Immigration Law

Employment-Based Immigration

Strategic Employment Immigration Solutions

Strategic guidance for employers and skilled professionals across temporary work visas, employment-based green cards, labor certification, and healthcare staffing.

Three decades of experience

Strategic paths for business and talent

Employment immigration is fundamental to America’s business success. BIRG LAW helps employers and skilled professionals navigate complex work-visa and employment-based permanent-residence processes.

For over three decades the firm has delivered strategic immigration solutions for Fortune 500 companies, emerging startups, hospitals, and talented individuals across industries.

Who this guide is for

U.S. employers and growing companies
Skilled professionals and executives
Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers
Researchers, physicians, and advanced-degree specialists

Employment immigration services

Visas and green cards

H-1B TN

Temporary work visas

EB-2 EB-3 EB-4

Employment green cards

PERM

PERM certification

EB-3 Schedule A Conrad 30

Healthcare workforce

See Full List of Visas →

On This Page

H-1B TN

Temporary work visas

EB-2 EB-3 EB-4

Employment green cards

PERM

PERM certification

EB-3 Schedule A Conrad 30

Healthcare workforce

See Full List of Visas →

Temporary employment

Temporary work visas

Employer-sponsored and professional pathways for temporary work in the United States.

H-1B

Professional Workers

Specialty occupations requiring highly specialized knowledge.

Overview

The H-1B permits temporary employment in a specialty occupation and is recognized as dual intent, so an H-1B worker may plan for permanent residence while holding nonimmigrant status. Work authorization is limited to the position described in the petition and to the petitioning employer.

The occupation must call for the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge — architecture, engineering, mathematics, the physical and social sciences, medicine and health, education, law, accounting, business specialties, theology, or the arts.

Requirements

At least a bachelor's degree, or its equivalent in work experience, in the specialty field.
An occupation that normally requires that degree for entry.
State licensure where the occupation requires it.
A U.S. employer willing to petition for the specific position.

How to apply

The employer files the petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including the position description, the worker's credentials, the supporting documents, and the fees. USCIS then reviews the petition and approves or denies the request.

Dependents

A spouse and unmarried minor children may seek H-4 status to live and study in the United States; employment authorization is not automatic. Because permanent residence can take years, H-1B extensions are often needed while the green-card case is pending.

Canadian and Mexican Professionals

Temporary professional employment in occupations covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada framework.

Overview

The TN category covers citizens of Canada and Mexico employed by U.S. companies in around 60 listed professions, with status valid for up to three years and renewable. For a Canadian applicant the request is reviewed and approved by the Department of Homeland Security at the port of entry.

Most listed professions require a degree in the same field. Management consultants may instead qualify on five years of consulting experience, and a case without a degree needs careful documentation and legal explanation.

Nurses and healthcare roles

Registered nurses are among the listed professions, which makes TN one of the fastest routes into hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities for qualified nurses from Canada and Mexico.

Application considerations

A qualifying professional occupation and a U.S. job offer or engagement.
Degree, license, or experience evidence required for that occupation.
Clear documentation of the professional relationship and the duties.
Extra evidence for management-consulting and self-employed service arrangements.

Permanent residence

Employment green cards

Permanent-residence categories for work in the national interest, sponsored workers, and special immigrants.

EB-2

National Interest Waiver (NIW)

Permanent residence without a job offer when the work serves the national interest.

Overview

An EB-2 National Interest Waiver removes the job-offer and labor-certification steps when the proposed endeavor matters enough to the United States. The applicant may build the case around their own business or project instead of an employer's sponsorship.

The underlying category is either an advanced degree — any degree higher than a bachelor's — or exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business.

How the case is judged

Meeting a listed factor does not decide the outcome on its own. USCIS weighs the whole record, and every petition is considered on its own evidence.

What the case must show

An endeavor of substantial merit and national importance.
A record showing the applicant is well positioned to advance it.
A benefit to the United States that justifies waiving the job offer and labor certification.
Evidence of improvement to the economy, wages and working conditions, education and training, health care, affordable housing, or the environment.

Exceptional ability: at least three of seven

Education in the field of expertise, such as a relevant degree.
Ten years of work experience.
A license or certification.
Membership in qualification-based professional associations.
Recognition of achievements by peers, professionals, or business organizations, including publications, citations, and conference invitations.
High salary or other exceptional compensation, such as a grant or monetary prize.
Comparable evidence, such as high business income, the ability to hire U.S. employees, or work on the White House Critical and Emerging Technologies List.

EB-3

Professionals, Skilled Workers, and Other Workers

Employer-sponsored permanent residence across three worker classifications.

