immigrant visa can be processed through the National Visa Center. If their category shows “C” (current) on the monthly visa bulletin, they are eligible to file an I-485 or to proceed with the immigrant visa process through the National Visa Center during that month.
- F-1: U.S Citizen's unmarried sons or daughters.
- F-2: One of the following:
- F-2A LPR's (Lawful Permanent Resident) spouse and children (Children means people who are unmarried and under 21 years old).
- F-2B LPR's Unmarried sons or daughters.
- F-3: U.S Citizen's married sons or daughters.
- F-4: U.S Citizen's siblings.
The monthly visa bulletin does not have any effect on Immediate Relatives of U.S Citizens, meaning Immediate Relatives can file their I-485 or go through immigrant visa process at any time without having to wait. Immediate Relatives include: Spouses, Parents, and Children.
There is no other family based immigrant visa available other than Immediate Relatives and those fall into any category of Family Based Immigrant Category. (i.e., LPR cannot petition for parents or siblings).
Petitioner must be at least 21 years old. (i.e., USC under 21 years old cannot petition for parents).
Employment Based
There are 5 categories of employment-based immigrant visas.
- EB-1: You are a Priority Worker who has/is a(n):
- EB-1A: Extraordinary Ability (Self-petition is allowed).
- EB-1B: Outstanding Professor and Researcher (Self-petition is not allowed).
- EB-1C: Multinational Executive/Manager (Self-petition is not allowed).
- EB-2: You are a professional holding an advanced degree or a person of exceptional ability in Arts, Sciences, or Business (Self-petition is not allowed, except for NIW (National Interest Waiver)).
- EB-3: You are a(n):
- Professional Worker: A person whose position requires a bachelor's degree or equivalent.
- Skilled Worker: A person whose position requires a minimum of 2 years of training/experience.
- Other Worker: A person whose position requires less than 2 years of training/experience.
- EB-4: You are a Special Immigrant.
- EB-5: You are an investor engaging in employment creation by investing a minimum of 1.5 million dollars.
Investment Based
There are 2 main visas for investment based immigration.
- EB-5: Immigrant visa that allows foreign investors and their families to gain permanent residency in the U.S. by investing a substantial amount of capital in a U.S. business that creates jobs.
- E-2: Non-Immigrant visa for investors from foreign countries that have a treaty of commerce and navigation with the U.S. Primarily used to allow such investors to enter and work in the U.S. to develop and direct the operation of businesses in which they have invested in.
Non-Immigrant Visas
There are 7 non-immigrant visas:
- Tourism: B-1 and B-2.
- Educational: F-1, J-1, and M-1.
- Special or Family-Related: K-1 and V.
- Work or Business: B-1, E, H, I, L, O, P, Q, R, and TN.
- Law Enforcement: S, T, and U.
- Governmental or Quasi-governmental: A and G.
- Miscellaneous: C, D, and TWOV.