Guide to U.S. Work Visa Types: Find the Right Visa for Your Career Goals

Guide to U.S. Work Visa Types: Find the Right Visa for Your Career Goals was originally published on CitizenPath.

The United States has long been a destination for economic opportunity. Immigrants have a significant history in American business as contributors and creators. They have labored in fields and factories, and immigrants have also built some of the largest U.S. businesses. There are many types of U.S. work visas and immigration statuses that may provide employment privileges in the United States. The rules for each can vary. This is not a comprehensive list of all possibilities, but we’ve compiled a list of some of the more popular U.S. work visa types.

Table of Contents

Immigrant Visas (Permanent Employment-Based Immigration)

The U.S. government issues immigrant visas, otherwise known as green cards, to permanent residents. There are very few restrictions on employment for permanent residents. Except for employment designated for U.S. citizens only, green card holders can generally work for any employer and switch employers as desired. Proof of employment authorization is the green card.

Immigrant visas always come with permission to work. Therefore, anyone granted a green card has many employment options. There are certain green cards granted for employment-based reasons. In other words, the type of employment makes the applicant eligible for a green card. Generally, employment-based green cards must have an employer sponsor. These include:

EB-1: Priority Workers

The first preference EB-1 category is for priority workers. It’s broken down into three categories reserved for persons of extraordinary ability (EB-1A), outstanding professors and researchers (EB-1B), and multinational executives and managers (EB-1C). In most cases a U.S. employer must extend a permanent offer of employment and file an employment-based petition. However, self-sponsorship, based on qualifications, is available in the EB-1A extraordinary ability category. U.S. law limits the annual limit to 40,000 EB-1 visas, and per-country limits can further limit visas issued.

EB-2: Professionals with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability

The second preference EB-2 category is for members of professions holding an advanced degree or its equivalent or a foreign national who has exceptional ability in the arts, science, or business. Generally, EB-2 visas require approved individual labor certification from the Department of Labor. However, certain foreign nationals may qualify for a National Interest Waiver. The U.S. will grant National interest waivers to those who have exceptional ability and whose employment in the United States would greatly benefit the nation.

EB-3: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Unskilled Workers

The third preference EB-3 category is for skilled workers with at least two years of training or experience, professionals with college degrees, or “other” workers for unskilled labor that is not temporary or seasonal. While the EB-3 visa does have a less stringent set of requirements, there is also a longer backlog. Many people are interested in this type of work visa.

All cases in the employment-based, third preference (EB-3) and most cases in the second preference (EB-2) categories require employment sponsorship and approval of PERM labor.

The permanent labor certification program (commonly known as PERM) verifies that there are not sufficient U.S. workers able, willing, qualified and available to accept the job opportunity in the area of intended employment and that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. In most instances, before the U.S. employer can submit an immigration petition to the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the employer must obtain a certified labor certification application from the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA).rom USCIS only once to transfer multiple managerial, executive, and professional employees. Employees are granted an L-1 visa for an initial period of three years that can be extended up to a maximum of seven years.

O-1 Visa: Aliens of Extraordinary Ability

The O-1 is a U.S. work visa type that enables U.S. employers to recruit foreign nationals with certain extraordinary abilities. The O-1A visa includes individuals with an extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics. Additionally, the O-1B visa covers individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts or the extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry. Immigration law provides O-1 visa holders with an initial period of stay of up to three years, and recipients can potentially extend the in one-year increments.

TN Visa: NAFTA TN Professional

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created what’s known as the TN visa. The TN visa is available to qualifying nationals of Canada and Mexico for the purpose of working for a U.S. employer. But there are very specific eligibility requirements. Only certain professions may apply for this U.S. work visa type. The list contains a variety of occupations including: accountants, architects, engineers, designers, lawyers, pharmacists, scientists and teachers. Generally, the visa applicant must possess a Bachelor’s degree or higher to be considered a professional in the TN category. TN professionals are granted an initial period of stay of three years with possible extensions of stay for another three years.