FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION WITH

FOR EMPLOYEES

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02APPLICATION PROCESS

FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

WELCOME TO ENVOYWe’re glad to be your immigration partner. It’s our mission to make sure that you

have the smoothest, most efficient green card sponsorship experience possible.

This guide will walk you through the Envoy web application, the immigration

process and help you to successfully file a green card application.

Table of Contents

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4

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GREEN CARD OVERVIEW 3

THE APPLICATION PROCESS 5

THE VISA BULLETIN 10

010203

GREEN CARD OVERVIEW:EMPLOYMENT-BASED (EB) CATEGORIES01

3FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

Permanent residency, commonly referred to as a green card, gives you the ability to put

down roots in the United States and plan for the future. Employment-based green cards

are organized into preference categories, which generally offer individuals with higher

skill levels an advantage over lower-skilled applicants.

EB-2: Advanced Workers• Professionals who hold an advanced degree or its equivalent. For example, an equivalent might be a

bachelor’s degree plus at least five years of progressive experience (meaning the job responsibilities

have increased over time).

• Foreign nationals with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business.

• Professionals whose work benefits the national interest of the United States.

EB-3: Skilled or Other Workers• Professionals with a bachelor’s degree (or foreign equivalent) that will fill a

role requiring a college degree.

• Skilled workers with at least two years

of training or work experience, who

may or may not hold a college degree.

• Other or unskilled workers filling a job that requires

less than two years of training or experience.

Validity Period

IMPORTANT NOTE: Category designation is based on your employer’s job position requirements, not your education level.

IndefiniteTOTAL STAYRENEWALS

Physical green card must be renewed

every

10 years

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APPLICATION PROCESS02

FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

Access Your Account

Your employer has created an online account with Envoy, which you can also access. This allows both of you to

complete your designated portions of the green card application process, including the submission of information

to Envoy-retained attorneys and uploading documentation to support your case for a green card.

Check your email inbox for a new user invitation to your account. If you don’t see one, please check your spam or

junk folder. Note: The sender is noreply@envoyglobal.com.

When accessing your account, please add your phone number to your profile. This helps the customer support

team contact you if any questions arise.

Note: If you’ve previously completed a visa application with Envoy, you may skip this step, as you’ll

already have access to your account.

STEP 1

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02APPLICATION PROCESS

FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

Complete the Questionnaire STEP 2

The Questionnaire needs to be filled out by both you

and your employer. You are required to complete

the employee information sections, which are the

sections visible to you in your account. Your employer

also has Questionnaire questions to answer that are

accessible from his or her account.

Not all questions will be applicable to your case.

Simply input “N/A” into the field if a question

doesn’t apply to your situation. Note: The

application process cannot progress until the

Questionnaire has been completed. You may also

click on the View Incomplete Only hyperlink to

see only the required questions.

Note: If your employer has not finished their

portion of the Questionnaire, you won’t be able to

submit it yet.

The faster you fill out the Questionnaire the

quicker your employer and the attorneys can

complete the application process.

To proceed to the next step: Either

you or your employer must submit the

Questionnaire to attorney review.

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02APPLICATION PROCESS

FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

Upload Supporting DocumentsEnvoy-affiliated attorneys will review the Questionnaire within three to five business days. Based on your

responses, they’ll create a personalized document list that informs both you and your employer what evidence is

needed to support your petition for permanent residency.

STEP 3

The Green Card Application Process Comprises Three Parts

ETA 9089

I-140

I-485

ETA 9089 Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) Labor Certification

Establishes that your employer has tested the labor market to ensure

there are no willing and able U.S. citizens available to hold the position

for which you are being sponsored.

Note: On your case dashboard, this process will be split into three

individual segments: the prevailing wage request, recruitment

activities and the ETA 9089 application.

I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker

Informs the government of your employer’s intent to sponsor

you for permanent residency.

I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status

Requests to change your residency status from

nonimmigrant to immigrant.

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02APPLICATION PROCESS

FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

THE PERM PROCESS

1. REQUEST PREVAILING WAGE DETERMINATION

Immigration law requires employers to pay green card holders at least the prevailing wage for the position

described in the application once they are granted permanent residency. A Department of Labor (DOL)

inspector will use the job description to analyze the duties, skills and requirements associated with the job,

and provide your employer with an appropriate salary determination for the specified work and location.

Employee Documents Needed:

• Experience letters

• Resume

• Diploma

• Transcripts or marksheets

• Education evaluation (if your degree is from a non-U.S. institution)

Generally, once requested, the DOL’s prevailing wage determination

will be issued within two months.

2. PLACE JOB ADS

The second part of the PERM Labor Certification process requires your employer to test the local labor

market to ensure there are no willing and able individuals nearby that can perform the role. To do this, your

employer must place job ads in a variety of locations and review applicants.

Ad placement generally takes one to two months. During this time, the attorneys will assist your employer

directly, and you will not be involved in the process. Per DOL regulations, the green card applicant is not

allowed to have involvement in the ad placement process.

