LAW OFFICES OF MING GANG LI


9040 TELSTAR AVENUE, SUITE 126; EL MONTE, CA 91731 TEL: 626-572-5152; FAX: 626-572-5172 E-mail: info@immigrationdream.com Who we are \| Terminology \| Student \| Artist \| Scientists \| Athletes \| Actors\| Bachelor Degree \| Corporate Manager \| Religious Worker \| Extraordinary Ability \| Teacher and Researcher \| College or Institute \| Master Degree and NIW \| Investor \| Labor Certification \| Immigration Court \| Family-Based \| Adjust Status
Who we are Ming G. Li has a J.D. degree from University of Texas Law School, an LL.M. degree from University of Pennsylvania Law School, another LL.M. from China University of Politics and Law, Beijing, China and a B.A degree from Foreign Languages Department, Beijing Normal University. He passed the California Bar at first try and was admitted to Practice Law in California. Terminology 1. Immigration Petition. This is a process where the alien through his attorney or himself proves to INS that he is qualified for immigration under the immigration law. The INS will review such petition and if found eligible, will approve such immigration petition by issuing an approval notice. In this procedure, the INS forms are I-130 (for blood or marriage related), I-140 (for employment based) and I-526 (for investment base). When your immigration petition is approved you are one step from the Green Card. An immigration petition does not affect your non-immigrant status. Even when you filed an immigration petition, you still need to keep your non-immigrant status such as F-1 or H-1 until you have submitted your application form I-485 for adjustment of status. If your immigration petition is approved and your non-immigrant status expires before you submit your I-485 to INS, you have trouble. 2. Adjustment of Status. When immigration petition is approved, the alien will submit application to adjust his status from that of a non-immigrant to that of an immigrant. The approval of such an adjustment application will result in the issuance of the Green Card. In this procedure the INS forms are I-485. If on the date of INS receiving your I-485 form you are still in non-immigrant status, you are safe. 3. Visa. Visa is a document issued by US embassy of consulate general to allow the holder of the visa to come into the United States. It is used only at the point of crossing the national boarder. Before you enter the US, the visa is useful 4. Status. Status is a legal term or document to describe the alien who has already entered the US. It is used for evidence as to how long an alien is permitted to stay in the US. After you entered the US, the status is useful. 5. Working Visa and Non-Working Visa. (a) Working visa allows the alien to come to the United States to work for compensation. It must be first applied by the American company to one of four INS Service Centers for approval. When approved by INS, the application documents will be sent to an American consulate in the country where the alien lives. The alien will go to apply for a visa with the approval from the INS. The American consulate may issue or refuse to issue such a working visa regardless the fact the INS has approved such an application. (b) A non-working visa allows the alien to come to US for purposes other than compensation. The applicant does not need an approval from INS first. Such application is initiated by an invitation letter from a US company or an individual living in US, or an I-20 or IAP-66 issued by a US academic institution such as a middle school, a college, a university, or a research organization etc. 6. Immigration Court. Immigration Court is an independent administrative tribunal within Immigration and Naturalization Service. It takes the cases where the alien admits that s/he is deportable, excludable or removable from the US. Such alien can seek relief of suspension of deportation or political asylum or protection under the Anti-Torture Convention. If prevails, the alien can stay or even to apply for green card. go to top Employment-based Immigration 1. Extraordinary Ability: This part of immigration petition category is intended to those people who enjoy high reputations evidenced by winning awards or prizes, being reported by newspapers or other media, publishing academic works in journals or newspapers. Who can apply for this category? Answer: Actors, painters, photographers, scientists, sportsman and businessman. How to apply for this category? Answer: Submit to INS the I-140 immigration petition form plus evidence of your extraordinary ability and evidence to show that you will be using your ability in the US. You do not need a US sponsor to sign for you. How to evaluate your eligibility? Ask your self the following questions: a. Do you have any way to use your special ability in the US to make a living? If yes then, b. Do you have at least three of the following? 