Category distinctions

Skilled-worker positions require at least two years of training or experience. Professional positions require a baccalaureate degree, or its foreign equivalent, where that credential is the normal entry requirement for the profession. Other-worker positions require less than two years of training or experience, and the category is kept separate when annual visa numbers are allocated.

Sequence

The employer tests the labor market and obtains PERM labor certification.
The employer files Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.
The worker adjusts status or completes consular processing once a visa number is available.

Timing

Annual limits mean applicants in some categories and countries wait years for a visa number. The worker does not have to be in the United States when the petition is filed, and qualifying family members receive green cards alongside the principal.

EB-4

Special Immigrants

A preference category covering religious workers and other specifically defined special immigrants.

Overview

EB-4 covers religious workers, certain long-serving employees of the U.S. government, and citizens of Iraq or Afghanistan who worked for the U.S. Armed Forces as translators for at least one year.

For religious workers the process runs in two stages: the special immigrant visa petition, and then the permanent residence application.

Requirements for religious workers

A petitioner recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a bona fide non-profit religious organization or affiliate.
Present financial capacity to support the beneficiary.
A genuine need for the worker's services.
A full-time position in a religious occupation, held by a qualified beneficiary.

How to apply

The petitioner files Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant. Once it is approved and a visa number is available, the permanent residence application may be filed, and eligible family members may apply at the same time.

Employer sponsorship

PERM certification

The labor-market stage that supports most employer-sponsored employment green cards.

PERM

Labor Certification

Employer-sponsored permanent residence through prevailing-wage and recruitment steps.

Overview

Labor certification allows an employer to sponsor a foreign worker for permanent residence after testing the U.S. labor market. The central question is whether the employer can find a suitable U.S. worker for the open position.

The job must be full-time and the employer must demonstrate the ability to pay the offered wage. The employee does not have to be in the United States when the case is filed, and the family of the sponsored worker receives green cards together with them.

Process

Define the role and prepare a detailed job description.
Request the prevailing wage determination from the Department of Labor.
Run the required advertising and recruitment.
Document the results and file the labor certification when no qualified U.S. worker is available.
File the immigrant petition for the sponsored worker after certification.

What the employer prepares

A prevailing wage determination for the offered position.
A documented recruitment campaign.
A recruitment report and the certified application.
Evidence of the ability to pay the offered wage.

Hospitals and providers

Healthcare workforce

Dedicated routes for nurses, physical therapists, and international medical graduates, from sponsorship through to compliance.

EB-3 Schedule A

Nurses and Physical Therapists

A streamlined green card for occupations the Department of Labor has pre-certified.

Overview

Registered nurses, physical therapists, and other occupations listed by the Department of Labor as Schedule A do not go through the usual PERM recruitment stage, which removes months from an employer-sponsored green card.

BIRG LAW handles sponsorship, credentialing evidence, filing, and compliance so that hospitals, nursing homes, and healthcare agencies can concentrate on patient care.

Other healthcare routes

Where a green card is not the right first step, the same employers use H-1B for physicians, therapists, technologists, and other specialized professionals in degree-level roles, and TN for qualified nurses from Canada and Mexico.

What the employer prepares

A full-time permanent job offer in a Schedule A occupation.
Evidence of the worker's license, credentials, and English requirements.
A prevailing wage determination and a notice of filing.
Form I-140 filed with the Schedule A application attached.

Conrad 30

Waiver for International Medical Graduates

A waiver of the two-year home-residence requirement for J-1 physicians who serve underserved areas.

Overview

International medical graduates on J-1 visas normally have to return home for two years after training. The Conrad 30 program waives that requirement for physicians who agree to practice in a designated underserved area of the United States.

The waiver keeps trained doctors in the communities that need them and opens the way to H-1B employment and, later, permanent residence.

What the case involves

A qualifying job offer in a designated shortage or underserved area.
A recommendation from the state health department under its Conrad 30 allocation.
A commitment to full-time clinical practice for the required period.
Coordination of the waiver with the physician's H-1B and green-card timeline.

Not sure which employment path fits?

Compare eligibility, timing, and long-term goals through the BIRG Method.

Direct index

Compare all services

Jump directly to any topic in this Employment Immigration guide.

H-1B · Professional Workers

TN · Canadian and Mexican Professionals

EB-2 · National Interest Waiver (NIW)

EB-3 · Professionals, Skilled Workers, and Other Workers

EB-4 · Special Immigrants

PERM · Labor Certification

EB-3 Schedule A · Nurses and Physical Therapists

Conrad 30 · Waiver for International Medical Graduates

See Full List of Visas →

This page is general information about immigration options and is not legal advice.