What are the categories for acquiring immigrant status through employment?

There are five categories for granting permanent residence to foreign nationals based on employment skills. If you are an employer and are unsure which employment category applies to the foreign national you wish to sponsor, or if you are a foreign national and want more information on which category matches your particular situation, refer to the following:

• EB-1 Priority workers
  Foreign nationals of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, foreign nationals who are outstanding professors or researchers, and/or foreign nationals who are managers and executives subject to international transfer to the United States.
• EB-2 Professionals with advanced degrees or persons with exceptional ability
  Foreign nationals of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, or business, foreign nationals who are advanced degree professionals, and/or qualified alien physicians who will practice medicine in an area of the U.S. that is underserved.
• EB-3 Skilled or professional workers
  Foreign national professionals with bachelor's degrees (not qualifying for a higher preference category), foreign national skilled workers (minimum two years training and experience), and/or foreign national unskilled workers.
• EB-4 Special Immigrants
  Foreign national religious workers, and/or employees and former employees of the U.S. Government abroad.
• EB-5 Immigrant Investors

How do I apply for immigrant status based on employment?

Your employer must sponsor (or petition) you to work in the United States on a permanent basis by filing a Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker. Filing requirements differ for each of the five categories, but most employment categories require that the U.S. employer complete a labor certification request (Form ETA 750) for the applicant, and submit it to the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, wherein the USCIS must approve the immigrant visa petition.

Additionally, the State Department must give the applicant an immigrant visa number, even if the applicant is already in the United States. When the applicant receives an immigrant visa number, it means that an immigrant visa has been assigned to the applicant.

What about immigration through investment?

10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise. Of the 10,000 investor visas (i.e., EB-5 visas) available annually, 5,000 are set-aside for those who apply under a USCIS sponsered pilot program. This pilot program focuses on a specific geographic area within the United States, and seeks to promote economic growth through increased export sales, improved regional productivity, creation of new jobs, and increased domestic capital investment. 

What are the requirements for immigration through investment?

Permanent resident status based on EB-5 eligibility is available to investors, either alone or coming with their spouse and unmarried children. Alien investors must do the following to qualify for immigration based on investment:

• Demonstrate that a "qualified investment" is being made in a new commercial enterprise under the USCIS pilot program; OR
• Show, using reasonable methodologies, that 10 or more jobs are actually created either directly or indirectly by the new commercial enterprise through revenues generated from increased exports, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment.

If you or someone you know in Washington State, Canada or worldwide needs the assistance of an experienced Seattle Washington Immigration Lawyer, call Millar & Smith Immigration Attorneys, PLLC today at 866-632-3959, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

What is the benefit of becoming a permanent U.S. resident?

The benefit of becoming a permanent resident is that you obtain a right to live and work permanently in the United States. As a lawful permanent resident, you will receive a permanent resident card, commonly known as a Green Card. This card is evidence of your status as a lawful permanent resident, and of your registration in accordance with United States immigration laws.

How can I become a permanent resident of the U.S.?

If you have been present in the United States since January 1, 1972, you may be eligible for the “registry” provisions of U.S. immigration laws which would allow you to obtain lawful permanent residency, even if you are illegally in the United States now, or if you initially entered the U.S. illegally.

You are eligible to apply for permanent residence if you:

• Entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972;
• Have continuously resided in the United States since entry;
• Are a person of good moral character;
• Are neither ineligible for citizenship, except for the requirement of five years of lawful permanent residence, nor inadmissible for participation in terrorist activities, certain criminal or security grounds, or for alien smuggling.

Note: Any alien who has at any time engaged in terrorist activities is ineligible for registry. Further, any alien who fails to appear at a removal hearing, or who fails to depart after agreeing to voluntary departure, is ineligible for registry for a period of ten years.

