Moving to United States

Evidence of sustained national or international acclaim: either a one-time achievement (a major, internationally recognised award) or at least 3 of the 10 kinds of evidence listed in 8 CFR 204.5(h)(3) - lesser national or international prizes; membership of associations that require outstanding achievement; published material about you; judging the work of others; original contributions of major significance; scholarly articles; display of your work at exhibitions; a leading or critical role for distinguished organisations; a high salary relative to others in the field; commercial success in the performing arts. Comparable evidence is allowed where a criterion does not readily apply. Neither a job offer nor a labour certification is required, but you must show you are coming to continue work in your area of expertise; you, or anyone on your behalf, file Form I-140. EB-1 visas are capped at 28.6% of the employment-based worldwide level, and no single country's natives may receive more than 7% of the year's family and employment visas. Processing pauses and other executive measures change often and are not checked here - confirm current processing with USCIS and the State Department before relying on the timing.

Qualify for EB-2: a US master's degree or higher (or a foreign equivalent), a US bachelor's (or foreign equivalent) plus at least 5 years of progressive post-degree experience in the specialty, or exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business. USCIS may then grant the waiver as a matter of discretion if you show, by a preponderance of the evidence, the three prongs of Matter of Dhanasar: the proposed endeavour has both substantial merit and national importance; you are well positioned to advance it; and on balance it would be beneficial to the United States to waive the job offer and so the labour certification. You may self-petition on Form I-140. USCIS revised this guidance in a policy alert of 15 January 2025. EB-2 visas are capped at 28.6% of the employment-based worldwide level, and no single country's natives may receive more than 7% of the year's family and employment visas. Processing pauses and other executive measures change often and are not checked here - confirm current processing with USCIS and the State Department before relying on the timing.

A US employer registers you for the annual cap selection and then files the petition, backed by a labour condition application; the job must be a specialty occupation, one requiring a bachelor's or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent). The annual cap is 65,000, and up to 20,000 more people with a US master's or higher degree are exempt from it. Under a DHS final rule effective 27 February 2026, each registration enters the selection pool by wage level: level IV four times, level III three times, level II twice, level I once. Presidential Proclamation 10973 (19 September 2025) requires a USD 100,000 payment on some H-1B petitions; DHS states it does not apply to all of them (for example, an in-country amendment, change of status or extension of stay that is granted) and that it expires 12 months from its effective date unless extended. Its current status is not checked here. A petition is valid for up to 3 years. Total H-1B stay is normally limited to 6 years, but the limit has exceptions: for example, time spent outside the United States during an approved H-1B petition (absences of more than 24 hours) does not count towards it and can be claimed back in a later petition, and the stay can go beyond 6 years in steps of up to 1 year once at least 365 days have passed since a labour certification or employment-based immigrant petition was filed for you, or in steps of up to 3 years while you hold an approved EB-1, EB-2 or EB-3 petition and are waiting only because of the per-country limit (8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(C)-(E)).

Either receipt of a major, internationally recognised award (the regulation gives the Nobel Prize as its example) or at least 3 of the 8 kinds of evidence in 8 CFR 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(B): nationally or internationally recognised prizes; membership of associations requiring outstanding achievement; published material about you; judging the work of others; original contributions of major significance; scholarly articles; employment in a critical or essential capacity for organisations with a distinguished reputation; a high salary. A US employer, a US agent, or a foreign employer through a US agent must file the petition - an O alien may not petition for himself or herself. The petition is valid for the time needed for the event or activity, up to 3 years, and extensions of stay are granted in increments of up to 1 year.

At least one continuous year of full-time employment abroad with the qualifying organisation within the three years before the petition. The period of authorised admission may not exceed 7 years for a manager or executive (L-1A) or 5 years for specialised-knowledge staff (L-1B). A petition for someone coming to open or be employed in a new office is approved for no more than one year at first, after which the employer must show the office is doing business. An L-1A manager or executive may later qualify for the EB-1 multinational executive or manager green card (EB-1C), for which no labour certification is required.

Three stages: an individual labour certification from the Department of Labor, an employer petition on Form I-140, then adjustment of status or consular processing. EB-2 needs an advanced degree - a US master's or higher (or foreign equivalent), or a bachelor's plus at least five years of progressive experience in the specialty - or exceptional ability. EB-3 covers professionals holding at least a US bachelor's or foreign equivalent, skilled workers capable of work requiring at least two years' training or experience, and other workers (at most 10,000 visas a year). EB-2 and EB-3 are each capped at 28.6% of the employment-based worldwide level, and no single country's natives may receive more than 7% of the year's family and employment visas, so waits differ sharply by country of birth. Processing pauses and other executive measures change often and are not checked here - confirm current processing with USCIS and the State Department before relying on the timing.

