With minimal exceptions, all EB-2 and employment EB-3 green card applications require that the employer acquire a Labor Certification from the U.S. Department of Labor. For petitions requiring this step, the Labor Certification process is frequently the hardest and most tough step. Prior to being able to submit the Labor Certification application, the company must acquire a prevailing wage from the Department of Labor and show that there are no minimally qualified U.S. employees offered for the positions through the conclusion of a competitive recruitment process.

In the case of positions which contain teaching tasks, employment the employer needs to document that the picked candidate is the "finest qualified" for the position. This procedure is frequently called "Special Handling."

In both the "fundamental" and the "special handling" procedure, the company must complete a formal recruitment process to record that there are no minimally qualified U.S. workers available or that, in the case of positions that have a mentor component, that the chosen prospect is the very best qualified. It prevails that this recruitment procedure should be finished well after the foreign nationwide employee began their position at the University.

As soon as the Labor Certification has been filed with the Department of Labor, the "priority date" for the candidate is established. This date is very important to figure out when somebody can finish step # 3, i.e. the Adjustment of Status. (If no Labor Certification is required, the priority date is developed with the filing of the Immigrant Petition/ Form I-140.

2. Immigrant Petition

Once the Department of Labor approves the Labor Certification, the Immigrant Petition (Form I-140) can be submitted with USCIS. In cases where no Labor Certification is needed (e.g. EB-1), the filing of the I-140 is the very first step of the green card procedure.

3. Adjustment of Status or an Immigrant Visa

Once the I-140 application has actually been approved by USCIS, the foreign national can request the change of their non-immigrant status (Form I-485) to that of a legal irreversible homeowner. Instead of getting the Adjustment of Status, a foreign national may likewise get an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad.

The I-485 Adjustment of Status application can not be submitted till and unless the "top priority date" is present. In practice this suggests that, depending upon one's nation of birth and EB-category, there might be a backlog. The stockpile exists due to the fact that more people apply for permits in an offered category than there are available permit visa numbers. The total variety of green cards is additional limited by the fact that, with some exceptions, no greater than 7 percent of all permits in a given preference classification can go to individuals born in a provided country. The backlog is updated every month by the U.S. Department of State and is released in the Visa Bulletin.

Once somebody's priority date date has actually been reached, as shown in the Visa Bulletin, the I-485 can be filed. The priority date is the date on which the Labor Certification was filed with the Department of Labor, or, if no Labor Certification was required, USCIS received the I-140 petition.

Note that the Visa Bulletin includes two separate tables with priority cut-off dates. The real cut-off dates are indicated in table A "Application Final Action Dates for Employment-based Preference Cases." However, in some instances, USCIS may accept the I-485 application if the concern date is existing based on table B "Dates for Filing of Employment-based Visa Applications." Note that USCIS will make a decision whether Table B might be used a number of days after the main Visa Bulletin is released. USCIS publishes this details on its website devoted to the Visa Bulletin.

In many cases, it might be possible to file the I-140 and employment I-485 at the same time. This is not always recommended, even if it is possible. If the I-140 is rejected, the I-485 will also be rejected if submitted simultaneously.