College immigration

The Government of the United States offers various types of Non-Immigrant visas that are mandatory for any person who wants to study, work and stay in the US temporarily.

Our team of immigration lawyers at ACE ALLIANCE will help you with the documentation. Our team will guide you every step of the way to make the immigration process, a seamless and cost-effective exercise. Our team will also liaise with the US Embassy for your visa and immigration application

OPT/CPT
Optional Practical Training (OPT) means short-term employment for an F-1 student in their area of study. The duration can be for a period of 12 months before a student finishes his or her academic studies and/or after he or she finishes their academic studies.

Curricular Practical Training (CPT) means short-term employment as part of an established curriculum, which is given by employers who sponsor the student through cooperative agreements, with the school. CPT is only available prior to the finishing of a student’s degree program. The said student has to obtain a job offer before he or she applies for CPT.

H-1B PROCEDURES

The minimum requirements to obtain a H-1B classification are:

The sponsorship of the applicant by his or her U.S. employer
The applicant must have a U.S. Bachelor’s Degree or its equivalent
There should be a correlation between the job duties and the applicant’s education and work experience

In addition to the these above mentioned requirements, before an applicant files for the H-1B petition with the Immigration & Naturalization Service, the applicant must receive permission of labour condition attestation from the Department of Labour.

H-1B CAP

There is a limit of 65,000 H-1B visas for each fiscal year. As per the Immigration Act of 1990, only so many foreign nationals will be issued a visa or be provided H-1B status. For anybody who has a master’s or higher degree from U.S. universities, there’s an additional 20,000 H-1Bs available for applying.

FAMILY MEMBERS

A F-1 student’s dependents are eligible to apply for F-2 visas, but they can’t take up any form of employment that involves compensation. However, minor children of the visa holder may attend public schools.

DURATION

The duration of stay for anybody with a student visa is, on the basis of his or her student status. So even if a student’s F-1 visa expires, he or she can continue to stay in the United States, as long as he or she is a full time student. If an F-1 student has finished the studies as per I-20 and any authorized practical training, he or she can stay on for an additional 60 days before departure.

GREEN CARD

An F1 student who is staying legally in the United States, has an advantage while applying for green card through an F1. The reasons to get a Green card are stated below:

For Sponsorship by their Employer
To get married
To be eligible for the Green Card Lottery

EB IMMIGRATION

Around 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are available each fiscal year for qualified applicants under the provisions of U.S. immigration law. There are five Employment-Based (EB) visa categories:

EB-1 is applicable for multinational executives with exceptional experience and ability in the fields of science, art, education, business, or sport
EB-2 is applicable for those applicants who have a Master’s degree or higher in professions such as medicine, science, and teaching
EB-3 is applicable for skilled workers with a minimum of 2 years of experience in their field, Master’s degree and PhD holders who are not covered under EB-2 visa, and for low skilled workers who wish apply for a permanent job in the US
EB-4 is applicable for those migrants who do not qualify under any of the above mentioned visa categories. This is applicable for religious workers, US Foreign service employees, and others
EB-5 is applicable for investors who are willing to invest a minimum of either $500,000 or $1,000,000 in a US business with at least 10 employees

PERM

Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) is an electronic processing system to file a labour certification application for an employment-based green card.

ASSISTANCE FOR EMPLOYERS

SPONSORING GREEN CARD: This process begins when an employer gets an approved application for Permanent Labour Certification from the U.S. Department of Labour (DOL). After the labour certification is approved by the DOL, the employer continues the process by filing Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, on behalf of the said foreign national with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
FORM I-9: The purpose of Form I-9 is to document each new employee (both citizen and non-citizen) hired after November 6, 1986, that is authorized to work in the United States.
E-VERIFY: E-Verify is a web-based system which helps an employer confirm his or her employee’s eligibility to work in the US. Using E-Verify, an employer can verify the identity and employment eligibility of their newly hired employee. This is done by matching the information entered in the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, against the record available in the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
SPONSORING TEMPORARY VISAS: U.S. immigration law allows a U.S. employer to file a Form I-129, Petition for a Non-Immigrant worker with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of that worker. Once this petition is approved, the said worker/employee can apply for admission to the United States, or request for a change of non-immigrant status while living in the United States, to work temporarily or receive training.

REGISTERED NURSES

HEALTH CARE WORKERS

Any foreign national who plans come to the United States to perform labour as health care workers, is only admissible if he or she presents certification from a USCIS-approved credentialing organization. This certificate must verify that the said worker meets the minimum requirement for training, licensure, and English proficiency in his or her field

NCLEX

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination) exam tests a nurse’s competency to become an entry-level nurse. The subject matters in the exam cover topics such as safe and effective care environment, health promotion, maintenance and psychosocial integrity

VISASCREEN

The Visa Credentials Assessment Service is a detailed screening service for healthcare professionals who apply for an occupational visa to work in the United States. A applicant who successfully completes VisaScreen receive an official ICHP Certificate for the VisaScreen: Visa Credentials Assessment Service. This certificate complies with the United States Federal screening requirements.

ENGLISH EXAM

English exams for VisaScreen are a mandatory requirement for health care workers seeking TN status, H-1B visas and green cards through their employment.

CITIZENSHIP

CITIZENSHIP THROUGH PARENTS: There are two ways to obtain citizenship through U.S. citizen parents. One is at birth and the other one is after birth, but before the applicant turns 18. The term “parents” means the genetic father, the genetic mother and the non-genetic gestational mother, if she is the legal parent at the time of birth, under the law of the relevant jurisdiction in the US
NATURALIZATION: Naturalization is a process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen/national after he or she fulfils the requirements, established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)

HISTORY/GOVERNMENT TEST

The civics test is an oral test. The USCIS Officer asks the applicant between 10 to 100 civics questions. An applicant must answer at least 6 out of 10 questions correctly, to pass the civics section of the naturalization test.

CATEOGORIES OF EMPLOYMENT BASED(EB) US VISAS

FAQS ON COLLEGE IMMIGRATION

What are the minimum requirements for an Indian student to apply for an H-1B visa?

The student needs to establish his or her sponsorship by an American employer
The student should be American Bachelor’s Degree holder or the equivalent of the same
There should be a correlation regarding the job requirements vis-vis how the applicant’s education helps with satisfying/matching those requirements
The labour condition attestation as per the consequent Department of Labour

How many people can apply for an H-1B visa every year?

Every year, a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas are issued by the USA, as per their Immigration Act of 1990. However, for students who are Master’s or Ph.D. degree holders from American colleges, an extra 20,000 H-1B visas are available. In regard to employment-related EBI visas, around 140,000 such immigrant visas are available on an annual basis.

Once you get in touch with us at ACE ALLIANCE with your request to start your college immigration process to the US we will start the process. After our team receives all the details, our immigration lawyers will start the process within 1-2 days. Our team will help you every step of your college immigration application process till you receive your U.S. visa.