A Lawful Permanent Resident (commonly known as a “green card” holder) is a person who has an immigrant visa that allows them to work and live anywhere in the United States. Being a green card holder is also a required step in becoming a U.S. citizen and obtaining a U.S. passport.
One of the most popular ways to obtain a U.S. green card is through an EB2 green card petition where people who have a job offer from a U.S. sponsoring employer can qualify by having an advanced degree (EB2 advanced degree subcategory) or exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business (EB2 exceptional ability subcategory). The advanced degree can be a master’s degree or a higher degree (or its foreign equivalent), or in the form of combining a bachelor’s degree and 5 years of post-college progressive work experience.
Most EB2 green card petitions cannot be self-sponsored because they require a PERM labor certification and a U.S. sponsoring employer. However, there are still certain scenarios where the person is allowed to self-sponsor their own green cards due to the U.S. sponsoring employer requirement being taken away. For example, under self-sponsored approved National Interest Waivers or Physician’s National Interest Waivers, the requirement of a U.S. sponsoring employer is taken away because of the determination that it would be beneficial to the United States as a nation.
Self-sponsoring National Interest Waivers and Physician’s National Interest Waivers can only be filed with EB2 green card petitions. National interest waivers (NIW) are for persons who qualify for an EB2 green card and are also able to make contributions that substantially benefit the United States as a nation. Physician’s national interest waivers (PNIW) are for doctors who agree to provide healthcare services in certain U.S. government-designated facilities or medical personnel shortage areas for 5 years.
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There are six main subcategories under the EB2 visa:
Advanced Degree: Persons who have an advanced degree (that is at least a master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree with at least 5 years of post-college progressive work experience) and a job offer where the position requires that specific type of degree in the United States.
Exceptional Ability: Persons who have exceptional ability (which is a degree of expertise that is significantly higher than the ordinary) in the sciences, arts, or business.
National Interest Waiver (NIW): Persons who are able to make contributions that can substantially benefit the United States as a nation.
Physicians National Interest Waiver (PNIW): Persons who are physicians providing healthcare services in an area designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as having a shortage of medical professionals, or employed in a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facility.
Schedule A Group I (Professional Nurses/Physical Therapists): Persons who are professional nurses or physical therapists that hold an advanced degree.
Schedule A Group II (Exceptional Ability): Persons who have exceptional ability (which means wide acclaim and international recognition) in the performing arts, sciences, or arts.
A person can qualify for an EB2 green card no matter where they are currently residing in the world. There are no pre-requisites for the person to be under any type of nonimmigrant visa status (such as an H1B visa) or have an educational degree from a U.S. school. A person who does not have a U.S. degree and has never been to the United States can qualify for an EB2 green card.
One of the most popular ways to obtain a U.S. green card is through an EB2 green card petition. Most EB2 green card petitions require a PERM labor certification and a U.S. sponsoring employer which means that regular EB2 green card petitions cannot be self-sponsored. However, self-sponsorship is allowed if a National Interest Waiver (NIW) or a Physician’s National Interest Waiver (PNIW) is filed with the EB2 green card petition together. The PERM labor certification involves the U.S. sponsoring employer making efforts to recruit U.S. workers. The U.S. sponsoring employer would need to post job advertisements on certain recruiting platforms and interview the U.S. workers who respond to those job advertisements.
EB2 advanced degree green card petitions are for persons who have an advanced degree and a job offer for a position requiring that specific type of degree in the United States. The advanced degree under the EB2 green card petition can be in the form of: (1) a master’s degree, (2) a higher degree than a master’s degree or its equivalent (e.g., Ph.D., MD, J.D.), or (3) a combination of a bachelor’s degree (or its foreign equivalent) and at least 5 years of post-college progressive work experience in the specialty.
EB2 exceptional ability green card petitions are for persons who have an exceptional ability in the field of sciences, arts, or business. Exceptional ability is a degree of expertise that is significantly higher than the ordinary. The EB2 exceptional ability green card petition is usually filed with a National Interest Waiver (NIW) where the person self-sponsors their own green card by additionally showing that they are qualified to make contributions that can substantially benefit the United States as a nation.
