– A. Immigration Application

A foreign citizen seeking to immigrate generally must be sponsored by a qualifying relative who must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, or prospective U.S. employer, and have an approved petition before applying for an immigrant visa.
There are two groups of family based immigrant visa categories, including immediate relatives and family preference categories.

a. Immediate Relative Immigration Visa

Immediate Relative Immigrant Visas (Unlimited): These categories of visas are based on a close family relationship with a United States (U.S.) citizen described as an Immediate Relative (IR). The number of immigrants in these categories is not limited each fiscal year.
Immediate relatives are:
• IR-1: Spouses of the U.S. Citizens;
• IR-2: Unmarried children under 21 years of age of the U.S. citizen;
• IR-3: Orphans adopted abroad by a U.S. citizen;
• IR-4: Orphans to be adopted in the U.S. by a U.S. Citizen;
• IR-5: Parents of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old.
To petition for a family member to immigrate to the United States or to receive a green card (permanent residence), you must begin by filing Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. This form establishes the family relationship that exists between you and your relative. Sometimes the I-130 can be filed together with an application for permanent residence, officially known as Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status if your relative is inside the U.S.. After the Petitioner (Applicant) submits the application forms and supporting documents, he/she will receive a receipt from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If the documents that the applicant submitted are not sufficient, flawed, and/or does not meet the requirements of the law, the USCIS might refuse to accept the application and/or ask for more supporting documents which would increase the application time. When preparing for this process, it would be best to consult or hire an experienced immigration attorney who can reduce the number of errors that may occur during the application process.
I-130 Petitioner has to sponsor the immigration visa applicant or I-485 applicant showing proof that the Petitioner has sufficient income and/or financial support within the U.S. When your relative begins to apply for an immigrant visa or submit an I-485 application, the Petitioner has to submit I-864, Affidavit of Support, and agrees to be the financial guarantor for the applicant. If the petitioner cannot meet the financial support requirements, another U.S citizen or green card holder can be the co-financial guarantor for the applicant.
Apply for your Fiancé (e)
If a U.S citizen wants to get married with a foreign fiancé (e), his/her fiancé (e) must apply to be a permanent resident in one of the following ways:
• If your fiancé (e) is outside of the United States, she/he can get a K-1 visa, and be invited to the United States for the marriage within 90 days. Once they get married, a U.S citizen can file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. During the pending time, your spouse can legally stay in the United States.
• If a U.S citizen gets married with his/her fiancé (e) outside the United States, after their marriage, the U.S citizen can file Form I-130 for his/her spouse;
• If a U.S citizen’s fiancé (e) with other visa and lawfully enter in the United States, the U.S citizen can file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and Form I-485,
• Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
K-1 Fiancé (e) Visas
If you petition for a fiancé (e) visa, you must show that:
• You (the petitioner) are a U.S. citizen.
• You intend to marry within 90 days of your fiancé (e) entering the United States.
• You and your fiancé (e) are both free to marry and any previous marriages must have been legally terminated by divorce, death, or annulment.
• You met each other, in person, at least once within 2 years of filing your petition. There are two exceptions that require a waiver.
1. If the requirement to meet would violate strict and long-established customs of your or your fiancé (e)’s foreign culture or social practice.
2. If you prove that the requirement to meet would result in extreme hardship to you.
After the Fiancé (e) Visa is Issued
Once issued, the fiancé (e) visa (or K-1 nonimmigrant visa) allows your fiancé (e) to enter the United States for 90 days so that your marriage ceremony can take place. Once you marry, your spouse may apply for permanent residence and remain in the United States while USCIS processes the application. For additional information, see the “Immigration application” section.
Treatment of I-129F petitions where the Department of State (DOS) refuses to issue the K-1 visa and returns the expired petition to USCIS.
Once USCIS receives a consular returned I-129F for K-1 classification from DOS and the petition has expired in accordance with 8 CFR214.2(k)(5), USCIS will allow the petition to remain expired and will not reaffirm or reopen the petition. Please note that this will not preclude the petitioner from filing another petition.
Children of Fiancé (e)
If your fiancé (e) has any children (under 21 and unmarried), a K-2 nonimmigrant visa may be available to him or her. Be sure to include the names of your fiancé (e)’s children on your Form I-129F petition.
Permission to Work
After admission, your fiancé (e) may immediately apply for permission to work by filing a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization with the USCIS Service Center having jurisdiction over your place of residence. Any work authorization based on a nonimmigrant fiancé (e) visa would be valid for only 90 days after entry. However, your fiancé (e) would also be eligible to apply for an extended work authorization at the same time as he or she files for permanent residence. In this case, your fiancé (e) would file Form I-765 together with Form I-485 as soon as you marry.
Status Expires If Not Marry Within 90 Days
Fiancé (e) status automatically expires after 90 days. It cannot be extended. Your fiancé (e) should leave the United States at the end of the 90 days if you do not marry. If your fiancé (e) does not depart, he or she will be in violation of U.S. immigration law. This may result in removal (deportation) and/or could affect future eligibility for U.S. immigration benefits.

