Permanent Workers
ALERT: On March 22, 2023, the Department of State posted the April 2023 Visa Bulletin, as well as a Federal Register Notice (PDF) explaining certain changes to the Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing for the Employment-Based Fourth Preference Immigrant Visa Category.
Approximately 140,000 immigrant visas are available each fiscal year for noncitizens (and their spouses and children) who seek to immigrate based on their job skills. If you have the right combination of skills, education, and/or work experience and are otherwise eligible, you may be able to live permanently in the United States. The five employment-based immigrant visa preferences (categories) are listed below.
Employment-Based Visas
We are prioritizing efforts to ensure we use as many available employment-based visas (PDF, 1015.37 KB) as possible this fiscal year.
We urge anyone who may be eligible for an employment-based adjustment of status to file their adjustment of status application, accompanied by a valid Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, as soon as possible.
An unusually high number of employment-based immigrant visa numbers were available in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. Despite pandemic-related capacity restrictions, USCIS was able to increase processing and approve more than 175,000 employment-based adjustment of status applications. While this was an increase of more than 50% above our typical workload, 65,000 available employment-based visa numbers remained unused at the end of FY 2021. We have already taken a number of steps this fiscal year to help ensure that future immigrant visa allotments do not go unused (PDF, 1015.37 KB).
Frequently asked questions are available on the Fiscal Year 2022 Employment-Based Adjustment of Status FAQs page.
Labor Certification
Some immigrant visa preferences require you to already have a job offer from a U.S. employer. This employer will be considered your sponsor. For some visa categories, before the U.S. employer can submit an immigration petition to USCIS, the employer must obtain an approved labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL labor certification verifies the following:
- There are insufficient available, qualified, and willing U.S. workers to fill the position being offered at the prevailing wage
- Hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers
For more information see the Labor Certification page.
US Federal Tax Information
Noncitizens employed in the U.S. may have a U.S. Tax obligation.
| Preferences | General Description | Labor Certification Required? |
|---|---|---|
| First Preference EB-1 | This preference is reserved for persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors or researchers; and multinational executives and managers. | No |
| This preference is reserved for persons who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or for persons with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business. | Yes, unless applicant can obtain a national interest waiver (Labor Certification) | |
| Third Preference EB-3 | This preference is reserved for professionals, skilled workers, and other workers. (See Third Preference EB-3 page for further definition of these job classifications.) | Yes |
| Fourth Preference EB-4 | This preference is reserved for “special immigrants,” which includes certain religious workers, employees of U.S. foreign service posts, retired employees of international organizations, noncitizen minors who are wards of courts in the United States, and other classes of noncitizens. | No |
| Fifth Preference EB-5 | This preference is reserved for business investors who invest $1.8 million or $900,000 (if the investment is made in a targeted employment area) in a new commercial enterprise that employs at least 10 full-time U.S. workers. | No |