1. lesser nationally or internationally recognized prized or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor; 2. membership in associations which require outstanding achievements of their members; 3. published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien’s work in the field, such evidence shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation; 4. participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied filed of specification , such as review a paper to decide whether the paper qualifies to be published; 5. original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field; 6. authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media; 7. display of your work in the field artistic exhibitions or showcases, such as showing the work in a national art exhibition; 8. a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation, such as leader in a science association, chief actor in a famous performing group; 9. high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field; or 10. commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disc, or video sales.” If you have any three of the ten, please contact us at info@immigrationdream.com To add strength to your case, some well-organized letters of recommendation and or letters of verifications will be most important. This is where Mr. Li is experienced in. go to top 2.Outstanding professor or researcher A college or institute that has the authority to issue a bachelor or a master degree can apply for immigration for its employees in the category called “Outstanding Professor or Researcher”. The aliens must have a teaching or researching position. The petition must be signed by the boss not by the alien of the college or institute. a. Who can apply for this category? Answer: Those who are teaching as a faculty member in an American university or those who are researching as research associate or post-doc research associate. a. How to apply for this category? Answer: Submit to INS the I-140 immigration petition form and a job offer letter both signed by the boss for the alien together with evidence of the alien’s outstanding achievement in the field of profession. c. How to evaluate your eligibility? Ask your self the following questions: Are you or will you be doing teaching or researching work in a university or a research institution? If it is a university, does it have the authorization from the state government to award bachelor or master degrees? Or If it is a private research institution or a company, does it have at least 3 full timer researchers? If you have 1 plus 2 or 3 of the above, then do you have three years of experience in your field of profession? If yes, then Will your boss support your immigration petition? If yes, then Do you have at least two of the following? 1. lesser nationally or internationally recognized prized or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor; 2. membership in associations which require outstanding achievements of their members; 3. published material about the alien in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien’s work in the field, such evidence shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation; 4. participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied filed of specification , such as review a paper to decide whether the paper qualifies to be published; 5. original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field; 6. authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media If you have any two of the six, please contact us at info@immigrationdream.com To add strength to your case, some well-organized letters of recommendation and or letters of verifications will be most important. This is where Mr. Li is experienced in. go to top 3. International Corporate Manager and L-1 Visa An international corporate manager can apply for immigration. An L-1 visa is a visa allowing managers of international corporations to come to work in the US. International corporation means a US corporation owned by an alien corporation or an alien corporation owned by a US corporation. The ownership interest must be at least 51 percent. To apply for immigration as an international corporate manager or to apply for an L-1 visa, you need to have the following documents: Extended documents to prove the existence and doing business of a corporation outside the US. Documents to prove the individual was in a manager position for one year in the alien corporation during the three years immediately before filing an L-1 petition. Documents to prove the establishment or existence of a subsidiary corporation in US and its financial ability to pay compensation to this manager. The documents that this individual will perform managerial or executive duties in US. A detailed list is available upon request. 4. Holder of Advanced Degrees If you hold a master degree or a bachelor degree plus 5 years of working experience, and a job that uses your educational degree, you can apply for immigration as a holder of advanced degree. This is a second preference case. If you qualify for National Interest Waiver, you can apply for NIW. If you are not qualified for NIW, you will have to apply for Labor Certification. A NIW is a waiver of the labor certification procedure because the alien’s presence in the US will benefit the national interest of the US. A Labor Certification process is a procedure by which the Department of Labor (DOL) determines that an alien can work in the US because there is no US worker who is capable or willing to do the work the alien is going to do. To apply for a labor certification, you must have met the following requirements: 1. A permanent or tenure track job. 2. Your employer is willing to petition for you a labor certification. 3. A detailed job description, the educational background for such job and the experience needed for such position. 4. Such educational background and experience requirement cannot be specially tailored only to reflect your qualification to exclude others. 5. A salary that is at the prevailing level in the local community for the same position. 6. An advertisement in the major local newspaper. 7. No one answers to the advertisement or the ones who answered do not possess the necessary educational background. A well prepared plan at the very beginning is very important for labor certification. Who can apply for national interest waiver? 