Understanding the Visa Bulletin:
Employment-Based Visas

Former INS Attorney Carl Shusterman explains employment-based visa categories:

• EB-1 Priority Workers
• EB-2 Advanced Degreed Professionals, NIWs, Exceptional Ability
• EB-3 Professional, Skilled and Unskilled Workers
• EB-4 Special Immigrants
• EB-5 Investors

He explains important considerations in applying for EB visas including acceptance limitations, principal and derivative beneficiary constraints, priority dates, alternate chargeability, as well as the implications that immigration reform may have on EB visas.

In the video, Attorney Carl Shusterman explains how you may qualify for a green card in the employment-based visa categories and explains how you may be able to shorten your wait. Currently a quota of 140,000 people and a 7% cap from each country cause certain countries and categories to experience much longer relative waiting times. As a result, it is recommended that you look at the US State Department’s Visa Bulletin as a rough indicator of how long your wait may be. However, because the visa bulletin shows the waiting times of people currently receiving their visas, it is an indicator of past waiting times, not current ones. Unfortunately, waiting times for current applicants are often much longer. For a more accurate estimate, you should consider your priority date (the day that the government received your employer’s PERM application for you) and how quickly your category is advancing each month.

Client Reviews

Employment-Based Visa Resources

• Green Cards Through Employment
• PERM Resources