a. Family Preference Immigrant Visa

Family Preference Immigrant Visas (Limited): These visa types are for specific, more distant, family relationships with a U.S. citizen and some specified relationships with a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). There are fiscal year numerical limitations on family preference immigrants, shown at the end of each category. Preference categories are grouped as follows:
• First preference: Unmarried, adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (adult means 21 or older)(23,400);
• Second Preference (2A): Spouses of green card holders, unmarried children (under 21) of permanent residents (26,300);
• Second Preference (2B): Unmarried adult sons and daughters of permanent residents (23,400);
• Third Preference: Married sons and daughters (any age) of U.S. citizens (23,400);
• Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens (65,000).
Whenever the number of qualified applicants for a category exceeds the available immigrant visas, there will be an immigration wait. In this situation, the available immigrant visas will be issued in the chronological order in which the petitions were filed using their priority date. The filing date of a petition becomes what is called the applicant's priority date. Immigrant visas cannot be issued until an applicant's priority date is reached. In certain categories where there are more approved petitions compared to available visas, there may be a waiting period of several years or more before a priority date is reached.
Please note that, in Second Preference (2B), the applicant alien cannot get married during the application process; otherwise, the approved I-130 will expire.
As for the applicant’s priority date, when the priority date is approaching, the applicant can subtract his/her child’s age and the time that the USCIS processes the application. If your result is less than 21 years old, your child’s age meet the required age.

a. Apply for Adopted Orphan

We encourage you to familiarize yourself with each adoption process as there are important differences from country to country.  An adoption agency will be able to help you arrange an adoption placement, but cannot represent you before USCIS or advise you on the legal aspects of your child’s immigration. If you want representation with adoption proceedings you may want to consider obtaining an attorney.
Laws
The intercountry adoption process is governed by three different sets of laws:
• U.S. Federal Law
• The laws of the child’s country of birth.
• The laws of where you reside (U.S. state/territory or foreign country).
Under the INA, a child who is adopted abroad while under the age of 16 and who has been in the legal custody, and has resided with, his or her adoptive parent(s) for at least two years may be the beneficiary of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) I-130 petition and receive an immigrant visa in the IR-2 category.
Most U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parents, however, are unable to live abroad to satisfy the two-year requirement. In such cases, children being adopted obtain an immigrant visa in one of two ways: one process applies to children in Hague Adoption Convention countries, and a separate process applies to children in countries that are not party to the Hague Adoption Convention.
U.S. Hague Convention Adoption Case
Follow these steps in a Convention case to complete the adoption and visa process:
1. Choose a U.S. Accredited or Approved Adoption Service Provider.
2. Apply to USCIS to be Found Suitable and Eligible to Adopt:  File Form I-800A – Determination on Suitability to Adopt a child from a Convention Country with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to establish your suitability as an adoptive parent.
3. Apply to the Country of Origin’s Authorities to Adopt and be Matched with a Child.
4. Apply to USCIS for the Child to be found Provisionally Eligible for Immigration to the United States as a Convention Adoptee and Receive U.S. Agreement to Proceed with the Adoption.
a. Submit a petition for a determination on the child’s immigration eligibility through the USCIS Form I-800 Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative.
b. Submit an immigrant visa application, Form DS-260, to the Embassy or Consulate responsible for processing immigrant visa applications for the child’s country of origin.
5. Adopt the Child or Obtain Legal Custody of the Child in the Country of Origin for Purposes of Emigration and Adoption
6. Complete the Application Process for a U.S. Immigrant Visa for your Child and Bring your Child Home:

After the adoption is completed, a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the child’s country of origin will complete the final adjudication of the petition. Generally, if the consular officer determines that the adoption was completed in accordance with the laws of the child’s country of origin and with Convention requirements, and there are no visa ineligibilities, the consular officer will issue final approval of the Form I-800 petition, issue either a Hague Adoption Certificate or Hague Custody Certificate, and an immigrant visa to the child.

Steps in the Non-Convention Adoption Process

Follow these steps in a non-Convention adoption case before applying for a child's visa:
1. Optional Filing of Form I-600A with USCIS:
USCIS must determine your suitability as an adoptive parent; you may file Form I-600A (Application of Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) to establish this. Form I-600A is not designed to evaluate a particular child's classification as an orphan. Filing it can help you get a head start on the intercountry adoption process. Together with Form I-600A, prospective adoptive parents submit a home study, their fingerprints, and other documents.
2. Adopt or obtain legal custody of the child:  Adopt or obtain legal custody of the child in his or her country of residence.
3. File Form I-600 with USCIS: File Form I-600 (Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative) and supporting documents with USCIS to establish that the child qualifies as an orphan under the INA. If you file the I-600 with a USCIS office in the United States, you may submit proof of your suitability to adopt at that time instead of using Form I-600A. If you are residing abroad, file the I-600 with the USCIS office in that country. For countries with no USCIS presence, consular officers at U.S. Embassies and Consulates may accept I-600s under limited circumstances, including prior USCIS approval of an I-600A that remains valid.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS - You must present the following documents with Form I-600:
• Child's original birth certificate or, if unavailable, a written explanation together with secondary evidence of identity and age (e.g. a re-issued birth certificate listing the adoptive parents);
• Evidence that the child either has no parents or a sole/surviving parent unable to provide proper care who has irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption;
• Evidence of adoption or intent to adopt.
• NOTE: Any foreign language documents submitted with the I-600 petition must be accompanied by a full English translation, which the translator has certified as complete and correct, along with the translator's certification that he or she is competent to translate the foreign language into English. If you file Form I-600 at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate, you must submit originals of the required documents along with the petition. If filing in the United States, USCIS permits petitioners to submit copies of some documents.
4. 1. USCIS or Consular Officer in Child's Country of Residence Completes Form I-604: The National Visa Center will notify you by letter when your case has been assigned to a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. The Embassy or Consulate will provide instructions on the next steps. A USCIS or consular officer in the child's country of residence then completes Form I-604 (Determination on Child for Adoption) to ensure the child has been properly classified as an orphan as defined by INA.
5. Schedule Visa Interview and Submit Visa Application: Once your Form I-600 has been approved, the Embassy or Consulate will schedule the child's visa interview. Submit the immigrant visa application (Form DS-260) at the interview. (Certain cases require the nonimmigrant visa application, Form DS-156, instead; check with your adoption service provider or the Embassy or Consulate.) The Embassy or Consulate will inform you of the documents needed for the interview, which include evidence of the adoption or grant of legal custody and the results of the child's medical exam.
REQUIRED FEES - Pay visa processing fees.
6. Embassy or Consulate Issues the Visa: If no ineligibilities are found, the consular officer issues your child the IR-3 or IR-4 visa.

The INA identifies ineligibilities, or reasons that disqualify a foreign national from receiving a visa. In some cases, a visa applicant may apply to USCIS for a waiver of ineligibility.