1. Do you have a master or higher degree? Or five years of working experience after a bachelor degree? If yes, then 2. Do you think your research has a significant influence on US as a nation? This significance influence is suggested by the scope of populations your work might have influence on. Such fields usually include but are not limited to: life science, medicine, biology, chemistry, natural resource, pharmacy, agriculture, environment, high tech, etc. If yes, then 3. Do you have any or are you going to make any academic publications out of your research achievement? If yes, then 4. Can you find some US experts to write recommendation letters to support your petition? If yes, then 5. Can you or your boss describe your achievements in a layman’s language? If yes, you can apply for NIW. Detailed information on NIW is explained below. "National Interest Waiver" After the Administrative Appeal Unit of INS delivered opinion on "New York State Department of Transportation for National Interest Waiver", many attorneys and people with advanced degree believe the National Interest Waiver is dead because the NYSDT case makes it impossible for any one to meet the new tests for NIW. After a careful study, Li thinks otherwise. He summarizes the case as follows. 1. NYSDT Established Three Tests for NIW Cases NYSDT lists three tests for NIW cases: 1, Alien must work in an area of substantial intrinsic merit; 2, it must be shown that the proposed benefit will be "National in Scope"; and 3, Petition must show that the national interest of the United States will be adversely affected if a labor certification were required. The first test is most easy to meet. The second test is not difficult to meet for most cases. The clue for self-test is how many people can benefit from your work: medical research, environmental protection, and more productive use of natural resources all benefit a large segment of the US populace. They can be called "national in scope". The third test is the fatal one. Very few, if not none, alien can say, "The national interest of US will be adversely affected if you do not give me a green card". AAU, however, explained this test in a much lower threshold: the petition must show that "the alien will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications". It is impossible to show that US national interest will be adversely affected if a labor certification is required. It is, however, possible to show that "the alien will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications". 2. Application of the Third Test to Individual Cases The original wording and the explanation of the third test gives INS much more room of discretion in adjudicating NIW cases like the extraordinary ability cases. In extraordinary ability cases, alien needs to provide three of the ten items of evidence listed in CFR. INS will approve the petition when it buys your argument. When it does not buy your argument it will deny your case simply by saying you are not "one of a small number of people who have reached the top in their field of endeavor". The same logic applies to NIW cases: when it buys your argument it will approve your case by acknowledging that you "will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications"; and it will deny your application simply by saying "national interest of the United States will not be adversely affected if a labor certification were required". 3. How to Prove "Substantially Greater Degree than a U.S. Worker Having the Same Minimum Qualifications"? NYSDT case requires that "the alien's past record justified projection of future benefit to the national interest". The key words are 'past record'. What does past record mean? A reading of the whole opinion indicates that past record means past success, past achievement or past accomplishments. It does not mean past educational degree, nor past working experience or past working history. It is not enough to say that the alien possesses certain degrees, learned certain skills, acquired certain expertise or had experience in certain projects. Whether US workers possess these skills or experiences can only be tested by labor certification process. The best way to prove that the alien "will serve the national interest to a substantially greater degree than would an available U.S. worker having the same minimum qualifications" is to prove that the alien has already done so. To prove that the alien has done so, the petition must describe the accomplishment or achievement of the alien in a very detailed and convincing way. The description must use layman's language instead of professional jargons. The petition must show what he has specifically accomplished, the significance of this accomplishment and that it is beyond what an individual having minimum qualification can accomplish. When you have proved this, you have done your best. If you still fail, you can only blame your luck or admit that you are in fact not exceptional enough to warrant a national interest waiver. When INS does not buy your argument it will say "national interest of the United States will not be adversely affected if a labor certification were required". In that case, it is no use for you to appeal. If you have made important achievement but your NIW argument was not recognized by INS, try another attorney who can disclose or reveal your achievement in a way that INS can understand. 