Physician’s National Interest Waivers (PNIW) that are filed with EB2 green card petitions are for medical doctors who agree to provide healthcare services in a medical professional shortage area designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facility in the United States. The physician’s work under the EB2 PNIW green card petition must be full-time and it must be for a total of 5 years in a qualified legal visa status (i.e., work done on a J1 visa does not qualify). EB2 Physician’s National Interest Waiver green card petitions can be self-sponsored because it does not require a U.S. sponsoring employer.
EB2 green card petitions can be filed under Schedule A when the person’s job falls under the current Schedule occupations. Schedule A occupations are pre-certified by the U.S. Department of Labor as having a shortage in available and qualified U.S. workers. EB2 Schedule A green card petitions still require a job offer from a U.S. sponsoring employer and cannot be self-sponsored, however, the PERM labor certificate can be waived.
EB2 Schedule A Group I green card petitions are for persons who are professional nurses and physical therapists. EB2 Schedule A Group II green card petitions are for persons who have exceptional ability in the performing arts, sciences, or arts. They must additionally prove that they have achieved widespread acclaim and international recognition by experts in their field, and that their work during the past year and in the future requires exceptional ability.
Green cards that require sponsorship from an employer means that the beneficiary (which is the person who will be getting the green card) would need a U.S. employer (e.g., company) to file a green card petition for them and pay the fees related to the green card petition. For example, regular EB2 green card petitions are required to be “sponsored” by a U.S. company which means that the person’s EB2 green card petition has to be started and paid by a U.S. employer.
On the contrary, green cards that allow “self-sponsorship” means that a person can file and pay for their own green card application. For example, “self-sponsorship” is available under the EB2 green card petitions for certain people who can qualify for a National Interest Waiver (NIW) by showing they can benefit the United States as a nation or a Physician’s National Interest Waiver (PNIW) by showing that their work as a doctor is in the U.S. public interest. This is because the national interest waivers or physician’s national interest waivers filed with EB2 green card petitions do not require PERM labor certifications and sponsorship from a U.S. employer which in turn allows the person to self-sponsor (i.e., to apply and pay for) their own EB2 green card petition.
The process for EB2 green card petitions requires (1) filing a green card petition (Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers) with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), (2) receiving an approved PERM labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) unless the occupation falls under Schedule A or if it is filed with a National Interest Waiver (NIW) or a Physician’s National Interest Waiver (PNIW), and (3) a change of status application by either filing a Form I-485 application with the USCIS or a DS-260 application with the Department of State (“DOS”).
For most EB2 green cards petitions, before filing the EB2 green card petition with the USCIS, the U.S. sponsoring employer must obtain a PERM labor certification with the DOL first. The PERM labor certification can be approved by the DOL if the U.S. sponsoring employer shows that it has made efforts in recruiting U.S. workers but failed to find any to fill the job position. The PERM labor certification process with the DOL involves the U.S. employer posting job advertisements on certain recruiting platforms and interviewing U.S. workers who respond to those job advertisements. This PERM labor certification process can be avoided if the person’s occupation falls under Schedule A or a National Interest Waiver (NIW) or a Physician’s National Interest Waiver (PNIW) is filed together with the EB2 green card petition. After the PERM labor certificate is approved and issued by the DOL, the EB2 green card petition (that includes the approved PERM labor certificate) can then be filed with the USCIS.
Usually, after the approval of the EB2 green card petition (Form I-140), a person who is already residing in the United States will choose to file a Form I-485 application to adjust their current nonimmigrant visa status to a lawful permanent resident (green card) visa status without leaving the United States. The Form I-485 application (“Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status”) is only available to people who are already in the United States and have maintained their lawful visa status throughout their stay.
A person already residing in the United States also can choose to file a DS-260 application to change into a lawful permanent resident (green card) visa status by going through consular processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad (usually in the person’s home country). In cases where a person is ineligible for adjusting status in the United States or resides outside the United States, consular processing must be done. Consular processing usually takes place at the U.S. consulate or embassy in the person’s home country, however, under certain circumstances the person can do the consular processing in another country as a “Third Country National.”
