Self-Petitioning for a Green Card

Most of the employment based green card applications require a sponsorship from employer.  Many employers do not wish to sponsor foreign workers to keep them dependable on the employer longer in H-1B, G-4, L-1A, L-1B or any other nonimmigrant status.  Some organizations simply do not sponsor foreign workers as a policy matter. The companies include certain huge IT consultancy corporations and international organizations (IMF, World Bank, IFC, UN, etc.)

Many bright foreign workers wonder if having an employer is a must for applying for a green card.  The answer is no. Self-petition, i.e. filing a green card application without an employer is possible. 

There are several ways to self-petition for a green card.  We will discuss the most common options that the best immigration attorneys use.

The first is National Interest Waiver, commonly known as NIW. This is Employment Based category 2 petition (EB-2).

The second is Extraordinary Ability Employment Based category 1 petition (EB-1 or E11).

The National Interest Waiver.  Normally, to get a green card there must be a permanent job offer from a US employer and a completed Labor Certification. A National Interest Waiver is a request to USCIS to waive the labor certification requirements because of the “national interest of the United States.” This waiver allows a foreign worker to get a green card circumventing the extensive labor certification process and applying with a US employer. 

To qualify for the NIW category an applicant must have an advanced degree (at least a Bachelor’s) or “exceptional ability” in the field of science, entertainment or business. The applicant’s work and expertise must be in an "area of substantial intrinsic merit to the US."  It means work that may improve the United States economy, wages and working conditions of US workers, education, Health care, affordable housing, or environment.  The filed of expertise must be pertaining to an important national goal. It must be beneficial and valuable for the United States, preferably national in scope.

The Extraordinary Ability EB-1 Category does not require an employer either.  However, generally the requirement is much higher.  The easiest way to show extraordinary ability is to prove receiving a major, internationally recognized award in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.  The alternative way is to prove sustained national or international claim. There are ten specific categories, three of which must be shown.  The requirements come down to four main sections:

1.  Memberships and judging or leading responsibilities in prestigious invitation-based organizations, panels, associations.
2. Extensive published material about and/or by the applicant.
3. Original, scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic or business-related contributions of major significance in one field.
4. A lot of money and overall commercial success.

These categories may be proved by using different documents.  Expert opinions are heavily considered, especially prepared by the experts who do not know the applicant personally but are well aware of his work because of its wide recognition. Being on the top of the field is of utmost importance. The applicant must show that he is one of the best, raised to the very top of his field.

The ilexlaw immigration attorneys in Washington DC have extensive experience preparing convincing NIW and EB-1 Extraordinary Abilities packages that can get approved by USCIS.  Please call us for a free consultation or send us an email to info@ilexlaw.com. Please check out our website www.ilexlaw.com

P-1 visa Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can I get a P-1 visa?

A: The P-1 visa is created for famous athletes and entertainers. If an artist has some international recognition, the P-1 visa is a way to go

Q: How to show international recognition:

A: There are several ways to prove international recognition. The US Immigration Law regarding P-1 visa makes a perfect sense.  Anyone without special training may access if an athlete or artists has international recognition or not.  If he is famous in more than one country, an international recognition is established. The fastest way to do it is to show an award of an international prize or winning a prestigious international competition.

Q: What kind of documents can I show to prove international recognition?

A:

• Copies of certificates
• Photographs holding prestigious international awards
• Press releases
• Youtube views
• Letters from experts
• Promotion materials of different concerts/events
• Successful track record of achievements

Q: What if I am famous in several countries that have similar cultures?

A: For the P-1 visa purposes, legal boundaries of countries are of outmost importance. If the countries speak the same language and share one culture but legal are separate states, international recognition can be claimed. For example, India, Pakistan and Nepal share the same cultural identity for the most part and speak one language. Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro used to be one country for a long time. Now, if a band can show that he is popular in more than one present day countries, they will successfully establish international recognition.

Q: Can an individual artist get a P-1 visa.

Only bands or groups qualify for P-1 visas. Individuals athletes may qualify but not individual performers. There must be a group of several people. The band must stay in tact for at least one year prior to filing. In other words, if it is a brand new band that has gained international recognition already, the P-1 visa may not work.

Q: How to get support personnel to help performing the US?

A: It is very easy. There is a special type of visa that is designated for essential personnel that help the band during performances. This list includes:

Managers, light specialist, sound engineers, movers, hairdressers, make up artists, dancers, designers, tailors, etc. As long as the personnel is an essential part of performances, a special P-1S visa may be obtained.

For more questions please visit our website: www.ilexlaw.com

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Green Card Through Marriage

Shooting a video and doing recording while on P visa in the US

Many performers are interested in two questions:

1. 1What visa is appropriate to make a recording or shoot a video in the US?
2. Is it possible while on a P visa?

 First, it should be mentioned that to shoot a video or make a recording using US recording and video studios is possible even while on a tourist visa. An exception applies to the general ban on business activities while in the US. The video or music production must not be made distributable to the US audience. In other words, if an artist comes to US on a tourist visa, he can film a video and do recordings.  However, the final product must be aimed towards foreign audience outside the US.  The artist can obtain a visitor’s visa if he enters the US to use a recording studio to record or film something that will not be sold in the US.

