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Professionals who hold advanced degrees or possess exceptional ability |
This category includes individuals involved in the sciences, arts or business. An advanced degree is a United States academic or professional degree or foreign equivalent degree above that of a baccalaureate degree. A United States baccalaureate degree or foreign equivalent degree followed by at least five years of progressive experience in the specialty shall be considered the equivalent of a masters degree. This category ordinarily requires a job offer or labour certification. If it is proven to the applicant’s employment in the United States would be in the national interest (to be determined on a case-by-case basis), however, then s/he may be exempted from the job offer and labour certification requirement.
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Skilled Workers, Professionals and Other Workers |
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A Professional means a qualified alien who holds at least a United States or foreign equivalent baccalaureate degree and who is a member of a profession. |
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A Skilled Worker means a person who is capable, at the time of petitioning for this classification, of performing skilled labour (requiring at least two years’ training or experience not of a temporary or seasonal nature) for which qualified workers are not available in the United States. Any relevant post-secondary education may be considered as training for the purposes of this provision. |
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Other Worker means a qualified applicant who is capable, at the time of petitioning for this classification, of performing unskilled labour (requiring less than two years’ training or experience not of a temporary or seasonal nature) for which qualified workers are not available in the United States.This category requires both a job offer from a United States entity and a labour certification. |
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Employment Creation Aliens (Alien Entrepreneur) |
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A person who has invested or is actively in the process of investing lawfully obtained capital in a new commercial enterprise in the United States which will create full-time positions for not fewer than ten qualifying employees may make application for permanent residence. The amount of capital necessary to make a qualifying investment in the United States is $1,000,000 (U.S.). The amount of capital necessary to make a qualifying investment in a targeted employment area within the United States is $500,000 (U.S.). A targeted employment area means an area which, at the time of the investment, is a rural area or an area which has experienced unemployment of at least 150% of the national average rate. |