If you or someone you know in Washington State, Canada or worldwide needs the assistance of an experienced Seattle Washington Immigration Lawyer, call Millar & Smith Immigration Attorneys, PLLC today at 866-632-3959, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

If you or someone you know in Washington State, Canada or worldwide needs the assistance of an experienced Seattle Washington Immigration Lawyer, call Millar & Smith Immigration Attorneys, PLLC today at 866-632-3959, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

ADDRESSES OF THE FIRM:

Millar & Smith Immigration Attorneys, PLLC
13000 Linden Ave N., Suite 109
Seattle, WA 98133
Telephone: 866-632-3959
Fax: 206-262-0562

Bellingham:
909 Harris Ave., Suite 202E
Bellingham, WA 98225

Burnaby, Canada:
4664 Lougheed Hwy
Suite 183
Burnaby, BC V5C 5T5

MEMBERS OF THE FIRM:

Duncan Millar
Duncan Millar practices primarily out of the Bellingham office. He serves many business and individual clients throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Asia.

Duncan's practice focuses exclusively on immigration law, and he has extensive experience in all types of green card cases, business and family immigration, investment and consular matters.

Duncan appears regularly at the Port Court at the Blaine Port of Entry and the Seattle Immigration Court, where he represents respondents in deportation proceedings against the Department of Homeland Security, and often accompanies Canadians to the border to acquire visas under the NAFTA.

Duncan graduated with the highest honors from California State University, Long Beach where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy. He then attended Seattle University School of Law and received the degree of Juris Doctor. Duncan is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyer's Association.

Duncan is active in the British Columbia Pipers' Association as a certified adjudicator and competitior, and is a drummer with the Four-Time World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from Burnaby, B.C. Duncan and his spouse Danielle enjoy playing celtic music together and hiking with their dogs, Doug and Mur.


Daniel Smith
Daniel Smith practices primarily out of the Seattle office with scheduled appointments at the firm’s other locations.

Daniel graduated magna cum laude from West Chester University of Pennsylvania where he received a degree in Political Science. He then attended Seattle University Law School for his law degree. Daniel is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, and the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Daniel is also active in the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association and is on the advisory board of the Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free spay and neuter services to stray and abandoned cats. Prior to law school, Daniel was President of Air Quality Control, Inc., an indoor environmental remediation firm specializing in managing indoor pollutants such as radon gas and carbon monoxide.

During law school Daniel concentrated his studies on subjects that lead to his interest in international law matters such as immigration and environmental law. Also during law school, Daniel was active in the Public Interest Law Foundation and the Environmental Law Society and was awarded the CALI Excellence For the Future Award for excellent achievement in the study of international environmental law.


Carla Perez
Carla Pérez practices out of the Seattle and Bellingham offices.

Carla graduated from University of Texas-Pan American where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. She received her law degree from Seattle University School of Law. Carla is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Prior to law school, Carla worked at Baylor College of Medicine as a research assistant in a molecular biology laboratory. During law school, Carla interned at Starbucks Coffee Corporation and at Millar & Smith Immigration Attorneys, PLLC. She was an active member of her law school’s Latino/a Law Student Association and is currently a member of Latino/a Bar Association of Washington.

Carla is fluent in Spanish and has a special interest in reaching out to our growing Latino population.


Robert Pearson, Of Counsel
Rob practices primarily out of New York City and northeastern New Jersey.

Rob earned a Bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College, a Master of Science from Georgia Southern University and law degree from Seattle University. During his undergraduate and legal studies, Rob studied international law and policy at the London School of Economics and University of Barcelona respectively.

During law school, Rob worked with general counsel at both Corbis Corporation, a Bill Gates owned arts and entertainment licensing company, and Octagon Worldwide, a global leader in marketing, consulting and management. Rob also summer clerked with the Honorable James K. Singleton, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.

Immediately following law school, Rob clerked for the Honorable Frank A. Buczynski, Superior Court Presiding Judge, Chancery Division in Toms River, New Jersey. After clerking, Rob became associated with Parker McCay, PA, practicing in the firm’s complex litigation department in Princeton. Following Parker McCay, he worked as an associate with Kates Nussman, LLP in Hackensack, New Jersey. At Kates Nussman, Rob practiced commercial litigation and international corporate law and was instrumental in obtaining several settlements worth over a million dollars for the firm’s clients. In 2006 and 2007, Rob was nominated by his peers and named a New Jersey Super Lawyer Rising Star, by New Jersey Monthly magazine.

Rob now utilizes his litigation skills and techniques in the federal immigration courts in New York and New Jersey. He is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., is New York admission pending and is a member of the District of Columbia and Monmouth County, New Jersey Bar Associations.