4. Conclusion The clue to a successful NIW petition is: Try more on describing what you have achieved and the significance of your achievement. Spent less on describing how unique you are in terms of possessing skills or experience that others do not have. Achievements cannot be tested by labor market while uniqueness of skills and experience can. To achieve this result, find an experienced attorney who can help you to prepare qualified testimonial letters. go to top 5. Bachelor Degree Holder A bachelor degree holder without 5 years of experience must apply for a labor certification. The difference between a bachelor degree holder and a laborer is that bachelor can apply for H-1 before he applies for labor certification while a laborer cannot have a non-immigrant working visa before labor certification. A bachelor can also have a shorter period of waiting time than a laborer. This is a third preference case. The difference between a bachelor degree holder and a master degree holder is that a master can apply for NIW while a bachelor cannot. A master belongs to the second preference while a bachelor belongs to third reference. The labor certification process is not different. A Labor Certification process is a procedure by which the Department of Labor (DOL) determines that an alien can work in the US because there is no US worker who is capable or willing to do the work the alien is going to do. To apply for a labor certification, you must meet the following requirements: 1. A permanent or tenure track job. 2. Your employer is willing to petition for you a labor certification. 3. A detailed job description, the educational background for such job and the experience needed for such position. 4. Such educational background and experience requirement cannot be specially tailored only to reflect your qualification to exclude others. 5. A salary that is at the prevailing level in the local community for the same position. 6. An advertisement in the major local newspaper. 7. No one answers to the advertisement or the ones who answered do not possess the necessary educational background. A well prepared plan at the very beginning is very important for labor certification. 6. Investment Green card Investment immigration requires the following: 1. Investment of one million or half a million depending the area of the investment in the United States. 2. Creation of 10 full time employment opportunities. 3. The fund is from outside the US and is not drug-related. The requirements are simple but the satisfaction of the three requirements is very difficult and complicated. You need to discuss it with your attorney. The key point is to keep 10 full time employment positions. go to top Through Blood or Marriage A US citizen can apply for his wife, his children, married or unmarried, adult or minor, his parents, and his brothers and sister for immigration. His wife, his parents and his minor unmarried children can apply adjustment of status immediately. His married children and unmarried children over 21 years of age need to wait for quota before he can adjust status. A US citizen can also apply for his stepchild under 18 years of age. A Permanent Resident can only apply for his spouse and unmarried minor children subject to quota. His unmarried adult children shall have to wait for a much longer time for a quota. He cannot apply for his parents, brothers or sister for immigration. He cannot apply for a stepchild. Through Refugee 1. US Refugee Law: To apply for political asylum you need to prove that you have a well-founded fear for persecution To prove well-founded fear for persecution, you need to prove you either have a past experience of being persecuted or a fear for future persecution. A claimed persecution must be related to one of the following 5 reasons: 1. political opinion 2. membership in a particular social group 3. religion 4. race 5. nationality A birth control related claim is regarded as political opinion. A gender-based claim is sometimes classified as social group based. A “FaLunGong” related claim is treated as political opinion, social group or religion A homosexual related claim is treated as a social group. In refugee interview, the interviewing officer will first see if you are credible. If you have inconsistency in your statement, you are not credible and you fail. If you do not have inconsistency in your statement, you are credible; then the officer will see whether your statement itself can establish a well-founded fear for political persecution. If your statement does not establish grounds for asylum, you still lose. For instance, when you were pregnant, your officer urged you to have an abortion. You were told that if you did not abort, you would lose your job, your housing and your welfare. In order to keep your job and your housing you agreed to have the abortion. You were NOT persecuted because your abortion is your choice in favor of a job and housing against a baby. 2. UN Convention Against Torture: If you can prove you will face torture when you go back to your home country you can also apply for refugee status. FOR BIRTH CONTROL RELATED CLAIMS If you are having a second baby in the United States and you fear that you will be forced to have abortion, sterilization or legation in your home country, you may apply for asylum. This must be done before your second baby is 1 year old. If you have the experience of an involuntary abortion in your country, you may also apply for immigration within one year of arrival in the US. Expired Status at Immigration Court Immigration Court is an independent administrative tribunal within Immigration and Naturalization Service. It takes the cases where the alien admits that s/he is deportable, excludable or removable from the US. An alien becomes deportable when his status expires, or when he violates the condition for his legal status such as working for compensation without employment authorization from INS. If you come to the United States legally and applied for political asylum before your status expires, you will not need Immigration Court