EB-2: The Employment Based Second Preference (EB2)

for “members of the professions holding advanced degrees,” and “aliens of exceptional ability.”

This category is divided into two subcategories:

(1) Professionals holding an advanced degree (i.e., beyond a bachelor’s degree), or a baccalaureate degree plus at least five years progressive experience in the field. Examples include lawyers, certified public accountants and other persons similarly qualified; and

(2) Persons with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business. “Exceptional ability” means having a degree of expertise significantly above that ordinarily encountered in the field.

The combination of a baccalaureate degree with 5 years experience in the professions is deemed equivalent to a Master’s degree. If a doctoral degree is required for the particular profession, the alien must possess the doctoral degree.

In order to obtain permanent residency through the EB2 category, the applicant must have an employer willing to sponsor him or her through labor certification or PERM.

The applicant does not have to be employed when labor certification/PERM is filed. In this EB2 category, the applicant must have a job offer in the profession for which s/he is academically prepared. The employer must obtain appropriate “labor certification (LC)” from the U.S. Department of Labor. An individual with an advanced degree, or a Ph.D. student, may obtain permanent residency without labor certification with a national interest waiver.

Members of the professions includes, but is not limited to architects, engineers, lawyers, physicians, surgeons, and teachers in elementary or secondary schools, colleges, academia, or seminaries. It also includes any occupation for which a US baccalaureate degree (or foreign equivalent) is the minimum requirement for entry into the occupation. For member of the professions, advanced degree means any US academic or professional degree (or foreign equivalent degree) above that of a baccalaureate. A bachelor degree plus five years of progressive experience in the professions is considered as the equivalent of a master’s degree. A foreign degree from an overseas institution may also be acceptable if the USCIS determines it to be equivalent to a U.S. degree.

Aliens of Exceptional Ability in the sciences, arts, or business. An alien will qualify for registration in this category if he or she is seeking to enter in the United States in his or her field and the entry of such alien will substantially benefit prospectively the national economy, cultural, or educational interests, or welfare of the United States.