How do American students get green cards?

The first step: the STEM field itself needs professionals, and school education at all levels also needs STEM teachers, so the employment prospects are bright. In addition, accounting and nursing are always in short supply.

Step 2: Contact the internship before graduation.

Job recruitment in the United States attaches great importance to work experience. Internship in the United States is the best time to accumulate work experience. The United States provides two internship opportunities for foreign students related to their majors. One is called CPT, which is a current internship applied for during school; The other is OPT, which is an optional practical training that you can apply for at school or after graduation. CPT internship at school should be part-time, otherwise one year's internship will be deducted from OCP in the future. OPT internship can be carried out after one year of study, but usually after graduation. OPT internship period 12 months. But STEM students can apply for an extension of 17 months, so the total internship time is 29 months. OPT is not only an important stage to accumulate work experience, but also a golden age to find professional jobs.

Step 3: apply for H 1-B visa.

The visa for international students is usually F- 1 visa. Except for internships, international students cannot work legally in the United States. If you want to stay and work in the United States, you must apply for a professional work permit, that is, an H 1-B visa. Before applying for this visa, you must first find a job related to your major, and the employer is willing to apply for H 1-B for you. The employer shall submit the LaborConditionApplication (LCA) to the Ministry of Labor, stating that the employer will pay no less than the current wage standard and provide you with the same treatment as other employees. Hiring you will not have a negative impact on the work of other employees. After the LCA is approved, submit an application for H 1-B to the Immigration Bureau.

The basic requirement of H 1-B visa is that the job you want to do requires a bachelor's degree or above, and you just meet this requirement. The H 1-B visa is issued to foreigners, which means that people can apply even if they are not in the United States. However, relatively speaking, there are many more opportunities for international students to get a degree in the United States. If you show your talents in OPT internship, your company will be happy to hold H 1-B for you and keep you. Usually, the service life of H 1-B is 3 years, which can be extended for 3 years.

Step 4: Apply for permanent residence.

During the working period with H 1-B visa, the company can apply for permanent residence for itself and get the so-called green card. If you have difficulties, you can only find a job in a unit that is willing to apply for a green card. This kind of immigration is called employment-based immigration. International students who have obtained a degree in the United States are given the second priority in applying for the professional immigration category (EB-2), and you must have a master's or doctoral degree; There is also the third priority (EB-3), which does not require a postgraduate degree. In order to deal with these two types of immigrants, we must pass the difficulty of labor certification. The employer who applies for your green card must submit an application to the Labor Department to prove that no ready-made American citizen or permanent resident meets the basic requirements or is willing to accept the employment of the employee. Foreigners can only do this job, which will not adversely affect the salary and working environment of American employees engaged in similar jobs. The employer also promises that the job is not a temporary job, and the salary paid is not lower than the general salary level of this kind of job. The establishment of work permits in the United States, in layman's terms, is to protect Americans from being robbed of their jobs by foreigners. If the work permit is approved and the green light is given, the employer can successfully apply for a green card from the immigration office for you.

If you are an outstanding talent, researcher, professor, etc. , you can apply for the first priority (EB- 1). Or you can prove that your work is in the national interest of the United States, then you can apply for a special project in the second priority EB-2, namely National Interest Waiver (NIW). These two types of applications do not require a work permit.

It should be noted that in the third step, H 1-B is capped every year, except for higher education institutions such as American universities, non-profit research institutions or research institutions of government departments. Applications for 20 1 4 H 1-B will be accepted on April13. As a result, in just five days, we received the application of 124000, far exceeding the limit. The number of places is 65,000 ordinary places and 20,000 American master's degree places or above. The Immigration Bureau had to use computer to draw lots to accept drawn applications and return applications that exceeded the quota.

If you are unlucky and are not drawn, OPT will expire and you will lose your legal residence status in the United States. If you don't want to go back to China, you have to keep your legal status. There are usually several methods. Such as: re-register the school, study anything, and maintain the F- 1 visa. Another example is to change the visa application for internship visa from F- 1 to J- 1Trainee. If you have a spouse, you can also change your status to a spouse-dependent visa, such as F-2, H4, J-2 and L-2. So, keep your legal status and reapply for H 1-B next year.