There is no statutory minimum: the State Department states that no set dollar figure constitutes a minimum amount of investment to be considered substantial. The capital must be substantial in relation to the total cost of buying or creating the enterprise, placed at risk in the commercial sense and irrevocably committed, and the enterprise may not be marginal - it needs the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income for a minimal living for the investor and family, or to make a significant economic contribution. The investor must control the enterprise, normally through at least 50% ownership, or through operational control. A treaty investor is admitted for an initial period of not more than 2 years, and extensions of stay are granted in increments of not more than 2 years; the spouse and minor children can accompany. E-2 status does not itself lead to permanent residence - a green card needs a separate immigrant route such as EB-5, EB-1 or employer sponsorship.

USD 1,050,000 (about EUR 966,000), or USD 800,000 (about EUR 736,000) for an investment in a targeted employment area - a rural area, or a census-tract area DHS designates as high-unemployment (at least 150% of the national average rate) - or in an infrastructure project (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5), as amended by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022). The capital must be expected to remain invested for at least 2 years, and the enterprise must create full-time employment for at least 10 qualifying workers, not counting the investor and the investor's family. Of each year's EB-5 visas, 20% are reserved for rural investments, 10% for high-unemployment areas and 2% for infrastructure projects. Both amounts adjust automatically for petitions filed from 1 January 2027 and every 5 years after, published by DHS as a technical amendment in the Federal Register; this page has not seen the adjusted figures. The green card is conditional at first; the removal-of-conditions rules (8 U.S.C. 1186b) are not re-read here. No single country's natives may receive more than 7% of the year's family and employment visas. Processing pauses and other executive measures change often and are not checked here - confirm current processing with USCIS and the State Department before relying on the timing.

The order sets the gift at USD 1 million (about EUR 920,000) for an individual donating on their own behalf and USD 2 million for a corporation or similar entity donating on behalf of an individual. In adjudicating visas the State Department and DHS are to treat the gift, consistent with applicable law, as evidence of eligibility under EB-1A (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(A)), of exceptional business ability and national benefit under EB-2 (1153(b)(2)(A)), and for a national-interest waiver (1153(b)(2)(B)). It adds no visa numbers: implementation is subject to the limits on the numbers of visas in 8 U.S.C. 1151 et seq., including the 7% per-country ceiling. Administrative fees for expedited processing, and maintenance and transfer fees for corporate sponsors, were left to the agencies to establish; this page has not verified those fees or how the program has been implemented since the order.

The sponsor must be a US citizen; for a parent, the citizen must be at least 21. "Children" means children as the Immigration and Nationality Act defines them, and a child's age is taken on the date the petition is filed. Immediate relatives are not subject to the worldwide levels or numerical limitations, so the only delay is processing. The citizen files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. The sponsor's Affidavit of Support and the conditional-residence rule for recent marriages also apply; this page has not re-read their terms. A spouse or child of the relative does not come along on this petition - each needs their own. Processing pauses and other executive measures change often and are not checked here - confirm current processing with USCIS and the State Department before relying on the timing.

F1: unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens (23,400 a year, plus unused F4 numbers). F2A/F2B: spouses and children, and unmarried sons and daughters, of permanent residents (114,200 a year plus adjustments, at least 77% for spouses and children). F3: married sons and daughters of citizens (23,400). F4: brothers and sisters of citizens, where the citizen is at least 21 (65,000). Unused numbers pass between categories as the statute provides. No single country's natives may receive more than 7% of the year's family and employment visas, so waits differ sharply by category and country of birth. A spouse or child accompanying or following to join is entitled to the same status and the same place in the queue. Processing pauses and other executive measures change often and are not checked here - confirm current processing with USCIS and the State Department before relying on the timing.

You need at least a high school education or its equivalent, or, within the 5 years before applying, at least 2 years' work experience in an occupation that requires at least 2 years of training or experience; the statute sets no minimum age. The worldwide level is 55,000 visas a year, and natives of a high-admission state get none. Under a State Department final rule effective 10 April 2026, an entrant must give valid, unexpired passport information and upload a scan of the passport's biographic and signature page, subject to limited exemptions; the rule also refers to a new USD 1 entry fee. Whether entries and visa issuance are open in a given year is not checked here - confirm that year's instructions with the State Department before relying on this route.

A Form I-20 issued in your name by a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), documentary evidence of financial support in the amount the I-20 shows, and satisfying the consular officer that you are entitled to nonimmigrant status (the law presumes every student applicant an immigrant until shown otherwise). Under a DHS final rule effective 15 September 2026, an F-1 student is admitted for the period needed to complete the course of study on the I-20, not to exceed 4 years, plus the additional times the rule sets; a continuing student may be granted additional time. After completing studies a student may be authorised 12 months of practical training (another 12 at a higher educational level), and a qualifying STEM degree adds a 24-month extension.