How to Get a Green Card Through Employment Regardless of Your Occupation: Stories of EB-3 Beneficiaries

What methods of obtaining a green card do you know? Most likely, you are now thinking about the possibility of winning it, marrying a US citizen or investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the American economy. However, there is an immigration program that for some reason many migrants ignore, but lawyers adore. It is suitable for people with any level of education, language and origin. It is called EB-3. ForumDaily talked about it with immigration lawyer Ekaterina Muratova, which has a huge number of successful cases and approved green cards in this category.

Photo: IStock

The EB-3 immigration program has three categories:

• professionals - these are specialists who have a bachelor's degree and are wanted for a position that requires a bachelor's degree;
• qualified specialists - they must have at least two years of experience or training (electrician, mechanic, etc.);
• unskilled workers - these are the rest, absolutely any specialties.

But in all cases, there must be a U.S. employer on whose behalf the petitions are filed. The would-be immigrant does not go anywhere, at least during the first two of the three stages of the process.

“First, the company submits documents to the Department of Labor to obtain labor certification for a specific person. This takes about a year. After receiving labor certification, the company files an immigration petition. This stage usually takes 6-8 months, but you can pay for expedited processing (15 days, if there are no additional requests). And only at the third stage does the employee himself and his family appear. If they are in the United States, they submit documents to change their status (Form 485, Adjustment of Status), and if outside the United States, they go to the embassy and apply for a visa,” Muratova explained.

How quickly people can get their green cards depends on the annual quota. Each category of US work visas has an annual limit of 40 thousand. But if there was a shortfall in some category, then the rest of the limit can be given to visas of this category. The current deadlines are indicated in visa bulletin, which the State Department publishes every month. But overall, the wait can take several years.

While a person is waiting, they must have legal status in the United States or they must wait outside the country. Waiting for an EB-3 visa quota does not give status or the right to work in America. There are no language requirements, and once a person receives a visa, they are not tied to the company that issued them a green card.

“As for the costs, the company is obliged to pay for the first stage, and the person can pay for the second and third stages. The petition for the second stage costs $1015. For the third stage, the government fee for changing status within the United States is $1440, and the consulate charges $345 for each family member,” she said. Muratova.

Immigration lawyer Ekaterina Muratova. Photos from the personal archive

But enough theory. Let's meet Ekaterina's clients who have already received green cards!

Green card for trucker

Andrey got his well-deserved green card through the EB-3 work immigration program as a truck driver. At first, he worked as a driver himself, and now he has a large company of his own that sponsors visas for other immigrants.

Andrey had a somewhat unusual immigration path, he faced a lot of obstacles that were not typical for this program, but he set a goal for himself and achieved it.

The man came to the US 9 years ago and initially did not intend to work in the trucking industry: “I even said that I would never be a truck driver in my life.”

But, as they say, never say never. About a year after applying for asylum and receiving a work permit, Andrey became a truck driver and quickly realized that he could make good money doing it.

But after about five years of being in immigration limbo and waiting for an asylum interview, Andrey decided to try something different. He was fed up with the uncertainty, as well as the ban on leaving the US (people awaiting asylum decisions are not allowed to leave the country).

The EB-3 program turned out to be the best option. In the end, everything worked out, but the process did not go very smoothly.

On the subject: Family Immigration Cases: What to Do in Case of Divorce or If the Main Applicant Changes His Mind

He and his family received approval for their I-140 petition fairly quickly and were required to travel abroad to have a consular interview, obtain visas, and enter the United States in a different status. But that was not an option for Andrey.

"I didn't want to leave the US and I didn't want to lose my refugee status. We started looking for ways out - ways to get an interview here without leaving. And we found out that approval for changing status inside the US from waiting for asylum to other immigration programs was in Broward, Florida," he said.

That's where we submitted our documents. But then things went a little off-track: "The guys who applied with me got approval 2 years ago, they got their green cards by mail. And my case probably just happened to end up in a different office. And they sent me a refusal to change my status in the US, but not a refusal for an EB-3 visa. They suggested that I leave and go through the consulate after all."

But Andrey was not satisfied with this option, and, on the advice of lawyer Ekaterina Muratova, they took a different path - they decided to change staff.

“I became a California resident. I thought it would be difficult and I would have to change my driver license. But I just got a California ID. Naturally, I registered there, got a W-2 as a California resident, paid taxes in this state for some time, so that it would be clear that I was a California resident,” he continued.

Andrey admits: he expected a decision on the EB-3 visa no earlier than May 2025, but somehow everything was decided very quickly and he simply received a green card in the mail.

So don't be discouraged by refusals and obstacles in your immigration journey.

“In America, as they say, if one government agency refuses you, you simply go to another,” Muratova noted.

Andrey spent, according to him, $17-20 thousand on the entire process of obtaining green cards for his family under the EB-3 program. It’s not a small sum, but since the process is divided into stages and takes several years, you don’t have to spend all this money at once.

"The first payment was about five thousand. And at this stage, somewhere in a year or a year and a half, it will be clear whether you will receive approval. That is, in fact, you are only risking five thousand dollars. But the chances of a positive result are very high," he explained.

An approved petition applies to all family members (spouses and children under 21), meaning you all get green cards together.

“I have an older daughter who is now in Germany. She also has the right to receive a green card. We have now applied for an immigrant visa for her. In a couple of months we will send her documents to Germany, she will have an interview at the consulate and enter the US with an immigrant visa to receive a green card and other documents here,” Andrey shared.

He now has his own trucking company through which he sponsors EB-3 visas for drivers. In collaboration with Ekaterina Muratova They have already received approval for 16 petitions for work-based green cards on behalf of his company.

“Don’t believe stories of failure”

Altyn is a happy owner of an EB-3 green card through work for a construction company.

“What surprised me most was the huge pile of documents that accompanied the petition. There were so many of them!” the immigrant admits.

Altyn was in the process of waiting for asylum, but decided to apply for an EB-3 visa because asylum was difficult during Trump's first term. Although she had a well-founded case, she was not sure she would succeed, and she wanted certainty about her child's future. A young child had begun living and studying in the United States, and the asylum process takes years - if denied, the child would have to go to a foreign country that he does not remember or know.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read all this on ForumDaily New York.

Altyn completed the traditional three stages of the EB-3 program:

1. Certification from the Department of Labor (this took about a year).
2. Immigration petition (it took 2 weeks because the Altyn family paid for expedited processing).
3. Applying to the US Embassy for an immigrant visa based on an approved petition. Altyn could not change her status in the US, she had to leave and have a visa interview at the US Embassy in her home country of Kazakhstan. After successfully completing the interview at the consulate, Altyn and her family returned to the US as permanent residents and within a couple of weeks received their green cards in the mail.

Altyn believes that the main problem of immigrants to the United States is pessimistic word of mouth (stories about how someone failed, and empty assumptions about how difficult everything is, from people who have not even tried to do something themselves), as well as ignorance of all possible immigration paths. Therefore, she advises contacting experienced immigration lawyers for advice and consultation - they will help find the right immigration path and avoid critical mistakes.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How to reduce the waiting time for political asylum in the USA: advice from an immigration lawyer

Investment green card: lawyer revealed all the secrets of obtaining an EB-5 visa

Vouching for a refugee: what are the responsibilities and risks of those who are ready to vouch for new immigrants

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