Oct

8

Labor Certification - Ever heard of it? (Part 1)

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Many our clients would love to come and find employment and live in the US. Of course that would be great. However, about the same time our client’s are thinking about this half the planet is thinking the same thing.  America is the place where millions of people want to emigrate to every year so there is a lot of pressure for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to filter the number of people wanting to move to America down to a more manageable size.
 
Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be writing about how various aspects of US Immigration works so that my readers and future clients can better prepare  themselves to move to America. Today I’d like to talk about Labor Certification and how it works.
 
Did you know that you can qualify for a green card and get one if you can find an American employer to hire you? USCIS has 5 tiers of green cards, I’m going to focus on the first three as being the most relevant for the purpose of this discussion.  USCIS calls these green cards EB1, EB2 and EB3.  
The EB1 green card is reserved for those aliens who are at the very top of their profession. EB1 aliens are actually exempt from Labor Certification and do not even need a job on offer. The it begs the question how do you know if you are at the top of your profession.
 USCIS have set up a number of ways you can test yourself to see if you might measure up. For example, in business, it would be looking for qualities such as leadership in the field, peer recognition, industry awards, commanding a high salary and being written about in trade or general publications and so forth. You get the idea. The more of these qualities you can prove the more likely you’ll have a great case for EB1 consideration. The EB1 is available to almost any one in Business, Science, Education, Arts, Entertainment and Sport.
 
The EB2 green card is reserved for those aliens who have an advanced degree and or a Master’s Degree / PHD. In America it is not possible for example to take a Law Degree unless you already have some other degree. This is because a Law Degree is considered to be an Advanced degree. A Master of Arts degree and PHD are other types of advanced degrees.
 
The EB3 green card is reserved for all those who have a Bachelors Degree, Associate Degree (half a BA) or are skilled workers whose job would require at least two years of training, such as a Nurse, Electrician, Plumber, Carpenter and so forth.
 
EB2 and EB3 applicants are subject to Labor Certification - so what is Labor Certification. In a nutshell, Labor Certification is where a US employer has to establish to the satisfaction of the Department of Labor (DOL) that after extensive efforts they were unable to find a ready, willing and able US Citizen / US Resident to take up the job vacancy. Extensive efforts basically means that the US Employer has advertised the vacancy in the local papers, at the job site, online, and after typically one month of effort has still not found anyone.
 
The US Employer submits those efforts online to the DOL and they in turn issue a Certificate that will allow them to go ahead and hire an alien - you perhaps.
 
In Part 2, I’ll get into this in more detail so please watch this space. If you can’t wait and want to get in on this opportunity right now, then please do not hesitate to contact our office for a free consultation.
 
Chris M. Ingram., LL.M. ESQ.
 

Jul

6

Ask Chris: US Visa With Criminal Record

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Q: A relative of mine is apply for an F-1 student VISA for the USA. As a juvenile (13 year old) he was cautioned by the police (along with a group of lads) for “theft from a person”. At 15 years old he was cautioned for “damage to a building”. He has never appeared in court and has only had “reprimand final warnings” by the UK Police. He is obviously now an adult. Does he have to declare these incidents when applying for an F1 Visa or would these not be relevant to Embassy checks?

A: To answer your question, a lot would depend on how old your friend is now and what evidence he can come up with as to his reformed character. When someone has any kind of police record they have a duty to US Immigration to submit evidence that they have been rehabilitated. He should definitely admit to everything in the paperwork, but also submit overwhelming evidence of reform.

Apr

24

International Students: You Can Legally Work After College!

Filed Under F1 Student Visa, Interesting Immigration Tips | Leave a Comment

An interesting fact that not many international students studying in the US know is:

It is possible to work for one year after graduation on a legal work permit.

This one-year work permit will allow them to work for anyone without restriction - the purpose of this one-year option is to give students a chance to hone the skills they have learned in college in the US work place.

What can happen is that during this work year they make good contacts with their employers who in turn can sponsor them for either a H-1B or Green card or some other interim visa to keep them.

So just because your college career is at an end, does not mean you have to leave the country right away!

Feb

13

Birth Certificates: Long Form vs. Short Form

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In many countries birth certificates come in two forms, a long-form shows bother parents of the child and the other information whereas the short-form shows only the child’s birth information.

For immigration purposes short-forms are fine for adult travellers, however, long-form birth certificates are essential when children are travelling with their parents since the long form establishes who the child’s parents are. Otherwise, Uncles and Aunts could take children to the US under the pretense that the child (sharing the same last name) is theirs.