When one is considering their options to permanently immigrate to the U.S., the first two options they evaluate are often an employment based Green Card or a Family based Green Card. These two green card paths were created by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990. If you don’t have family in the U.S. who can sponsor you or that path is too lengthy, then you focus in on the work-based options.  

There are many important considerations when evaluating the EB (Employment Based) visa options, including:  

1. Am I qualified for this visa type?  

2. Can I afford this visa type?  

3. How long will it take?  

4. What are my chances of being approved for this visa?  

When answering these questions in your head, it eliminates many of the options for most people.  

EB1 visa: For individuals with extraordinary abilities. This includes Oscar winners, Olympic medalists, and Pulitzer Prize winners. It also covers individuals with national/international acclaim for their work and those with evidence of being an outstanding professor/researcher.  

EB2 visa: For individuals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability. This most often applies for high achieving individuals who have excelled in their given career of the United States. They must have demonstrated the ability to succeed after multiple years of work in their field.  

EB3 visa: This category has 3 sub-categories including Skilled Worker, Other Worker (also known as Unskilled worker), and Professional worker. In order to qualify for this visa, your work must be work that has no available qualified workers in the United States.  

EB4 visa: This category is designated for “special workers” which mainly includes religious workers. Some broadcasters, Afghan or Iraqi translators, members of U.S. armed forces, and more are included in this visa type.  

EB5: This visa category is also known as the investment visa program. To qualify, you must invest a significant amount of money in a U.S. business and prove that your investment will provide or preserve at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers.  

Unless you are extremely qualified, in a very niche situation, or have a great deal of capital to invest, the EB3 visa is often the only employment-based category left to pursue among the EB visas. This small visa category is giving the opportunity to many individuals around the world to achieve their American dream by living and working in the United States.  

Immigrant visa petitions can be long and expensive, so it is important to take this process seriously. With all immigrant visa petitions there is going to be a cost involved due to the legal fees and filing fees. Plus, most opt to work with outside agency or service provider to help them through the complicated process.  

To learn more about the EB-3 Visa, visit our website here.