Immigrating legally to the US is a dream for many people, as the American dream has transcended frontiers thanks to propaganda and Hollywood movies. But it can be complicated to get a visa to do this, especially in this current climate and it can feel discouraging when you know you bring so much to the table and no employer will vouch for you. This is where the EB-3 visa comes in.
Unlike other visas this one is not too hard to get as it does not have many requirements or restrictions and it focuses mainly on skilled and unskilled workers that have received some forms of specialized training.
What is the EB-3 visa and how to get it
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, the EB-3 visa is an employment based visa that is for skilled workers, professionals and other workers:
“Skilled workers are persons who are capable of performing skilled labor and whose job requires at least 2 years training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature. Skilled workers must also meet any educational, training, or experience requirements of the job opportunity. Relevant post-secondary education may be considered as training.” These are for example blue collar workers like plumbers, carpenters, electricians or welders.
“Professionals are persons who hold at least a U.S. bachelor’s or foreign equivalent degree and are a member of the professions. Their jobs require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Professionals must also meet any educational, training, or experience requirements of the job opportunity.” This usually involves engineers, psychologists, nurses, teachers and other white collar jobs.
“Other workers (also called unskilled workers) are persons capable of performing unskilled labor whose job requires less than 2 years training or experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature. Other workers must also meet any educational, training, or experience requirements of the job opportunity.” This is geared toward cleaning staff, kitchen staff, home care assistants, hotel support and other unskilled but primary labor.
All these workers must come to the US with an offer for full time employment and without a “probationary period”. Given that it also requires at least two years of training and experience, not everyone will qualify for it, but it should not be too hard to qualify with a little effort. Once you have a formal offer from a company, you can start the process to get this visa.
Your future employer must first present the PERM labor certification, proving they could not find a U.S. worker and then file Form I-140, which is a formal request to USCIS that your presence is required for you to work for the company. Once this has all been presented, you will need to go to your local consulate to get interviewed and prove that you do not have a criminal record or any other impediments to get into the US and wait for the approval to travel to your new destination. Be patient as the process can take a bit of time to complete.
But there is a silver lining to this process, unlike other visas, you do not need to leave your family behind, as “if your I-140 petition is approved, your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 may be eligible to apply with or after you for admission to the United States as lawful permanent residents based on your approval.” This will take some time to process as well, but you are looking at a few weeks or a couple of months, not uears of separation.
Once established in the country, this visa is a fairly straightforward path towards a Green Card, as it already meets the necessary employment requirements that migrants need to meet to get it.