CASE: Immigrant Visa/ I-140 (EB-2 Category) / Schedule A
EMPLOYER: Physician’s Office
BENEFICIARY: Filipina Nurse Practitioner
LOCATION: Petitioner is in Honolulu, Hawaii; Beneficiary is in Manila, Philippines
Our client is a certified nurse practitioner. Her prospective employer was willing to petition her for a second-preference employment immigrant visa petition (I-140). Since she was a certified nurse practitioner, she was eligible for “Schedule A” classification. The Department of Labor (DOL) maintains a schedule of occupations in its regulations, Schedule A included, for which the individual permanent labor certification procedure is not required. The schedule of pre-certified occupations is referred to as Schedule A, and is included in DOL regulations at 20 CFR 656.10. Based on an occupation’s inclusion on Schedule A, an employer may file an immigrant visa petition (I-140) directly with the (USCIS) without first going to the DOL for a labor certification. Usually, prior to filing I-140 petitions (EB-2 or EB-3 category), the employer must file a Labor Certification to the Department of Labor. However, for Schedule A cases, the employer does not have to go through the labor certification process. The position of Nurse Practitioner is included in Schedule A.
Our client has a Bachelor and Masters degree in nursing and is a certified Nurse Practitioner. Our office was retained on June 10, 2014 and we started the Prevailing Wage Determination filing and other related matters.
We filed the I-140 application on September 25, 2014 via premium processing. We included the job offer letter, the notice of filing, employment letter, and other necessary supporting documents. In our cover brief, we included the “ability to pay” argument and why nurse practitioners must fall under the Schedule A designation. On October 7, 2014, without any Request for Evidence (RFE), the USCIS Nebraska Service Center approved her EB-2 I-140 petition.
After her I-140 was approved, our client retained our office again for her immigrant visa processing. Once we were retained, our office filed the immigrant visa packets to the National Visa Center on January 12, 2015, who in turn forwarded the client’s materials to the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. An interview notice was set for the client at the U.S. Embassy in Philippines. On May 11, 2015, our client appeared at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. The interview went well, and the Embassy approved and issued her immigrant visa.
With the approved Immigrant Visa, our client can come to the United States immediately, and she will get her green card within two months of entry.