If you want to come to the United States to work or are in the county in a lawful nonimmigrant status that does not provide employment authorization, you need to take certain steps to become a permanent worker. And one of those steps is knowing the category your career belongs to.
Below are five visa preference categories for permanent workers:
First preference EB-1
If you are a non-citizen with extraordinary abilities in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics or you are an outstanding professor or researcher, you may be eligible for this visa type. Certain multinational managers and executives can also use this visa category.
Second preference EB-2
This preference EB-2 is for professionals with a U.S. advanced degree or its foreign equivalent and people with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business.
Third preference EB-3
You may be eligible for a third-preference EB-3 visa if you are a skilled worker, professional or other worker.
In this context, a skilled worker is anyone whose job requires a minimum of 2 years of training or experience. The job should not be of a temporary or seasonal nature.
A professional is someone whose job requires at least a U.S. baccalaureate or foreign equivalent degree and is a member of the profession. Other workers are persons performing unskilled labor that requires less than two years of training or experience. The job should also not be of a temporary or seasonal nature.
Fourth preference EB-4
This visa preference category is for “special immigrants” (religious workers, certain employees of U.S. foreign services posts, members of the U.S. armed forces and so on).
Fifth preference EB-5
Business investors who invest $1.8 million or $900,000 in a new commercial enterprise that employs at least 10 full-time U.S. workers may be eligible for this visa preference category.
If you want to become a permanent worker in the U.S., consider legal guidance to make informed decisions.