EB-4

You may be eligible for the 4th preference of employment-based immigration, if you are a "special immigrant".  Your U.S. employer, or you on your own behalf if permitted, must file a Form I-360 (not I-140), Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, with USCIS.  LC is not required.  "Spcial immigrants" include:

----- Religious Worker

----- Broadcasters

----- Iraqi/Afghan Translators

----- Iraqis who have assisted the U.S.

----- International Organization employees

----- Physicians

----- Armed Forces members

----- Panama Canal Zone employees

----- Retired NATO-6 employees

----- Spouses and Children of deceased NATO-6 employees

 

Religious Worker

1. Requirements:

----- You must, for at least 2 years immediately before the filing of an I-360 petition, have been a member of a religious denomination that has a bona-fide non-profit religious organization in the U.S.

----- You must be coming to the U.S. to work in a full-time (at least 35 hours per week) AND compensated position in one of the following occupations:

A. Solely as a minister of that religious denomination;

B. A religious vocation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity; or

C. A religious occupation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity.

----- You must be coming to the U.S. to work for either:

A. A bona fide non-profit religious organization in the U.S.; or

B. A bona fide organization that is affiliated with the religious denomination in the U.S.

----- You must have been working in one of the positions described above after the age of 14, either abroad or in the U.S. in lawful status, continuously for at least 2 years immediately before the filing of an I-360 petition.  And you must have been a member of the petitioner’s denomination throughout the 2-year period of qualifying employment.  Such prior religious work does not have to correspond precisely to the type of work to be performed in the U.S.  A break in the continuity of the work during the preceding 2-year period will not affect your eligibility as long as:

A. You were still employed as a religious worker;

B. The break did not exceed 2 years; AND

C. The nature of the break was for further religious training or for sabbatical purposes that did not involve unauthorized work in the U.S.

2. How to apply: Your U.S. employer has to file a Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, with USCIS.  An LC is not required.  However, please note that an I-360 petition and an I-485 application cannot be filed concurrently for this religious worker category.

3. Cap and Sunset date for Non-minister Religious Worker:

There is annual limit (“cap”) of 5,000 workers who may be issued a special immigrant non-minister religious worker visa per fiscal year.  Also, this non-minister category has a sunset date of September 30, 2015---non-minister religious workers and their dependents immigrating under EB-4 must complete immigrating to or adjustment of status in the U.S. by the sunset date.

 

Broadcasters

The International Broadcasting Bureau of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), or a grantee of the BBG, may petition for you (and your dependents) to work as a broadcaster for the BBG or a grantee of the BBG in the U.S.:

----- BBG grantee means Radio Free Asia, Inc (RFA) or Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc. (RFE/RL)

----- Broadcaster means a reporter, writer, translator, editor, producer, or announcer for news broadcasts; hosts for news broadcasts, news analysis, editorial, and other broadcast features; or a news analysis specialist.  Broadcaster does not include individuals performing purely technical or support services for the BBG or a BBG grantee.

Board Certified 2014 Member Avvo
The Dallas, Texas, immigration law firm Mr Jack KIM provides immigration legal services to the cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Arlington, Irving, Plano, Garland, Mesquite, McKinney, San Antonio, Houston, Denton, Richardson, Allen, Frisco, Lewisville and Flower Mound, and the counties of Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton, Kaufman and Henderson, Texas; TX, North Texas, DFW. Because U.S. immigration laws are federal in scope, our immigration attorneys are able to represent individuals and companies in all 50 states of the United States of America.