The INA identifies ineligibilities, or reasons that disqualify a foreign national from receiving a visa. In some cases, a visa applicant may apply to USCIS for a waiver of ineligibility.

d. First Preference Employment Based Immigration (EB-1)

You may be eligible for an employment-based, first-preference visa if you have an extraordinary ability, are an outstanding professor or researcher, or are a multinational executive or manager. Each occupational category has certain requirements that must be met:
Eligibility Criteria

*Criteria for Demonstrating Extraordinary Ability
You must meet 3 out of the 10 listed criteria below to prove extraordinary ability in your field:
• Evidence of receipt of lesser nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence
• Evidence of your membership in associations in the field which demand outstanding achievement of their members
• Evidence of published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media
• Evidence that you have been asked to judge the work of others, either individually or on a panel
• Evidence of your original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance to the field
• Evidence of your authorship of scholarly articles in professional or major trade publications or other major media
• Evidence that your work has been displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases
• Evidence of your performance of a leading or critical role in distinguished organizations
• Evidence that you command a high salary or other significantly high remuneration in relation to others in the field
• Evidence of your commercial successes in the performing arts
** Examples of Documentary Evidence That a Person is an Outstanding Professor or Researcher
• Evidence of receipt of major prizes or awards for outstanding achievement
• Evidence of membership in associations that require their members to demonstrate outstanding achievement
• Evidence of published material in professional publications written by others about the alien's work in the academic field
• Evidence of participation, either on a panel or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same or allied academic field
• Evidence of original scientific or scholarly research contributions in the field
• Evidence of authorship of scholarly books or articles (in scholarly journals with international circulation) in the field

Application Process
• Extraordinary Ability: You may petition for yourself by filing a Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.
• Outstanding Professors and Researchers: Your employer must file a Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.
• Multinational Manager or Executive: Your employer must file USCIS Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker. (Reference: https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-first-preference-eb-1 )

e. Second Preference Employment Based Immigration (EB-2)

You may be eligible for an employment-based, second preference visa if you are a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or its equivalent, or a foreign national who has exceptional ability. Below are the occupational categories and requirements:
Eligibility Criteria

Criteria
• Official academic record showing that you have a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award from a college, university, school, or other institution of learning relating to your area of exceptional ability
• Letters documenting at least 10 years of full-time experience in your occupation
• A license to practice your profession or certification for your profession or occupation
• Evidence that you have commanded a salary or other remuneration for services that demonstrates your exceptional ability
• Membership in a professional association(s)
• Recognition for your achievements and significant contributions to your industry or field by your peers, government entities, professional or business organizations
• Other comparable evidence of eligibility is also acceptable.
Note: Employment-based, second-preference petitions must generally be accompanied by an approved individual labor certification from the Department of Labor on Form ETA-750.
To qualify for an EB-2 visa, your employer must file a Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.
Reference: https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-second-preference-eb-2

f. Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3

You may be eligible for this immigrant visa preference category if you are a skilled worker, professional, or other worker.
• “Skilled workers” are persons whose job requires a minimum of 2 years training or work experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature
• “Professionals” are persons whose job requires at least a U.S. baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent and are a member of the professions
• The “other workers” subcategory is for persons performing unskilled labor requiring less than 2 years of training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature.
Eligibility Criteria

Note: While eligibility requirements for the third preference classification are less stringent, you should be aware that a long backlog exists for visas in the "other workers" category.
U.S. Department of Labor – Labor Certification
Third preference petitions must generally be accompanied by an approved, individual labor certification from the Department of Labor on Form ETA-9089.
Application Process
Your employer (petitioner) must file a Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker. As part of the application process, your employer must be able to demonstrate an ability to pay the offered wage as of your visa priority date. Your employer may use an annual report, federal income tax return, or audited financial statement to demonstrate an ability to pay your wage.
(Reference:https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-third-preference-eb-3 )

g. Employment-Based Immigration: Fourth Preference EB-4

You may be eligible for an employment-based, fourth preference visa if you are a special immigrant. The following special immigrants are eligible for the fourth preference visa:
• Religious Workers
• Broadcasters
• Iraqi/Afghan Translators
• Iraqis Who Have Assisted the United States
• International Organization Employees
• Physicians
• Armed Forces Members
• Panama Canal Zone Employees
• Retired NATO-6 employees
• Spouses and Children of Deceased NATO-6 employees
(Reference:https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fourth-preference-eb-4 )