if your asylum application is denied. If at the time of interview, your status expires, the interviewing officer will refer your case to the Immigration Court for a further prosecution. At the immigration court both the trial attorney from the INS and your attorney will ask you questions regarding your claim for asylum. In this proceeding you will have a chance to present your case through your attorney. By asking you questions, your attorney will unfold your well-founded fear for persecution or your fear for torture upon going back to your home country. If the immigration judge rules in your favor and INS does not appeal, you win. If the immigration judge rules against you and you do not appeal, you lose. An appeal on a judgment rendered by the immigration judge shall be made to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). It is different from an appeal on a decision rendered by INS adjudicator. An appeal on an INS decision shall be made to Administrative Appeal Unit (AAU). Smuggled into US Immigration Court is an independent administrative tribunal within Immigration and Naturalization Service. It takes the cases where the alien admits that s/he is deportable, excludable or removable from the US. An alien is excludable or removable if he comes to US without a valid visa whether he successfully entered the US without inspection or arrested at the boarder. Enter without inspection (EWI) EWI means the alien did not have a visa but entered the US through the help of a smuggler. Such an alien may apply to INS for refugee status. If INS officer finds his statement credible and the statement established a well-founded fear for persecution, the INS officer can grant his application. If not credible or the statement itself does not establish well-founded fear, he is referred to Immigration Court. At the immigration court both the trial attorney from the INS and your attorney will ask you questions regarding your claim for asylum. In this proceeding you will have a chance to present your case through your attorney. By asking you questions, your attorney will unfold your well-founded fear for persecution or your fear for torture upon going back to your home country. If the immigration judge rules in your favor and INS does not appeal, you win. If the immigration judge rules against you and you do not appeal, you lose. An appeal on a judgment rendered by the immigration judge shall be made to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). It is different from an appeal on a decision rendered by INS adjudicator. An appeal on an INS decision shall be made to Administrative Appeal Unit (AAU). go to top Non-immigrant Visa or Status A visitor can come to US for business purposes or pleasure. For business the visa is B-1 for pleasure the visa is B-2. Such application is initiated by an invitation letter from a US company or an individual living in US. The applicant goes to US consulate to apply for such a visa with such invitation letter. He does not need a previous approval from INS. Visitors may have 30 days to 6 months stay in US upon arrival. He may extend once for a six-month period. After the extension, he needs to change to other status. The problem now is that an application to extend b-1/2 status will take more than 6 months to be processed. This means that by the time the decision is delivered, the visitor’s extended stay has already expired. When status expired, you cannot change to any other status except to marry a US citizen or to apply for asylum. If you want to change to another non-immigrant status you must apply before your intended extension expires, no matter whether your application for extension is approved or not. To Study There are tow visas for an alien to come to study in the US: F-1 and J-1. For F-1, US educational institution such as a primary school, a middle school, a college, or a university will issue a form I-20 to the alien students for him to apply for F-1 visa in the American consulate. 1. The key point is to be admitted by such an educational institution and have financial ability and evidence that such applicant will come back to home country after study. 2. For college or university F-1 students, the important thing is the scholarship or other financial arrangement by the college or university. The financial support from an individual will less likely to be helpful for getting an F-1 visa. For J-1, a US academic institution such as a middle school, a college, a university, or a research organization etc. will issue a form IAP-66 to the alien for him to apply for J-1 visa. 1. J-1 visa is easier than an F-1 because it subjects the holder to a requirement that he must go back to his home country upon completion of the academic program. 2. J-1 is further divided into J-1 student and J-1 visiting scholar. J-1 student has a longer period of stay than J-1 scholar. J-1 scholar can only stay for 3 years. J-1 waiver. Theoretically or legally, whether a J-1 visa holder is subject to two-year home country residence depends on one of the two elements: (1) whether he received financial support form his government or US government, or (2) whether his field of study is on the list of skills needed by his home country. Possession of either of the two elements will subject the holder to the two years home country residence. J-1 holder can get their two years home country residence requirement waived for one of the following reasons: 1. His home country does not object to his waiver of the two years home country residence. 