Every fiscal year (October 1st – September 30th), approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are made available to qualified applicants under the provisions of U.S. immigration law, specifically the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Employment based immigrant visas are divided into five preference categories. Certain spouses and children may accompany or follow-to-join employment-based immigrants.  You can learn more about these five categories of employment-based immigrant visas on usvisas.state.gov.

To apply for an employment-based immigrant visa, follow the steps on the State Department’s Immigrant Visa Process web page.  Once you have completed those steps, review the instructions given to you by the National Visa Center (NVC), along with the information presented on this website, for further guidance and instructions.