The employment-based green card is designed for foreign nationals seeking to live and work in the U.S. through their professions. The employment-based interview is a crucial step in the process that verifies the applicant’s qualifications, job offer, and admissibility to the United States. This guide outlines the interview process, shares common green card employment interview questions, and offers a useful checklist so you don’t forget any documents for your appointment.
Employment-Based Green Card Interview
The employment-based green card category is for foreign nationals who meet the requirements to live and work in the United States through their occupation.
Most classifications require a series of important steps, typically initiated by a U.S. employer, which include obtaining a PERM labor certification and filing a green card petition. Regardless of the specific employment category, the green card interview is the necessary and final step of this process, and following the specific guidelines for your classification is crucial to the success of your application.
Green cards under the employment-based category include:
- First Preference EB-1 Green Card: Foreign nationals with extraordinary abilities, professors, researchers, distinguished academics, and international executives may qualify for a green card under this category. There is a long list of requirements that must be met in order to be considered eligible. Some of these requirements include having documented achievements and/or distinguished awards by recognized bodies, such as a Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, or Olympic medal. Membership in a professional association and having high-profile publications covering your achievements in a particular field can qualify as supplementary criteria.
- Second Preference EB-2 Green Card: The EB-2 green card is meant for professionals holding an advanced degree (or its equivalent) or those who possess exceptional talent. Certain applicants may also be able to obtain a National Interest Waiver (NIV), which allows them to bypass the PERM Labor Certification and sponsorship requirements.
- Third Preference EB-3: The EB-3 green card is for skilled workers with a minimum of 2 years of training or experience, professionals with at least a U.S. baccalaureate or its equivalent, and unskilled workers with two years of training or experience in unskilled labor.
- Fourth Preference EB-4 Green Card: This is for special applicants, such as religious workers, broadcasters, G-4 or NATO employees, and their family members, and others listed here.
- Investment-Based EB-5 Green Card: This is for individuals who can invest $1,050,000 or 800,000 in Targeted Employment Areas. It is popularly known as the fifth preference EB-5 investor program. You don’t need a sponsor to petition for this category, but there are several criteria you must fulfill apart from having the investment funds. Your proposed investment must also have the potential to create or preserve a minimum of 10 jobs.
- Special Immigrant Green Cards: Certain individuals, such as asylees, refugees, human trafficking victims, and other special immigrants, may qualify for green cards under this category.
How To Prepare For An Employment-Based Green Card Interview
Now, the employment-based interview is often a very short process that lasts no longer than 20 minutes. However, preparing well before the interview date will help you be successful. Your confidence, appearance, and communication skills will go a long way during the general assessment. The following tips will help you:
Step 1: Review Your Forms and Documents
Most of the questions will be asked based on your submitted application to ensure all information provided in your petition is genuine. Reviewing the documents will help you refresh your memory and answer any questions given to you without hesitation.
Step 2: Review questions
Go over questions to make sure that you are familiar with your answers.
Step 3: Dress Appropriately, Stay Calm, and Arrive Early
- Revealing clothing, shirts with symbols or slogans, might damage your rapport with some officers, and that may affect their assessment of you. You need to be professional and conservative in your dress and your appearance.
- Ensure you are already at the interview location 15 to 20 minutes before the appointed time. Rushing to your interview at the last minute may cause you to appear disorganized and may affect your communication. Get there early to avoid being late and having to rush.
- Your green card interview is not an interrogation. It is just a normal question-and-answer session. You don’t need to panic. Looking nervous and disorganized might be a red flag for the officer.
Employment Green Card Interview Questions
The employment-based green card interview works to establish the authenticity of the information you have provided in your forms and supporting evidence. Below you will find various examples of questions that you may be asked during your employment interview:
- What was your education? Training? Job experience?
- What was your Salary? Remuneration? What were the job conditions for the new employment?
- What is your current resident status if you are already in the U.S.?
- What company are you going to work for?
- What are your admissibilities? (Such as previous convictions, arrests, immigration violations, or misrepresentations)
Questions about your qualifications, education, and experience:
- When did you graduate from XYZ University?
- Did you take any breaks during your university studies?
- With what grades did you finish your bachelor’s or master’s degree?
- In what year did you receive XYZ certificate?
- When did you start working in XYZ industry?
- At what company was your first job in XYZ industry?
- Why does working for XYZ company in the U.S. suit your career aspirations?
Questions about salary, remuneration, and job conditions:
- What salary have you agreed on with your U.S. employer?
- Are the benefits that your U.S. employer is offering you satisfactory, and what are they?
- In what U.S. city will you be working?
- Will you be working at any third-party sites?
- Are you satisfied with the conditions that your new U.S. employer is willing to provide for you at work?
Do you have a question around your job conditions?
Questions about your current resident status (if applicable):
- What visa are you currently on?
- When did you receive the visa that you are currently residing in the U.S. on?
- Did you receive any rejections when you were applying for your visa?
- Were you applying within the U.S. or outside of the U.S. (consular processing) for your visa?
- When is your current U.S. residency status due to expire?
Questions about the U.S. company that is employing you:
- Who is the CEO of your U.S. employer?
- Approximately, how many employees work for the company?
- How many offices does the company have in the U.S.?
- What market is your employer in?
- Is your employer a public or privately held company?
Questions about convictions, arrests, immigration violations, or misrepresentations
- Have you previously been convicted of any crimes abroad or in the U.S.?
- Have you had any immigration violations while in the U.S.?
- In your past immigration applications, were you ever accused of misrepresentation?
- Have you ever been arrested in the U.S.?
Speak to one of our attorneys!
Document Checklist for Employment-Based Green Card Interview
Depending on the classification, every employment-based green card applicant must come with documents that prove they are qualified for the job, have gone through due process, and are admissible into the U.S. Some relevant items to prove that at the interview will include:
- Your unexpired passport
- Two color passport photographs
- Your medical report
- A letter for a job offer
- Your Employment Authorization EAD, if applicable
- Your academic certificates
- Your birth and marriage certificates
- A government-issued identification
- Letter from your employer confirming your employment
- Documents showing tax payments
- Originals of all of the supporting documents that you submitted during your immigration process
- Translated and original copies of your documents
- Criminal records, if applicable
- An I-4845 Supplement J, Confirmation of Bona Fide Job Offer or Request for Job Portability, if applicable
- Any additional documents listed on the USCIS or embassy website
How VisaNation Can Help
The U.S. green card application process gets more stringent by the day. Filing for U.S. permanent resident status requires every sense of caution and thoroughness. This is why you need an expert guide to help you avoid errors and red flags that could lead to denial.
VisaNation Law Group has highly qualified and experienced green card attorneys who will help you file your petition, give legal representation at your interview, and help you avoid delays and denials. You can schedule a consultation here.