Employment-Based Immigration: Fourth Preference EB-4
ALERT: On March 22, 2023, the Department of State posted the April 2023 Visa Bulletin, as well as a Federal Register Notice explaining certain changes to the Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing for the Employment-Based Fourth Preference Immigrant Visa Category.
You may be eligible for an employment-based, fourth preference (EB-4) visa if you are a special immigrant. The following special immigrants are eligible for the fourth preference visa:
- Religious workers;
- Special Immigrant Juveniles;
- Certain broadcasters;
- Certain retired officers or employees of a G-4 international organization or NATO-6 civilian employees and their family members;
- Certain employees of the U.S. government who are abroad and their family members;
- Members of the U.S. armed forces;
- Panama Canal company or Canal Zone government employees;
- Certain physicians licensed and practicing medicine in a U.S. state as of Jan. 9, 1978; and,
- Noncitizens who have supplied information concerning a criminal organization or enterprise or a terrorist organization, enterprise, or operation (S nonimmigrants).
For information on the availability of EB-4 visas, please visit our Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin page.
Petitioning for an Employment-Based Fourth Preference Immigrant
Certain employment-based fourth preference subcategories require your employer to file a Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant. You are required to self-petition on your own behalf in other subcategories. Other categories do not require a Form I-360. Please review the category-specific information and the form instructions to see if you are eligible to self-petition and what required supporting evidence needs to be included. Category-specific information is available in the USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Part F, Special Immigrant-Based (EB-4) Adjustment.
Some EB-4 classifications allow your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 to be admitted to the United States. For more information, please visit our Green Card Eligibility Category page.
Under sections 101(a)(27)(M) and 203(b)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) (formerly known as the United States Broadcasting Board of Governors), or a grantee of the USAGM, may petition for you (and your accompanying spouse and children) to work as a broadcaster for the USAGM or a grantee of the USAGM in the United States. For the purposes of this section, we use the following definitions:
- “USAGM grantee” means Radio Free Asia, Inc (RFA) or Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc. (RFE/RL); and
- “Broadcaster” means a reporter, writer, translator, editor, producer or announcer for news broadcasts; hosts for news broadcasts, news analysis, editorial and other broadcast features; or a news analysis specialist. This term does not include noncitizens performing purely technical or support services for the USAGM or a USAGM grantee.
When the USAGM (or a USAGM grantee) submits Form I-360 on your behalf, they must include a signed and dated supplemental attestation that contains the following information about you:
- The job title and a full description of the job you will perform; and
- Your broadcasting expertise, including how long you have been performing duties that relate to the prospective position or a statement as to how you have the necessary skills that make you qualified for the broadcasting-related position.