 If the final product will include the US audience and the album/video will be distributed in the US, a simple tourist visa will not work. For such activities an O visa, P visa or an H visa must be filed. The most common and appropriate category is the P visa (P1 visa, P2 visa or P3visa). 

Making television shows, contrived and staged events, documentaries, music and other video recordings will fall under the P visa category.  When filing for a P visa, the company must explicitly state that such activities will take place.

Now, what if a P visa has been approved, the band entered to US to perform concerts and decided to make recordings in the US afterwards?  The recording activities were not reported in the P visa petition. The band management decided to do it after the approval and will retain a US production company.  To comply with the US law a sponsoring organization will have to file an amendment or even an extension to reflect the change in employment. If the sponsoring organization is no longer involved in the production, a change of employer may be required. The record label or an appointed agent will become an employer for the visa purposes.

The most important factor to consider is a timeline. The P-1, P-2 and P-3 visa artists must exist the US upon expiration of their I-94, i.e. end dates of the underlying P visa petitions.

Everything an entertainment company needs to know about visa and tax issues for foreign artists performing in the US can be found on www.ilexlaw.com

There are some things that most companies didn’t even know they need to consider. Bringing an artist from abroad is very different from hiring a US entertainer

All questions on any topics related to foreign artists in the US can be posted on our website or email to our team at info@ilexlaw.com

Requirements For Getting P-2 Visa As An individual or as a Group

The P-2 visa can be used various artists that are coming to perform in the United States individually or as a group.

To bring artist or any other entertainers under the P-2 visa, an entertaining company must first establish or participate in a reciprocal exchange program with a US based organization. This is not an easy requirement to meet.  Practically speaking, there should be a large number of musicians travel back and forth to perform in order to justify the establishment of such program. The US Entertaining companies can use the programs that are already in place.  When there are such public programs, the petitioning company must provide the name of the program and any other relevant documents. 

The advisory opinion will be also required for a P-2 visa application from a labor organization or a peer group that signed the reciprocal exchange agreement.

The artists must have the skill comparable to those of the U.S. musicians that go to the given country under the reciprocal program.

In terms of the qualifications of the artists, the requirement is much lower than the requirements the P-1 and P-3 visa applicants must meet (International fame of the P-1 Groups or Culturally unique skills of the P-3 Entertainers).  The reciprocal exchange program must be in place and the labor union must sign off of it. That’s it.

A reciprocal exchange program is a program negotiated between an organization in the US and an organization in a given country. The only public programs are signed between the US and Canada, Australia, New Zealand. The programs strive to sustain similarity of employment terms and the level of artists exchanged, and numbers. A labor organization must have been involved in negotiating the program, or at least did not object to the establishment.

The P-2 visa can be granted for up to 1 year. P-2 visa allow also the essential support personnel to enter along with the group (make up artists, sound engineers, tailors, hairdressers, movers, etc. ) The artists’ family member may enter the US and stay as long as the P-2 entertainers themselves. The family members are not allowed to work, though.

There are could be situations when additional performances need to be added to the itinerary or, in opposite, some events have been cancelled. There is no need to do anything about it as far as the USCIS’ concern, as long as the performances remain in the same time frame (the time of the visa validity).  If more time is needed to take the artists to a few more performances, an extension of status petition must be filed to reflect that change and request USCIS to approve the longer stay. If an extension is not filed, the artists may have problems entering America in the future.

Please contact us at info@ilexlaw.com and visit out website ilexlaw.com to learn more.

Immigration Lawyers in Washington, DC and recent developments

Many non-United States citizens require Visa and permanent residency (Green card) to legally work and live in the United States. However, this is not simple as they have to go through intense scrutiny to make sure the criteria for which they are seeking visa is valid. However, to redress these and many other issues lawyers and Attorney firms of US are always ready to provide their immigration needs of both the individuals and corporate entities.

Latest technologies in the form of email, Google spreadsheets, online chatting, INSZoom, an immigration law software, mobile applications and many more have enabled the attorneys to provide prompt, professional and personalized services to meet the varied clients needs. They handle the immigration proceeding cases, litigation proceedings, solving custom and trade disputes and many other immigration related cases which are complex in nature and requires immediate help.

Thanks to the American Immigration Law Association (AILA) that is providing liaison and other helpful information to Immigration Attorneys in DC and other states. Since its inception in 1946, the association has united more than 12,000 attorneys and law professors under a single platform helping the United States families and businessman who are seeking permanent residency and skilled workforce from across the globe.

Utilizing the prolific services of AILA towards its members and the several technologies available at our easy reach, we the ilexlaw pllc adopt quick and comprehensive approach towards the services of our clients adhering to the professionalism and servitude of the highest degree. We take each immigration case personally while adopting an attitude of compassion that can help the clients move seamlessly through the different stage of the immigration process. Our immigration lawyers in DC are specialized in employment and family based immigration that helps us to be personalized in our services towards our clients.

You can reach us for the free consultation and or legal support on any immigration issue, and our expert will be available to you for answering to your queries.