If an employer would like to make long-term plans for an employee, they can sponsor the employee for permanent residence ("green card"). Both the employer and employee should understand that in many cases the entire green card process can be lengthy and they should have a plan in place for the employee to have continued work authorization.

The green card process generally has the following steps:

Step 1: An Application for Alien Labor Certification is filed electronically with the Department of Labor which describes the minimum education and experience requirements for the position. This requires the employer to conduct recruitment to test the labor market. In certain cases, such as with a manager transferred from abroad, this step may not be required.

Step 2: An immigrant visa petition is filed by the employer on behalf of the employee stating that the employee meets the minimum requirements set forth in Step 1. The employer must also be prepared to demonstrate their ability to pay the wage offered.

Step 3: If the employee is currently in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa, they may file an Application to Adjust Status. If the employee is currently abroad, they will process the final stage of the green card at the U.S. consulate.

Due to backlogs, employees are not eligible to process the final step of the green card until the U.S. State Department Visa Bulletin has reached the employee's "priority date". The priority date is established on the date that Step 1 is filed (or Step 2 in those cases where a labor certification is not required).

Contact us to learn more about the employment based green card process.