The academic degree branch of the EB-2 program

The EB-2 green card program is aimed at three different classes of foreign nationals seeking to work in the United States. These three classes are: individuals with “exceptional ability”, individuals that fall under a national interest waiver and individuals with an advanced degree. What particular requirements a person seeking an EB-2 green card would have to meet to be eligible for such a green card depends on which of these three branches they are trying to qualify under.

In today’s post, we are going to focus on the advanced degree branch of this employment-based green card program. Generally, there are two main requirements (on top of the general requirements for the EB-2 program) for this particular branch. One is that an advanced degree must be required for the U.S. job the foreign national would be filling. The other is that the foreign national must have the advanced degree in question.

As a note, there is one exception to this second requirement. Specifically, a foreign national without an advanced degree would be found to have an “equivalent” to such a degree, and thus would still be found to meet the requirement, if they have a baccalaureate degree and have done at least five years worth of progressive work in the field in question following getting their baccalaureate degree

So, when it comes to showing a worker would qualify for an EB-2 green card under the advanced degree route, academic documentation is not the only class of documents that could play a big role. Another is documentation regarding the worker’s past work experience.

As this illustrates, what types of documents would be key ones in an effort to seek out an EB-2 green card depends on what specific qualification route or exception a person is trying to show eligibility under. So, many different complex evidence issues could come up in EB-2 cases. Immigration attorneys can give foreign workers and U.S. companies involved in EB-2 cases guidance on the evidence issues and other key matters in their case.

Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, “Employment-Based Immigration: Second Preference EB-2,” Accessed Jan. 31, 2017