The United States of America allows individuals, and capable and eligible organizations, to sponsor their potential candidate into the country. Even though not every individual and organization can bring in their candidate without following a due course. There are some certain requirements and criteria that must be met before consideration for such an offer. An individual organization can only sponsor their candidate via three major ways, which are:
- The employment-based sponsorship: This is referred to a US employer who is willing to sponsor a potential employee to perform a specific role or function. The US employer must have passed the required certification and the potential employee would have been certified by the employer.
- The family-based sponsorship: A family member of the potential candidate who is also a US citizen or permanent resident in the US, is eligible to sponsor their relatives into the country. Examples include: a child, spouse, parent, etc.
- Refugee/Humanitarian sponsorship: This is when an individual or organization wishes to sponsor a refugee or a family to the country.
Essential Eligibility Criteria and Requirements for a US Visa Sponsorship
1. Employment-based Sponsorship
For potential candidate:
General requirements
- Age: Must be at least 18 years and above to apply for a working visa in the US.
- Education: Must have the required education certificate level for the preferred job level. Some jobs specifically request for a bachelor’s degree or higher while others require only a high school diploma or secondary school certificate.
- Experience: Must have at least a working experience of about 2-5 years in the field of speculation.
- Eligible occupation: Desired occupation must be in the list of qualified occupations for work visas in the US.
- Returning Decision: Must be able to prove that you will return back home (your local country) when your work visas expired.
- Criminal record: must have zero criminal record or have their name associated with any crimes.
- Medical fitness: Must be able to prove that he/she is medically fit and possesses no threatening medical conditions.
For employer/sponsor
- Certification: Must be certified by the US Department of Labour to sponsor foreign nationals to work in the country. This is also referred to as labor certification, showing that no US nationals are available for the job.
- Petition Filing: The sponsor/employer will have to file an immigrant petition for the alien worker (Form I-140) to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to confirm the expected employment.
- Citizenship status: The employer must be a US citizen or has a permanent resident card.
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Specific requirements for a US working visa:
- An H-1B visa; requires at least a bachelor’s degree in an educational field like engineering, architecture, science, medicine, etc. Candidates must also be skilled and talented.
- EB-2 and EB-3 visas must have a basic bachelor’s degree or advanced degree, work experience, and extraordinary skills and abilities.
2. For a family-based US visa sponsorship
For potential family member
General requirement
- Proof of family relationship: Must be able to prove that he/she has a family relationship with the sponsor with family documents, passport, birth certificate, etc.
- Family members preference: Qualified members are the Immediate relatives (e.g. spouses, parents, etc. and adult children, married children, siblings, etc.
- Medical fitness: You will undergo a medical exam to check your medical fitness and ensure you possess no medical conditions.
- Criminal record: You must have zero criminal records.
For Individual Sponsor
- Age: Must be at least 18 years old and above.
- Status: Must at least be a US citizen or a permanent resident.
- Petition filing: The sponsor will be able to file the petition form I-130.
- Financial Capability: Must be financially capable of sponsoring the needs of dependents.
- Documentation: Both sponsors and individuals are going to need documents like birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.
How to apply for a family-based visa Sponsorship
Here are the step-by-step guides to applying for a family-based visa sponsorship:
STEP 1: CHECK FOR THE ELIGIBILITY AND REQUIREMENTS
- You must ensure that you truly have someone who is a family member in the country and is a citizen of the US or a permanent resident.
- You must also check if your family member (both sponsor and individual) meets the eligibility criteria and requirements such as age (18 years and above), valid Citizenship status, etc.
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STEP 2: COLLATE ALL DOCUMENTS
- You will also need to get all the requested documents for the application, for instance, the proof of family relationship i.e. marriage certificate, adoption/birth certificate, valid ID passport, etc for the individuals.
- The sponsor’s documents include: a valid US citizen’s passport, birth certificate, etc.
STEP 3: PETITIONING
- Before obtaining a form, you have to create an account on the USCIS website here
- You can now obtain the form I-130 (Alien relative form) from the USCIS website.
- You will fill in the form with the correct information and details.
- Submit the form along with other documents to successfully petition for form I-130.
STEP 4: THE APPROVAL FOR FORM I-130
- You will have to wait for USCIS to carefully scrutinize your application and approve your petition.
- Upon approval of your petition, the next step would have been listed with instructions.
STEP 5: ATTENDING INTERVIEW
- You will receive a notification for the interview with all the necessary information from the National Visa Center or USCIS.
- You will attend the interview with your family member (the sponsored relatives) and other proof of the relationship.
STEP 6: VISA APPROVAL
- If successful, you will receive a notification for visa approval or a green card.
- Move into the country after receiving the visa or green card.
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How to Apply for an Employment-based Visa Sponsorship
Here are the step-by-step guides to apply for a employment-based visa sponsorship:
STEP 1: CHECK THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND REQUIREMENTS
- You must have secured a job offer from a US employer. There are many online job portals where you can find a US jobs, e.g USAJobs, USponsorME, Indeed, etc.
- Ensure that your job preference is part of the eligible occupations for employment-based visa sponsorship.
- Your education and experience must match the requirements of the job.
STEP 2: LABOUR CERTIFICATION FOR EMPLOYER
- US employers will have to obtain the labor certificate and apply for PERM to the US Department of Labour (DOL).
- The US Department of Labour is responsible for ensuring that the employer has confirmed that no US citizen is available for the jobs.
STEP 3: PETITIONING
- Your US employer will have to obtain the file form I-140 (Alien worker form) from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
- The USCIS will be responsible for scrutinizing the application and see to its approval.
STEP 4: THE WAITI|NG TIME
- You will receive a priority date which will determine selection for the USCIS processes visa application.
- You will have to wait to receive the current date which will include the next steps.
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STEP 5: ATTENDING AN INTERVIEW
- You will receive a notification from the USCIS to attend an interview.
- Be sure to attend the interview with all required documents
- Ensure to practice all correct answers to common interview questions
STEP 6: RECEIVING THE VISA OR GREEN CARD
- Upon approval of the application, you will receive a notification for either a green card or a visa.
- Move into the country after receiving the visa.
Conclusion
It is no longer news that the United States is one of the most developed countries in the world. The US economy has greatly developed and driven by productivity, extensive natural resources, and performance of the highly rated sectors of the economy like Technology, finance, healthcare, etc. The country has allowed immigrants across the world to enter into the country via family-based and employment-based visa sponsorship. You can start to take chances of this opportunity and move into the country.