3. WAIT FOR THE COOLING-OFF PERIOD TO END

Once all job postings are completed, employers must wait at least 30 days before moving to the next step in

the PERM process. This is known as the cooling-off period. This gives U.S.-based candidates time to respond

to advertisements and potentially be interviewed.

4. FILING THE PERM APPLICATION

Once all steps of the recruitment stage have been completed, the PERM application is ready for filing.

Current ETA 9089 processing time is typically four to six months, but is subject to change.

Following submission of the ETA 9089, the PERM application will be approved, audited or

denied. The Envoy-retained attorneys keep extensive records in case of an audit. An audit may

delay the application by six months or more.

PERM

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FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

The I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker Application

Form I-140 can only be filed once the ETA 9089 application is approved.

Form I-140 Documentation

Employee Documents:

• All current and previous

immigration documents

• W-2 wage and tax statements

• Copy of passport

Note: Once all the documents are submitted and the forms and letters are prepared, the attorneys will send them

to your employer for a final review before submitting them to the proper government agency.

DID YOU KNOW?

The I-140 is the only stage of the green card process that can be filed with

premium processing, shortening the waiting period from approximately

four to six months to only 15 calendar days.

I-140

Petition Filed With Government Agency

Once the application has been prepared, the Envoy-retained attorneys will send the completed I-140 form

along with all supporting documentation to USCIS. Updates that are received from the government agency will

be posted in your Communication Center.

The I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status Application Process

The last step in the green card application process is filing Form I-485 to

adjust your lawful immigration status. Once adjudication begins, processing

time can span from four to 10 months.

Note: An approved I-140 petition for EB-2 and EB-3 green card applications doesn’t instantly result in

a green card. Workers born in China, India, Mexico and the Philippines are assigned a “priority date,”

which is a reserved spot in a queue for a green card. The length of these queues will vary by your

country of origin and the green card category.

I-485

STEP 4

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02APPLICATION PROCESS

FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

I-485 Document List

Employee Documents:

• Completed medical exam (I-693) by a

USCIS-approved physician

• Birth certificate

• Marriage certificate (if applicable)

• Two identical passport-style photos

• I-94 Arrival/Departure Form

• All previous I-797 Notice of Action

approval forms

• Tax returns

• Divorce decree (if applicable)

• Military record (if applicable)

• Arrest record or criminal record (if applicable)

• Passport

• Current pay stubs

Note: This is not a complete list of documents, and all might not apply to your particular case. Attorneys will upload a list

specific to your case once they finish reviewing the Questionnaire.

Biometrics AppointmentAfter the I-485 application is submitted, you will receive an invitation for a biometrics

appointment to undergo fingerprinting.

Dependent Cases

Green card applications for dependents cannot be filed until you reach the I-485 stage of the green card

process, which is the final stage. For this reason, it’s recommended to wait to open dependent cases until you

get to the I-485 stage. Note: The filing fees for dependent I-485 cases differ based on each dependent’s age.

If you have a child under 14 years old, the fees will be lower than that of an older child. Some employers pay

these fees for their employees.

Travel and work authorization add-on services:

Travel (Form I-131) and work (Form I-765) authorization are options to take into consideration when applying

for a green card. If the visa becomes invalid or expires before the green card application is approved, these

authorizations serve as backups, allowing you to continue to work and travel internationally without difficulty.

Note: Adding travel and work authorization to a case is an additional cost, but

won’t require any additional filing fees.

THE VISA BULLETIN

10FILING AN EB-2 OR EB-3 GREEN CARD APPLICATION

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USCIS receives a massive volume of employment-based green card applications every year, creating a

significant backlog. As a result, the U.S. Department of State issues a monthly Visa Bulletin, which provides

updates regarding dates for filing applications and application final action dates.

Here’s an easy way to decipher the Visa Bulletin tables:

• C = Current: There is no backlog for the particular category.

• U = Unauthorized: No green cards can be issued for that category.

• Listed Date = Filing Application Date/Application Final Action Date

Each employment-based green card category has two Visa Bulletin dates, the Filing Application Date and the

Application Final Action Date.

If one’s priority date is current in the Filing Application table, it means that the I-485 may be filed with USCIS,

but it will not review the application yet. If one’s priority date is current in the Final Action Date table, it means

that USCIS will review the I-485 application.

Being able to file the I-485 in advance doesn’t reduce the processing time for green cards, but it does allow for

optional employment authorization and travel authorization applications to be submitted and approved sooner.

For monthly Visa Bulletin updates, subscribe at http://go.envoyglobal.com/immigration-insights-subscription

Employment- Based

All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed

CHINA-mainland born INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES

1st C C C C C

2nd C 01JUN13 01OCT08 C C

3rd 15FEB15 01SEP11 22JAN04 15FEB15 01JAN05

Other Workers 15FEB15 01JAN06 22JAN04 15FEB15 01JAN05

4th C C C C C

Certain Religious Workers C U C C C

5th Targeted Employment Areas/Regional Centersand Pilot Programs

C 01MAY13 C C C

C = Current, no backlog Date Listed = Priority Date U = Unavailable information

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Content in this publication is not intended as legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as such. For additional information on the issues discussed, consult a Envoy-affiliated attorney or another qualified professional.

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