A Possible Alternative to the I-130 Petition

The I-130 is a popular way for close relatives of a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident to become eligible for a visa to the United States. However, per country quotas and long wait times are a common issue that plagues the USCIS. The new Biden administration, however, is looking to alter this process by providing an entirely new class of visa that can expedite such a process through a new way of petitioning.

The I-130 Alien Petition is meant for close relatives to file on behalf of an immigrant in their family, or spouse, so that such an individual can be eligible to apply for lawful permanent residence. The I-130 petition is convenient because it is relatively inexpensive, as compared to some other forms in the USCIS database, and is not very lengthy to fill out. For married couples, the I-130 is filed simultaneously with the immigrant in question I-485 application.

For single individuals who are in their country of origin, the petition allows the individual to travel to a U.S. embassy or consulate and be granted a visa to come to the United States upon approval of the said petition. The system works, for now, but has larger implications for the United States and the spread of LPRs across the country.

One of the issues that are apparent in the U.S. currently, is that even with many new foreign nationals being granted Legal Permanent residence status in the U.S., there are still many places in the U.S. that are largely segregated or do not have ethnic populations, and therefore do not have a diversity of the workforce and suffer economically.

A proposed new visa class however could change the way petitions function in the future. Joe Biden believes that foreign graduates of a U.S. doctoral program should be given a green card with their degree and that "losing these highly trained workers to foreign economies is a disservice to our own economic competitiveness", it said. The Biden administration also plans to create a new visa category to allow cities and counties to petition for higher levels of immigrants to support their growth. In other words, the new petition would be filed not simply from a family or relative, but from an actual county in the U.S. that is in demand for certain skills/labor.

The holders of such location visas would be required to work and reside in the city or county that petitioned for them and would be subject to the same certification protections as other employment-based immigrants. The process could potentially cut out the filing of the I-130, then, for some individuals who would be eligible after being petitioned on behalf.

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H-1B Visa

H-1B Visa

H-1B visa is used by businesses and organizations in the United States to employ foreign nationals with the preferred qualifications, knowledge, and expertise in a role.

I-485 Adjustment of Status

I-485 Adjustment of Status

Submit a form I-485 application to apply for lawful permanent resident status.

National Interest Waiver (NIW)

National Interest Waiver (NIW)

An applicant must either hold an advanced degree or have an exceptional ability in their field that would substantially benefit the U.S. to be qualified.