An interview for the EB2 green card will be done at a local USCIS office for the adjustment of status or at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad for consular processing. For a person who is already in the United States adjusting their visa status, the interview approval is the final step in obtaining their EB2 green card.
For a person who is outside the United States doing consular processing, the person must physically enter the United States after the interview approval as the final step to obtain their EB2 green card. In other words, a person who is doing consular processing to obtain their EB2 green card must be admitted by the CBP (“Customs and Border Protection”) officer at the U.S. border (usually done in the secondary inspection room at the airport) for their EB2 green card to be issued.
Regular EB2 green card petitions must be “employer sponsored” which means that you would need to have a job offer from a U.S. sponsoring employer and there must be an approved “labor certification” from the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”). The PERM labor certificate is a process with the U.S. Department of Labor where the U.S. employer will have to show an effort in trying to hire available and qualified U.S. workers for the job position offered to the foreign worker. The purpose of the PERM labor certification is to make sure that hiring foreign workers will not harm U.S. workers. The PERM labor certification process includes posting job advertisements on certain recruitment platforms and interviewing the U.S. workers who respond to those job postings. An approved PERM labor certification usually takes around 6 to 12 months to complete.
An approved PERM labor certificate should show that (1) there is not enough qualified, available and willing U.S. workers to fill the job position that the foreign worker is being offered, (2) the wage offered should be at least the prevailing wage of the geographical area where the employment will be located, and (3) the hiring of the foreign worker does not adversely affect the terms of wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
There are 3 exceptions that allow the PERM labor certificate to be waived under the EB2 green card petition: the PERM labor certificate is not required when the EB2 green card petition is filed with a (1) National Interest Waiver (NIW), (2) Physicians National Interest Waiver (PNIW), or (3) it falls under Schedule A.
Occupations under Schedule A are pre-certified by the U.S. Department of Labor as having a shortage in available and qualified U.S. workers which means that hiring foreign workers in those certain occupations will not harm U.S. workers. Current occupations under Schedule A include 2 groups: (1) Group I: professional nurses and physical therapists, and (2) Group II: persons of exceptional ability in the performing arts, sciences, or arts.
The main difference between an EB2 green card and a temporary work visa (such as an H1B visa, L1 visa, O1 visa, P1 visa, TN visa, E3 visa) is that an EB2 green card holder can change their jobs freely among different employers or industries without needing additional filings or approvals from the U.S. government. Also, unlike work visas, EB2 green cards are permanent so there is no set maximum time on how long an EB2 green card holder can stay in the United States.
For example, a person with an EB2 green card does not need to file anything new with the USCIS when they change jobs while a person with an H1B visa must have a Change of Employer H1B visa application filed for them because the H1B visa is tied to the specific U.S. employer that is sponsoring the H1B visa itself.
The EB2 visa is one of the most popular and common ways to obtain an employment-based green card. The EB2 green card petitions are filed for persons who are professionals with advanced degrees or persons who have exceptional ability in science, art, or business. Regular EB2 green card petitions require (1) a job offer from a U.S. employer that is willing to sponsor the green card petition, and (2) an approved PERM labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor unless the person also files for a National Interest Waiver (NIW) or a Physician’s National Interest Waiver (PNIW), or their occupations falls under Schedule A (Group I: professional nurses and physical therapists, Group II: exceptional ability in performing arts, science, arts).
If you have an EB2 green card immigration question, please fill out our contact us form or send us an email with some basic information about your background and your immigration needs. We will do our best to respond within 48 hours.
How we can help?
Kylie Huang Law’s immigration attorney will help identify whether the EB2 green card is the appropriate immigrant visa category for the client’s (or the client’s beneficiary’s) professional background. We will work closely with our client to prepare a convincing case for their (or it’s) EB2 green card petition and we will also strategize on how the EB2 green card petition should be presented to achieve the best chances of approval. It is strongly advised and common practice to retain an immigration attorney for an EB2 green card petition due to the complexities in the immigration process and visa requirements.
What does the typical process look like to retain (hire) us?
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- Fill out the form (with some basic information on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment online
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom meeting)
- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming contents of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the status of the case
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
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- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming contents of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the status of the case
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
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- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule appointment
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming content of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the case status
- Close the case when a final determination is issued