WHERE EMPLOYMENT CASES BEGIN
Work-based immigration is less about paperwork than about sequencing. The category you file under, the order in which filings happen, and how a role is documented all shape whether a case is approved, delayed, or denied. Most of the problems we are asked to fix began as timing decisions made months earlier.
Most employment cases begin with a temporary category that allows you to start working while longer-term options are considered.
O-1 VISAS
The O-1 is for individuals who can document a sustained record of distinction in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or a record of extraordinary achievement in film and television. It has no annual cap and no lottery, which means it can be filed at any point in the year.
The evidentiary burden is real: the petition is built from awards, publications, press coverage, judging or peer-review work, high remuneration, membership in selective associations, and expert letters. For candidates with a genuine record, it is frequently the more practical route than waiting for an H-1B cycle. Much of the work is in assembling and framing that record, not in the form itself.
H-1B VISAS
The H-1B covers roles that normally require at least a bachelor's degree in a specific field. Congress caps the number of new petitions each fiscal year, demand routinely exceeds that cap, and USCIS therefore runs a registration and selection process before petitions are filed.
Not every case is subject to the cap. Certain employers — including many universities, affiliated nonprofit research organizations, and government research institutions — are exempt, which can make a filing possible outside the annual cycle. Whether the cap applies turns on the employer, not only the role. We also handle extensions, amendments where job duties or worksites change, and the recapture of time spent outside the United States.
A note on timing. Do not resign a position or accept a start date before the filing strategy is settled. Gaps in status are far easier to prevent than to repair, and a short delay in planning is almost always cheaper than a remedial filing later.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED PERMANENT RESIDENCE
Temporary status and permanent residence are separate tracks, and they can often run in parallel. Which preference category fits depends on your credentials, the role, and how quickly you need a durable outcome.
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EB-1 — extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers and professors, and certain multinational managers and executives. No labor certification required.
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EB-2 — advanced degree professionals and individuals of exceptional ability. Normally requires labor certification, unless a national interest waiver applies.
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EB-3 — skilled workers and professionals. Requires labor certification.
Where a national interest waiver is available, it removes the labor certification step and allows the individual to self-petition rather than depend on an employer. Whether that argument is viable is a judgment about the substance of the work and its national importance, and it is worth assessing honestly before committing to it.
PERM
For most EB-2 and EB-3 cases, the Department of Labor must first certify that no qualified U.S. worker is available for the position at the appropriate wage. That involves a prevailing wage determination and a defined set of recruitment steps before the immigrant petition is filed. The process is procedural and unforgiving of shortcuts, and it is where employer-side cases most often lose time.
PRIORITY DATES AND PLANNING
Depending on your category and country of chargeability, there may be a wait between the petition and the final step. That wait interacts with status expiration, travel plans, dependents' status, and job changes. Planning it early is the difference between a managed sequence and an emergency filing.
CHANGING EMPLOYERS AND ROLES
Job changes are routine, but they are not informal. A new employer must generally file on your behalf, and in most H-1B cases you may begin work once that petition is properly filed rather than waiting for approval. O-1 status is tied to the petitioning employer or agent, so a move usually requires a new petition. Promotions, worksite changes, and material changes in duties can also require an amended filing.
If permanent residence is already in progress, a move raises a further question: whether the underlying petition can be preserved. Sometimes it can. That answer depends on how far the case has progressed, so it should be settled before you give notice.
FOR EMPLOYERS
We also advise sponsoring employers, including first-time sponsors. That covers assessing which categories a role can support, prevailing wage and PERM compliance, public access file requirements, worksite and Labor Condition Application obligations, and building a defensible record before a petition is filed rather than after a request for evidence arrives.
OUR APPROACH
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Assessment first. We tell you which categories you plausibly qualify for and which you do not, before anything is filed.
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Strategy and sequencing. Which filing goes first, what it depends on, and what the realistic timeline looks like.
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Documentation. Assembling the record — expert letters, evidence of achievement, corporate and wage documentation — so the petition is strong on submission.
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Filing and response. Preparation, submission, and responses to requests for evidence or notices of intent to deny.
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Maintenance. Extensions, amendments, transfers, and planning for dependents and travel.
Consultations are available in English, French, and Arabic.
If you have an offer, are considering a change of employer, or want to understand which category fits your situation, contact us to discuss your options.