However, if a foreigner is an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability” or individuals granted a National Interest Waiver, he can file for a permanent residence himself (“self-petition”).

There are a number of specialized jobs that may allow you to get a green card based on a past or current job, such as:

             – Afghan/Iraqi Translator;

             – Broadcaster;

             – International Organization Employee;

             – Iraqi Who Assisted the U.S. Government;

             – NATO-6 Nonimmigrant;

             – Panama Canal Employee;

             – Physician National Interest Waiver;

             – Religious Worker.

If the foreigner is not eligible to adjust his status inside the United States to a permanent resident (get his green card not leaving the US), the immigrant petition will be sent to the U.S. Consulate abroad and the foreigner will need to apply for the immigrant visa abroad.

To adjust status to a permanent resident, an immigrant visa must be immediately available. Employment based preference visas are limited to 140,000 per year. Because the demand is higher than the supply of visas for a given year for some categories, a visa queue (waiting list) forms. The DOS publishes a monthly report of immigrant visas availability referred to as the “Visa Bulletin.” This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant visas.

The priority date for an immigrant petition that is based on employment is either:

             – The date the petition was properly filed with USCIS, or

             – The date the labor certification application was accepted for processing by the Department of Labor (DOL).

If you want to learn more how to adjust your status to a permanent resident without the need to travel back to your home country, consult with us. We can help you and your employer with filing all the documents for your green card with immigration services. We can also assist you with preparing for the green card interview in the local immigration office or at a US Embassy abroad.