Employment-Based Green Card Sponsors

Many foreign nationals are eager to live in the U.S. without the restrictions of being a non-permanent resident or visitor. You can become a permanent resident of the U.S. if you are approved for a green card, and after living in the U.S. as a green card holder for five years, you can apply for citizenship status.

As a green card holder, you can live in this country indefinitely, as long as you don’t let your green card expire without being renewed. Those with green cards can also apply to become naturalized U.S. citizens after a certain period of time.

This method to become a lawful permanent U.S. resident is a highly desired one, as green card holders are welcome to live in the U.S. for the rest of their lives and receive almost the same benefits as citizens.

As a green card holder, you have the benefit to:

• Travel inside and outside of the U.S.
• Apply for U.S. citizenship after five years (three years if you’re married to a U.S. citizen)
• Sponsor certain relatives for visas or green cards so they can join them in the U.S.
• Be eligible for government financial aid for college tuition
• Renew a green card every 10 years
• Make financial contributions to U.S. election candidates

You can hire a green card lawyer to help you through this process. The application process does not require legal representation, but it’s a lengthy and tricky process, especially if English is your second language.

Since green cards are a frequently sought-after way to legally live in the country, many choose to consult legal help for permanent residency through a permanent residency attorney in Los Angeles. A permanent residency attorney will have the legal expertise required to execute this process correctly.

There are several channels that you can choose to go through in order to apply for a green card. Someone who is already in the U.S. as a citizen or green card holder can petition for you to come to the country on a family or employment basis. Some immigrants have found a loophole for hyper-specific cases; you can have a family member who owns a U.S. business petition you through an employment-based green card.

Employment-Based Green Card Overview

About 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are given out by the U.S. government each year to foreigners who are coming to the country to work, and these visas are made possible by a U.S. employer that decides to hire someone outside the country to work for them. Because their immigration serves to support the U.S. economy, employer-sponsored immigrant visas are prioritized over those who are sponsored by family members.

Employment-based green cards are divided into five preference categories:

1. Priority Worker and Persons of Extraordinary Ability
2. Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability
3. Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Unskilled Workers
4. Certain Special Immigrants
5. Immigrant Investors

Certain spouses and children may legally accompany employment-based green card holders when they immigrate to the country.

In order to be eligible for an employment-based immigrant visa, you will need help from the company in the U.S. that is hiring you. They will serve as your sponsor, making you the beneficiary in the eyes of the immigration courts.

Generally, the U.S. sponsor needs to prove that you are the best worker for the job, and that they could not find American workers that were as competent as you. This is a requirement for all employment-based visas, and since the person hiring you is related to you, proving that you are the person best-suited for the job is even more crucial – and difficult.

Petitioning an Employee for a Green Card if You Are a Family Member

Due to the crowded application process, many foreign nationals have been coming up with clever ways to expedite this process. It’s possible for a family member who happens to own a U.S. business to sponsor a foreign-born family member to become an employee of their company.

To put it simply, having a business owner sponsor a family member as an employee can work, but you have to be very careful about going through this process. It’s recommended that you consult the expertise of an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles.

Sponsoring a family member through an employment-based green card can have its perks, but it also comes with precautions that all law offices of immigration will warn you about. You may want to choose this route because:

• The family member that can sponsor you is too distant a relative to sponsor you for a family-based green card
• Employment-based green cards take less time to process. A family-based immigrant visa can take over a decade.

Those who are looking to achieve a green card through this unconventional method should tread lightly, as you have to deal with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as well as Department of Labor’s regulations regarding visa sponsorships. Just like any other immigration application, your application can be rejected if you fill it out wrong or neglect to reveal every bit of information either agency wants to know.

The perilous path is why many immigrants choose to rely on professional legal help for permanent residency. You must meet certain requirements in order to show the U.S. Department of Labor that your hiring decision and application are both legitimate and in good faith.

Application & PERM Certification

In order to receive an employment-based visa, you and your sponsor must go through a certification process to prove to the government that there are no U.S. workers that are more qualified and suited for the position that you are. The PERM Certification is put in place to keep companies from giving foreign workers jobs that could be given to American citizens.

