Characteristics of Green Cards
- Green cards are permanent visas, allowing you to reside legally in the United States on a perpetual basis.
- A foreign national may qualify for a green card through family relations, employment, significant investments or through special circumstances:
- Family: you qualify for a green card if you are the immediate family member (spouse, parent, child or sibling) of a US citizen, or if you are engaged to a US citizen. You also qualify if you are the spouse or unmarried child of a permanent legal resident of the US. In all these cases, the US citizen or legal resident must be the one who files the petition on your behalf.
- Employment: obtaining a green card through employment usually requires the process of Labor Certification. The exceptions to this are immigration accomplished through the EB1 Visa and National Interest Waivers.
- Investments: a green card can be obtained by investing in specific ways in the US economy and immigrating via theEB5 Visa.
- Special Circumstances: a Foreign national qualifies for special immigrant status if he or she is a religious worker, a medical doctor, has worked at the Panama Canal or for an international organization, is a juvenile court dependent, a member of the US Armed Forces, or is a citizen of either Iraq or Afghanistan who has worked for the US Government in those countries. Foreign nationals may also file for asylum.
- Family: you qualify for a green card if you are the immediate family member (spouse, parent, child or sibling) of a US citizen, or if you are engaged to a US citizen. You also qualify if you are the spouse or unmarried child of a permanent legal resident of the US. In all these cases, the US citizen or legal resident must be the one who files the petition on your behalf.
Our Services
If you are considering filing an H1B visa petition for the international staffing of your own business, contact us for a free consultation to discuss your needs and how we can assist you in the process. Our attorneys are experienced in dealing with unique business situations, and have represented many clients in successfully obtaining employment visas for hiring foreign national.
We can advise you with recommendations for your global hiring plans based on the latest immigration regulations, and will take into account any special factors that may apply to your industry or involvement with international trade. With three offices in California and Oregon in the western United States, we are happy to meet with you in person or discuss your employment immigration needs by phone.