Immigration Petition for Executive/Managers

The Professional Work Visa is an excellent way to obtain work authorization in the United States. Persons with a "specialized occupation” and a university degree may apply for this Work Visa that is valid for up to six years. A qualified immigrant may process a petition for permanent residency while working in the United States.

This visa is set-aside for "professionals". This visa is the most regulated of the employment visas. Applicants must have a U.S. job offer. According to federal regulations, the job to be filled by the foreign worker must require the services of a professional.

For immigration purposes, a professional is defined as someone with a United States four-year Bachelors degree or the equivalent. If the foreign worker's education is not the equivalent of a U.S. four-year Bachelors degree, the person's experience can be factored into the determination. If the minimum requirement for entry into the field is a Bachelors degree, then the position is considered to be professional in nature.

Multinational executives and managers are exempt from the labor certification requirement. Our firm represents executives and managers who are "starting-up" business operations in the U.S. for foreign corporations as well those being transferred to the U.S. by large international corporations based in the U.S. or abroad.

To be admitted as an immigrant, a multinational executive or manager must have been employed in a managerial or executive or executive capacity for at least one out of the past three years. The past employment must be with the same employer, an affiliate, a parent or a subsidiary. The petitioning employer must have been doing business in the U.S. for at least one year.

Not just any executive or manager can make the grade. To qualify as an executive, the worker must:

• Direct the management of the organization or a major component or function of the organization;
• Establish the goals and policies of the organization, component or function;
• Exercise wide latitude in discretionary decision making; and
• Receive only general supervision from higher-level executives, the board of directors, or stockholders of the organization.

To qualify as a manager, the worker must:

• Manage the organization, or a department, subdivision, function, or component of the organization,
• Supervise and control the work of other supervisory, professional, or managerial employees, or manages an essential function within the organization, or a department or subdivision of the organization;
• Have the authority to hire and fire supervised employees, or recommend them for promotion or other personnel action, or (if there are no immediate supervisees) function at a senior level within the organizational hierarchy; and
• Exercise direction over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function over which the worker has authority.