In order to qualify to begin the PERM process, the following requirements must first be met:

• You must have an existing job offer by a U.S. employer for a permanent position.
• The offered wages are required to be equal or above the DOL prevailing wage, meaning the pay is comparable to the average wage of other workers in that position in the same city.
• The local job market has been analyzed for qualified candidates, and your employer found no one that is as suitable as you. The DOL can request supplementary documentation of recruiting efforts if necessary, which they will probably do when they see you are related.
• The U.S. employer should create and update a record with additional proof of all recruitment attempts.

The DOL has a very broad definition of family members, and it’s much more broad than the family members qualified to sponsor a family-based visa. According to the DOL, a “familial relationship includes any relationship established by blood, marriage, or adoption, even if distant.” All cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, and step-family members are considered eligible family members by the DOL.

“Is the employer a closely held corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship in which the [sponsored person] has an ownership interest, or is there a familial relationship between the owners, stockholders, partners, corporate officers, incorporators, and the [sponsored person]?”

This is the chief question surrounding your application, and you must answer it clearly and truthfully. If you do not, there will be serious consequences regarding your eligibility for a green card.

Due to the broad definition of eligible family members and the great advantage given to those applying for employment-based green cards over family-based green cards, the DOL has very strict regulations regarding disclosure of the relationship. Your application will be quickly denied if you or your sponsor are dishonest in any way.

Factors Considered by the Department of Labor (300)

You don’t want the DOL to assume that you are trying to bypass the family-member sponsored visa process in favor of the visa for foreign workers. As you can assume, this is something that they closely look out for, so you must submit a solid application.

In addition to your relationship with your sponsor being scrutinized, your relationship with the company will be examined. From an ethics standpoint, the DOL must make sure that you did not have a hand in the company’s hiring decision in any way.

The DOL will examine whether the sponsored family member:

• May influence hiring decisions
• Is related to company directors, officers, or employees
• Incorporated or founded the company
• Owns part or all of the company
• Participates in company management
• Serves on the company’s board of directors
• Is one of only few employees
• Is uniquely qualified for the job
• Is essential for the continued operations of the company

In addition to the above concerns regarding the beneficiary, the sponsor will be scrutinized as well.

First, the owners of the company need to be able to prove that there is a legitimate job opening at their business. They should have a detailed job description on file listing the job title, duties, and application requirements.

Second, the employer needs to have legitimate documentation of your qualifications for the position. The beneficiary’s qualifications can be proved through an accurate resume and work samples.

Thirdly, the sponsoring company must be very careful regarding the decision to choose a foreign applicant over any others. They must document everything from the job posting process to the interview process to the application review process. Other candidates who apply must be seriously considered for the position, and the employer should use its usual recruitment protocols. Since there is a conflict of interest, it may be a good idea for them to enlist in a third party interviewer to conduct job candidate screenings and thereby enhance the integrity of the recruitment effort.

Hiring an Immigration Lawyer in Los Angeles

Applying for a green card is already tricky, but the delicate nature of this specific situation should make you even more cautious when proceeding with your application. It’s helpful to hire an immigration attorney to ensure that you are doing everything correctly.

By hiring a skilled immigration lawyer at Grey Law, you are much more likely to pass through the green card application process smoothly and successfully.

However, becoming a permanent resident is not the same as being a citizen, as you do not:

• Have the right to vote
• Get priority in sponsoring family members for green cards
• Obtain citizenship for children born outside the U.S.
• Become an elected official
• Travel with a U.S. passport
• Receive 100% protection from deportation

The good news is that you can apply for citizenship after a certain period of time as a permanent resident. If you are in this situation and you wish to achieve naturalization, you should rely on legal counsel with experience and connections in the U.S. immigration system.

Grey Law is an office for legal immigration help in Los Angeles that can advise you on the best path to permanent residency or citizenship, and they will also work to help you along the way. With the ever-changing U.S. immigration laws, Grey Law can give you peace of mind knowing that you are in the hands of a knowledgeable and experienced law firm.