2. An application filed by a US federal government agency, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, 3. An application filed by a US citizen or Permanent Resident spouse on the ground that if the J-1 holder leaves the US, the US spouse would suffer extreme hardship, or 4. An application to avoid persecution. FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH J-1 VISA FROM CHINA: A middle school J-1 holder is legally not subject to the two-year rule because they received no money from any government AND they do not have any major of studies. If they continue to college after their graduation from middle school, however, they will HAVE majors of studies and their major will be on the list of skills needed by Chinese government. At that time they will be subject to the two years home country residence requirement. It will be very difficult or troublesome to argue by then that they are not subject to the two years home-country requirement. I have one case where another attorney helped a girl change her J-1 to F-1 without a legal document from USIA to the effect that she is not subject to the two-year home country residence requirement. When she later married a US citizen and applied for a Green Card as the spouse of a US citizen she was required by INS to apply for a waiver of the two years home country residence. She had more trouble at this time than if she had applied earlier. Therefore it is better that the J-1 holder apply for a waiver or a legal document earlier before s/he becomes a grown up or has a major field of study. WHO DECIDES THE APPLICABILITY OF THE TWO YEARS HOME COUNTRY RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT? Previously it was the Waiver Division of USIA who decides whether a J-1 holder is subject to the two years home country requirement. Now it is the Waiver Division of Department of States (DOS). If a waiver is required, the waiver needs the endorsement from both the Waiver Division of DOS and the INS. If a waiver is not required, it also needs a legal opinion from Waiver Division of DOS to such an effect. Therefore, a middle school student on a J-1visa (regardless of whether the visa or the IAP-66 said s/he is not subject to the two years home country residence) should obtain a legal document from Waiver Division of DOS that s/he is not subject to the two-years home country requirement. A J-1 holder may go to Mexico or Canada to get an F-1 or H-1 visa to come back to US. BUT s/he will need to apply for a waiver or go back to China for two years when s/he applies for a Green Card. Only the Waiver Division of DOS decides whether a J-1 holder needs to go back to his home country for two years or not. If yes, a waiver needs be granted from both the Waiver Division and INS if s/he does not want to go back for 2 years. In a nutshell, a J-1holder needs to consult an experienced immigration attorney on matters of waiver of the two years home country residence requirement. go to top To Work Working visa allows the alien to come to the United States to work for compensation. It must be first applied by the American company to one of 4 INS Service Centers for approval. When approved by INS, the application documents will be sent to an American consulate in the country where the alien lives. The alien will go to apply for a visa with the approval from the INS. The American consulate may issue or refuse to issue such a working visa regardless the fact the INS has approved such an application. Working visa includes the following categories: 1. E-1, E-2: Treaty investor, for nationals of the countries that have a trade treaty with US. 2. H-1, H-2, H-3: Professionals 3. L-1, International company managers 4. O-1, O-2: alien with extraordinary ability. 5. P-1, P-2, P-3: actors and actresses 6. R-1: religious workers. H-1B visa is for a bachelor degree holder to come to work in a position to employ his experts acquired in the bachelor studies. 1. He needs an American company to petition for him. 2. The American company has a position that requires at least a bachelor degree. 3. The alien has such a degree or an equivalent to such a degree. 4. The compensation is at the prevailing wage. Procedure: 1. Get necessary dada from the employer and the alien, 2. Get a prevailing wage from a state agency in the employer’s state or from a source recognized by DOL. 3. Get a Labor Condition Application from DOL 4. Submit a form I-129 with supporting documents to INS. 5. A petitioning letter detailing the nature of the employer, the nature of the work, the reason for a bachelor to do the work, and why this alien bachelor is suitable to do the work. Difference between an H-1 and a Labor Certification: A labor certification is for a permanent job position and a green card. It needs advertisement on a major local newspaper to show no American is willing or able to do the job. An H-1 is only for a temporary position and does not lead to green card. It does not need an advertisement on any media to prove no American is willing or able to do the work. An L-1 visa is a visa allowing managers of international corporations to come to work in the US. International corporation means a US corporation owned by an alien corporation or an alien corporation owned by a US corporation. The ownership interest must be at least 51 percent. To apply for L-1 visa, you need to have the following documents: Extended documents to prove the existence and doing business of a corporation outside the US. Documents to prove the individual was in a manager position for one year in the alien corporation during the three years immediately before filing an L-1 petition. Documents to prove the establishment or existence of a subsidiary corporation in US and its financial ability to pay compensation to this manager. The documents that this individual will perform managerial or executive duties in