h. EB-5 Visa

(Reference:https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-eb-5-visa)
Visa Description
USCIS administers the EB-5 program, created by Congress in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. Under a pilot program enacted in 1992, and regularly reauthorized since then, investors may also qualify for EB-5 visas by investing through regional centers designated by USCIS based on proposals for promoting economic growth.
The EB-5 Adjudications Policy Memorandum is the guiding document for USCIS administration of the EB-5 program. It builds upon prior policy guidance for adjudicating EB-5 and is applicable to, and binding on, all USCIS employees.
All EB-5 investors must invest in a new commercial enterprise, which is a commercial enterprise:
• Established after Nov. 29, 1990, or
• Established on or before Nov. 29, 1990, that is:
1. Purchased and the existing business is restructured or reorganized in such a way that a new commercial enterprise results, or
2. Expanded through the investment so that a 40-percent increase in the net worth or number of employees occurs
Commercial enterprise means any for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business including, but not limited to:
• A sole proprietorship
• Partnership (whether limited or general)
• Holding company
• Joint venture
• Corporation
• Business trust or other entity, which may be publicly or privately owned
This definition includes a commercial enterprise consisting of a holding company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, provided that each such subsidiary is engaged in a for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of a lawful business.
Note: This definition does not include noncommercial activity such as owning and operating a personal residence.
Job Creation Requirements
• Create or preserve at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers within two years (or under certain circumstances, within a reasonable time after the two-year period) of the immigrant investor’s admission to the United States as a Conditional Permanent Resident.
• Create or preserve either direct or indirect jobs:
• Direct jobs are actual identifiable jobs for qualified employees located within the commercial enterprise into which the EB-5 investor has directly invested his or her capital.
• Indirect jobs are those jobs shown to have been created collaterally or as a result of capital invested in a commercial enterprise affiliated with a regional center by an EB-5 investor. A foreign investor may only use the indirect job calculation if affiliated with a regional center.
Note: Investors may only be credited with preserving jobs in a troubled business.
A troubled business is an enterprise that has been in existence for at least two years and has incurred a net loss during the 12- or 24-month period prior to the priority date on the immigrant investor’s Form I-526. The loss for this period must be at least 20 percent of the troubled business’ net worth prior to the loss. For purposes of determining whether the troubled business has been in existence for two years, successors in interest to the troubled business will be deemed to have been in existence for the same period of time as the business they succeeded.
A qualified employee is a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or other immigrant authorized to work in the United States. The individual may be a conditional resident, an asylum, a refugee, or a person residing in the United States under suspension of deportation. This definition does not include the immigrant investor; his or her spouse, sons, or daughters; or any foreign national in any nonimmigrant status (such as an H-1B visa holder) or who is not authorized to work in the United States.
Full-time employment means employment of a qualifying employee by the new commercial enterprise in a position that requires a minimum of 35 working hours per week. In the case of the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, "full-time employment" also means employment of a qualifying employee in a position that has been created indirectly from investments associated with the Pilot Program.
A job-sharing arrangement whereby two or more qualifying employees share a full-time position will count as full-time employment provided the hourly requirement per week is met. This definition does not include combinations of part-time positions or full-time equivalents even if, when combined, the positions meet the hourly requirement per week. The position must be permanent, full-time and constant. The two qualified employees sharing the job must be permanent and share the associated benefits normally related to any permanent, full-time position, including payment of both workman’s compensation and unemployment premiums for the position by the employer.
Capital Investment Requirements
Capital means cash, equipment, inventory, other tangible property, cash equivalents and indebtedness secured by assets owned by the alien entrepreneur, provided that the alien entrepreneur is personally and primarily liable and that the assets of the new commercial enterprise upon which the petition is based are not used to secure any of the indebtedness. All capital shall be valued at fair-market value in United States dollars. Assets acquired, directly or indirectly, by unlawful means (such as criminal activities) shall not be considered capital for the purposes of section 203(b)(5) of the Act.
Note: Investment capital cannot be borrowed.
Required minimum investments are:
• General. The minimum qualifying investment in the United States is $1 million.
• Targeted Employment Area (High Unemployment or Rural Area). The minimum qualifying investment either within a high-unemployment area or rural area in the United States is $500,000.
A targeted employment area is an area that, at the time of investment, is a rural area or an area experiencing unemployment of at least 150 percent of the national average rate.
A rural area is any area outside a metropolitan statistical area (as designated by the Office of Management and Budget) or outside the boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more according to the decennial census.