Single girls can find an American citizen or a permanent resident to get married hand in hand. It is more difficult for single boys to take this green card shortcut.

Liberal arts: There are few opportunities.

It is difficult for liberal arts graduates to find jobs in the United States. The so-called liberal arts students mainly refer to social science students, including art students and education students. American students are not interested in studying science and engineering, the number of engineers trained in the United States is insufficient, the high-tech industry in the United States has a great demand for highly skilled workers, and foreign science and engineering students are very popular.

American native students study more business and liberal arts, and their cultural background, language advantages and personal connections are far from comparable to those of foreign students. In addition, government departments that need liberal arts students generally only recruit American citizens or permanent residents, leaving much less choice for liberal arts students.

Two kinds of internships: helping to find a job.

The United States provides two kinds of internship opportunities related to majors for international students: CPT is the internship they apply for during their school years, and OPT is the internship they can apply for during their school years or after graduation. CPT internship at school should be part-time, otherwise one year's internship will be deducted from OCP in the future. OPT internship can be carried out after one year of study, but usually after graduation.

The internship period of OPT is 12 months, but STEM students can apply for an extension of 17 months, so the total internship period is 29 months. OPT is not only an important stage to accumulate work experience, but also a golden age to find professional jobs.

Looking for internship opportunities: five choices

When you don't have any experience and your resume is not impressive, professor recommendation is the best channel: CareerCenter has two kinds: schools and universities, which often publish news about internships and jobs. Remember to ask the teacher of careercenter how to subscribe to formal career information when entering school. Large companies have their own InternshipProgram, some only in summer vacation, and some are rolling recruitment.

Mixer can also be divided into several types, including getting together with my brothers and sisters and getting together with classmates at the same level or in the same city. You can go online to find people with similar interests, or people who work in industries you are interested in, and then come out to get together with them, and you can get internship opportunities inadvertently. Linkedin is also an important tool, and HR of many big companies spend some time watching LinkedIn every day.

Job recruitment in the United States attaches great importance to work experience. Internship in the United States is the best time to accumulate work experience. For many students studying in the United States, if they can find internship opportunities in the United States, it will add luster to their careers.

EB-2: More international students apply.

International students who have obtained a degree in the United States apply for the second priority in the professional immigration category (EB-2). You must have a master's degree or a doctorate. There is also the third priority (EB-3), which does not require a postgraduate degree. To deal with these two types of immigrants, you must go through the difficulties of work permit.

The employer who applies for your green card must submit an application to the Labor Department to prove that no ready-made American citizen or permanent resident meets the basic requirements or is willing to accept the employment of the employee. This job has to employ foreigners, and such employment will not adversely affect the salary and working environment of American employees engaged in similar jobs. The employer also promises that the work is not temporary and the salary paid is not lower than the general salary level of this kind of work. If the work permit is approved and the green light is given, the employer can successfully apply for a green card from the immigration office for you.

Excellent talent migration: EB- 1 and EB-2 special projects

If you are an outstanding talent, researcher, professor, etc. , you can apply for the first priority (EB- 1), or you can prove that your work is in the national interest of the United States, then you can apply for the special project in the second priority (EB-2), that is, the national interest is exempt from immigration. Neither application requires a work permit.

28.6% of the annual global immigrant visa quota in the United States, that is, about 40,000 immigrant visas, plus unused quotas for special immigrants and investment immigrants, is used for "first priority" immigrants.

Relatives migration: getting a green card through marriage

Your relatives are American citizens, and international students can apply for a green card. Relatives of American citizens include parents, children and brothers and sisters. If an international student marries an American citizen, he can usually get an American green card within a few months, but this green card is usually a temporary green card valid for two years.

During the working period with H 1-B visa, the company can apply for becoming a permanent resident for itself and get the so-called green card. If you have difficulties, you can only find a job in a unit that is willing to apply for a green card. Such immigrants are called professional immigrants.