US. A detailed list is available upon request. O-1 is a working visa for actors, painters, photographers, scientists, sportsman and businessman. It is most often used by sportsman (as a coach), actors, and painters. You need a US company to sponsor you. The US company is the petitioner and you are the beneficiary. Before an application to INS is submitted your attorney needs to get a letter from a US peer group in your field of endeavor agreeing to your working in US for compensation. To get such a letter, you need to provide three of the following documents: 1. lesser nationally or internationally recognized prized or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor; 2. membership in associations which require outstanding achievements of their members; 3. published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien’s work in the field, such evidence shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation; 4. participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied filed of specification , such as review a paper to decide whether the paper qualifies to be published; 5. original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field; 6. authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media; 7. display of your work in the field artistic exhibitions or showcases, such as showing the work in a national art exhibition; 8. a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation, such as leader in a science association, chief actor in a famous performing group; 9. high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field; or 10. commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disc, or video sales.” Upon approval from INS, you need to go to the American consulate with the INS approval to get a visa. The difference from an H-1 visa is that no prevailing wage is required for O-1. go to top P-1, P-2 and P-3 are working visas for actors and actresses to put on entertainment performances in the US. When you have US company that needs you to come to US to put on performances, you can apply for P visa. The US company and your company need to sign a contract for your coming to US to put on your performance. Before an application to INS is submitted your attorney needs to get a letter from a US peer group in your field of endeavor agreeing to your performing in US for compensation. To get such a letter, it is better that you provide two or more of the following documents for your attorney: 1. lesser nationally or internationally recognized prized or awards for excellence in the field of endeavor; 2. membership in associations which require outstanding achievements of their members; 3. published material about you in professional or major trade publications or other major media, relating to the alien’s work in the field, such evidence shall include the title, date, and author of the material, and any necessary translation; 4. participation, either individually or on a panel, as a judge of the work of others in the same or an allied filed of specification , such as review a paper to decide whether the paper qualifies to be published; 5. original scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic, or business-related contributions of major significance in the field; 6. authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional or major trade publications or other major media; 7. display of your work in the field artistic exhibitions or showcases, such as showing the work in a national art exhibition; 8. a leading or critical role for organizations or establishments that have a distinguished reputation, such as leader in a science association, chief actor in a famous performing group; 9. high salary or other significantly high remuneration for services, in relation to others in the field; or 10. commercial successes in the performing arts, as shown by box office receipts or record, cassette, compact disc, or video sales.” You also need to provide some of your performance photos. Upon approval from INS, you need to go to the American consulate with the INS approval notice to get a visa. The difference from an H-1 visa is that no prevailing wage is required for P visa. go to top R-1 visa allows an alien religious worker to come to US to work as a religious worker in a religious organization such a church, or a temple. You must have a job offer from the religious organization of your religion. A volunteer without official position or title in such religious organization cannot apply. Getting the Green Card Adjustment of Status. If the alien is in the US and does not want to leave this country, when immigration petition is approved either through employment based, or through blood or marriage relation, or through asylum, the alien needs to submit Form I-485 application to adjust his status from non-immigrant to that of an immigrant. The approval of such an adjustment application will result in the issue of the Green Card to such alien and his family members. Immigrant Visa. If the alien is not in the US or if he is in US but is willing to go back to his own country to process the immigrant visa, he can use this procedure. In this case, when the alien is making immigration petition he needs to indicate in his I-140 or I-130 that he will apply for immigrant visa at a US consulate. For Chinese, he needs to go to Guangzhou consulate general. He will have an interview with the consul. If approved the consul will issue him an immigrant visa. When he comes to US with this immigrant visa, he will be stamped on his passport a temporary green card. Two or more months later, a plastic green card will be sent to his address in the US.
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