Immigrant Visas

Employment-Based Visas

Every year the United States approves a certain number of employment-based immigrant petitions. In general, a specific offer of employment from a U.S. based employer is required to qualify for immigration in the employment based preference categories. The following categories are available.

• Priority Workers - Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, arts, business or athletics: outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers;
• Members of "The Professions", persons with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts and business - Defined as a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or equivalent, or baccalaureate degree plus at least 5 years of progressive experience in the specialty, and persons of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts and business;
• Professionals - A person who holds a baccalaureate degree and who is a member of the professions;
• Skilled and Unskilled Workers - Skilled workers with at least two years training or experience and unskilled workers whose skills are in short supply in the U.S. Note: The Embassy does not keep a list of these professions;
• Special immigrants Certain religious workers and ministers of religion, certain international organization employees and their immediate family member, qualified and recommended current and former employees of the U.S. government and returning residents; and
• Investors - Persons who will create employment for at least ten unrelated persons by investing a minimum of USD $1,000,000 in a new commercial enterprise in the U.S.

For more information about employment-based immigrant visas, please visit the Employment-Based Immigrants page.

Note: The decision on whether a person is qualified for registration in the employment based preference category is made by USCIS. Questions about eligibility for such status or filing a petition should be addressed to the appropriate USCIS office. The Embassy cannot answer questions concerning eligibility to register in this category.

Approved petitions are forwarded to the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which collects the fees and documents and schedules the visa interview. The applicant will receive instructions in the mail describing what documents to bring to the interview.

What forms and documents should I bring?

For any visa-related question not answered on the consular section’s website, applicants may refer to the A-Z Subject Index or send a message to the following email address: VisasBucharest@state.gov. In most cases, the message will be answered within 3 business days.

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