Getting Permanent Residency
- Green Card Introduction
- Green Cards Through Family
- Employment Based Green Card
- Green Card by Marriage
- Green Card Lottery
- US Investment Based Green Card
- Options for Special Immigrant Groups
Special immigrant visas are designed to allow specific groups of workers/professionals to come to the U.S. Special immigrant visas are actually employment-based visas and encompass categories of workers not covered by other employment-based visas. The special immigrant visa is known as the EB-4 visa.
Only 10,000 special immigrant visas are available each fiscal year. Non-clergy religious workers cannot receive more than half of those visas.
Eligibility
Each category of professionals is defined by U.S. immigration law, so the title of a profession alone may not necessarily fit the required U.S. definition.
While there may be more “special immigrants’ than those listed, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (U.S.C.I.S.) offers the following list of defined special immigrants:
- Religious Ministers and Workers
- Broadcasters
- Iraqi/Afghan Translators
- Iraqis Who Have Assisted the United States
- International Organization Employees
- Physicians
- Armed Forces Members
- Panama Canal Zone Employees
- Retired NATO-6 employees
- Spouses and Children of Deceased NATO-6 employees
Process
First an applicant should file the form I-360 with USCIS under the Special Immigrant category. Along with the form, you must submit the proper supporting documents. Once your petition is approved, you can file an application for your permanent resident status. The procedure for issuing the green card is different if conducted from abroad or within the U.S.
The documents needed vary depending on the category of special immigrant. For example, religious workers must include the following documents with the I-360 petition:
- A letter from the authorized official of the religious organization establishing that the proposed services and applicant qualify as listed above;
- A letter from the authorized official of the religious organization attesting to the applicant's membership in the religious denomination and explaining, in detail, the person's religious work and all employment during the past two years, and for the proposed employment; and
- Evidence establishing that the religious organization, and any affiliate which will employ the person, is a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the U.S. and is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
The Special Immigrant (EB-4) visa costs include a filing fee of $475, unless you need a faster processing time in which case the fee is currently $1,000.00.