(Reference:https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-eb-5-visa)

National Interest Waiver (NIW)

Below are some key requirements you must fulfill to demonstrate that your request to waive the job offer requirement and, therefore, the labor certification, is in the "national interest." For each requirement, we have included forms of evidence that you may submit to meet the requirement and other tips to help you prepare your petition.
As there is no statutory or regulatory definition of the term “national interest”, USCIS relies on a 1998 Administrative Appeals Office precedent decision setting forth a three-prong test for evaluating requests for a national interest waiver. See Matter of New York State Department of Transportation, 22 I&N Dec. 215 (Comm’r 1998) (“NYSDOT”). These three prongs are outlined below.
Requirement 1 – You must show that you plan on working in the United States in an area of substantial intrinsic merit.
Under the first prong of the NYSDOT test, it is important for you to focus on the proposed employment. USCIS will look at your documents to determine whether the importance of your proposed work is readily apparent.  Some of the evidence you may submit to demonstrate that you plan on working in the United States in an area of substantial intrinsic merit includes:
• A letter from you and/or your company describing the work and its importance
• Articles or other published media discussing your and/or your company’s work and its importance
• Letters from experts in the field attesting to your work and its importance
• Testimonial letters should include information about the expert’s own credentials, such as a C.V.
Requirement 2: You must show that the proposed impact of your work is national in scope.
While your employment may be limited to a particular geographic area, you must establish a benefit to more than a particular region of the country. Under the second prong of the NYSDOT test, you must demonstrate that the proposed benefit to be provided will be national in scope. USCIS will give due consideration to entrepreneurs who establish that their entrepreneurial enterprise will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than the work of others in the same field. Some of the evidence you may submit to demonstrate that the proposed impact of your work is national in scope includes:
• Published articles or media reports
• Copies of contracts, agreements, or licenses showing the scope and impact
• Letters from current and former employers discussing your work and its national importance
• Letters from experts in the field attesting to your work and its national importance
Testimonial letters should include information about the expert’s own credentials, such as a C.V.
Requirement 3: You must show waiving the labor certification requirement would benefit the national interest of the United States
The purpose of the labor certification process is to protect the national interests of the United States by ensuring that the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers employed in the same field would not be adversely affected. Thus, when deciding whether to grant a waiver of the labor certification requirement, USCIS looks at all of the evidence to see whether the national benefits you offer are so great that they outweigh the national interests inherent in the labor certification process. This means that your evidence must show that you serve the national interest to a substantially greater extent than the majority of your colleagues and that you have a degree of influence on your field that distinguishes you from your colleagues. The national interest evaluation is prospective. This means you must show that you have a past record of specific prior achievements that indicate future benefits to the national interests of the United States.
Demonstrating that your business enterprise will create jobs for U.S. workers or otherwise enhance the welfare of the United States may qualify you for an NIW.  However, you still have to show that the creation of jobs domestically for U.S. workers may serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than the work of others in the same field.
Some of the evidence you may submit to demonstrate that waiving the labor certification requirement would benefit the national interests of the United States includes:
• Copies of published articles that cite or otherwise recognize your achievements
• Copies of grants or other funding you received listing the amount and terms of the grants, as well as the principal and co-investigators
• Documents showing how your work is being implemented by others, for example:
• Contracts with companies using your or your company’s products
• Documents showing licensed technology that you and/or your company invented or co-invented, and how that licensed technology is being used by others
• Patents or licenses awarded to you and/or your company with documents showing how they are being used and why they are significant to your field.

Permanent Workers

Reference: https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers
Approximately 140,000 immigrant visas are available each fiscal year for aliens (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.
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

Aliens employed in the U.S. may have a U.S. Tax obligation.
• Taxation of Resident Aliens
Permanent Worker Visa Preference Categories