APPLY: US offering employment-based immigrant visas for skilled workers

The United States has invited eligible persons to apply for its employment-based immigrant visas.

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 140,000 immigrant visas are set aside annually for skilled workers who seek to immigrate based on their job skills.

Selected applicants are allowed to relocate to the US with their spouses and children.

The US said 65,000 immigrant visa allotments remained unused at the end of 2021, and as such, it has taken steps to avoid a repeat.

The five categories eligible for the visa include persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics and “members of the professions holding advanced degrees”.

Others are special immigrants and business investors who can “invest $1.8 million or $900,000” in the US.

“An unusually high number of employment-based immigrant visa numbers were available in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021,” the notice reads.

“Despite pandemic-related capacity restrictions, USCIS was able to increase processing and approve more than 175,000 employment-based adjustment of status applications. While this was an increase of more than 50% above our typical workload, 65,000 available employment-based visa numbers remained unused at the end of FY 2021.

“Permanent worker visa preference categories: This preference is reserved for persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors or researchers; and multinational executives and managers.

“This preference is reserved for persons who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or for persons with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business.

“This preference is reserved for professionals, skilled workers, and other workers.

“This preference is reserved for ‘special immigrants,’ which includes certain religious workers, employees of U.S. foreign service posts, retired employees of international organizations, noncitizen minors who are wards of courts in the United States, and other classes of noncitizens.

“This preference is reserved for business investors who invest $1.8 million or $900,000 (if the investment is made in a targeted employment area) in a new commercial enterprise that employs at least 10 full-time U.S. workers.”

You can apply for the employment-based immigrant visa here.