There are 3 steps to obtaining a Green Card (Permanent Residence) through employer sponsorship.

Step 1: PERM Labor Certification & Recruitment

Step 2: I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker

Step 3: I-485 Adjustment of Status Application

Step 1 – PERM Labor Certification:

• PERM Labor Certification first involves advertising the position to show that there are no qualified U.S. workers that want the position.
• The attorney prepares a prevailing wage request based on information obtained from the company regarding the qualifications for the position and the salary offered. The attorney prepares an advertisement for the position and makes a prevailing wage request to the State Workforce Agency (SWA).
• Once the prevailing wage is issued by the SWA, the attorney provides the required guidelines on where and how often the ad must be run. The guidelines for this process are very specific and have to be tracked during the recruitment period.
• The advertising involves 2 Sunday ads in the major newspaper where the job is located, and a 30-day posting with the State Workforce Agency. Additionally other recruitment must be conducted and documented such as participation in job fairs, campus placement offices, employer’s website, placement agencies, local papers etc.
• After the required 30 day recruitment period is completed, the PERM petition is filed with the Department of Labor (DOL).
• It takes the DOL an estimated 1 to 6 months to provide the PERM labor certification – though times may vary from case to case and may also vary depending on the DOL’s caseload.

Step 2 – I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker:
• Once the PERM Labor Certification is approved, the Alien Worker Petition is filed.
• The I-140 Petition is submitted to the USCIS with documentation showing the employee’s experience and qualifications such as diploma, resume, transcript.
• The employer provides documentation such as brochures and information on the work and history of the company as well as the company’s last three years’ tax returns. Tax returns are required to show that the employer has the ability to pay the salary offered to the employee.
• The employer drafts a letter about the background of the company as well as detailing the specific position and how the particular employee meets the required experience for the position.
• Processing time is approximately 9 months, but may vary from case to case and on the caseload currently being processed by USCIS.

Step 3 – I-485 Adjustment of Status:
• After the Alien Worker Petition is approved, the employee is eligible to file for Adjustment of Status. The adjustment of status process is the application for the actual green card.
• The adjustment of status application cannot be filed until the employer’s priority date is current. The Department of State issues these dates every month and are subject to change each month. Visa priority dates may also retrogress, meaning visa numbers may become backlogged and therefore unavailable. Whether or not a visa number is available depends on the type of green card petition filed and can vary depending on the classification of the employee.
• An employee in this stage of the process may concurrently apply for a temporary work permit while he/she awaits adjudication of the green card. Typically a work permit is issued within 90 days after the application is received. The work permit is issued in one year increments and can be renewed each year until the green card is approved.
• Current I-485 processing time is approximately 9 months.

An immigration attorney can assist companies and potential employees in determining the likelihood of success of a petition and the best method to employ in order to increase the chances of approval at all stages of the multi-step process.

For more info on green cards through employment click here.

For info on temporary work visas, work in the U.S. click here.

The visa lottery is formally known as the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. The U.S. government makes available up to a maximum of 55,000 diversity green cards annually. 5,000 of these visas are reserved for a visa program for certain Central American nationals, leaving 50,000 visas available to be drawn at random from a pool of applicants who meet specific criteria.

Thailand is one of the countries eligible for the program. As long as a country has not sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the last five years, that country’s nationals are eligible. For the Diversity Visa program in 2007, more than 5.5 million applications were received. Of that number, 82,000 applicants were notified and advanced forward in the green card process. Because not all applicants move forward in the process for various reasons, more than 50,000 applicants are selected to ensure that all visa numbers are used. Once 50,000 visas are used, the program ends. The 2007 numbers show that 81 Thai nationals were invited to apply for green cards.

In most cases your country of birth is what is taken into account, but there are some exceptions. You may be able to claim your spouse’s country of birth if you meet certain further requirements even if you on your own would not be eligible. You may also be able to claim the country of birth of one of your parents as long as that parent was not a resident of the country in which you were born.

Other Qualifications

The applicant must have:

1) A high school education or its equivalent; OR

2) Two years work experience in a job requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform.

Deadlines & Other Important Information

1) You may only submit your application electronically;

2) There is NO FEE to apply for the diversity visa (but you will have to pay the normal green card fees and diversity visa processing fee if you are selected);

3) Winners are notified by mail by the Department of State (not by e-mail);

4) Simple mistakes may disqualify you for the green card even if you are selected in the lottery. You would not want to be selected, only to find out at the green card interview that you are ineligible because of a mistake, especially after you have paid the filing fee for the green card which is non-refundable. Make sure to read all directions carefully and answer the questions accurately;

5) Even if you are selected in the lottery, in order to qualify for a green card, you must meet the normal eligibility requirements for a green card. So, if you would be barred from entering the U.S. because of a previous overstay, or you have been out of status for more than 180 days, or if you fail to meet standards for good moral character such as a having a criminal history, you may not be issued a green card even if your name is drawn in the lottery.

Fraud Warning

As stated, there is no fee to download the diversity visa application and submit your application electronically. Be careful of non-official websites that look like the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, as there have been instances of fraud.

For detailed info on the visa lottery at the Department of State:
Official Visa Lottery Info

If you need any assistance or have any questions about this type of visa, please contact us.

Vida Gosrisirikul is a Thai American attorney born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She has been in private practice for the last six years as a founding partner of The Law Office of Vida Gosrisirikul, PC and D’Souza & Gosrisirikul, Ltd. She serves as legal counsel to the Thai American Association of Illinois and the Illinois affiliate of the national Asian American Real Estate Association. Vida also served as President of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area from 2001 to 2002. She has been a member of the Illinois Bar since 1997 and is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is also fluent in Thai.