You may be eligible for the 4th preference of employment-based immigration, if you are a "special immigrant". Your U.S. employer, or you on your own behalf if permitted, must file a Form I-360 (not I-140), Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, with USCIS. LC is not required. "Spcial immigrants" include:
----- Religious Worker
----- Broadcasters
----- Iraqi/Afghan Translators
----- Iraqis who have assisted the U.S.
----- International Organization employees
----- Physicians
----- Armed Forces members
----- Panama Canal Zone employees
----- Retired NATO-6 employees
----- Spouses and Children of deceased NATO-6 employees
Religious Worker
1. Requirements:
----- You must, for at least 2 years immediately before the filing of an I-360 petition, have been a member of a religious denomination that has a bona-fide non-profit religious organization in the U.S.
----- You must be coming to the U.S. to work in a full-time (at least 35 hours per week) AND compensated position in one of the following occupations:
A. Solely as a minister of that religious denomination;
B. A religious vocation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity; or
C. A religious occupation either in a professional or nonprofessional capacity.
----- You must be coming to the U.S. to work for either:
A. A bona fide non-profit religious organization in the U.S.; or
B. A bona fide organization that is affiliated with the religious denomination in the U.S.
----- You must have been working in one of the positions described above after the age of 14, either abroad or in the U.S. in lawful status, continuously for at least 2 years immediately before the filing of an I-360 petition. And you must have been a member of the petitioner’s denomination throughout the 2-year period of qualifying employment. Such prior religious work does not have to correspond precisely to the type of work to be performed in the U.S. A break in the continuity of the work during the preceding 2-year period will not affect your eligibility as long as:
A. You were still employed as a religious worker;
B. The break did not exceed 2 years; AND
C. The nature of the break was for further religious training or for sabbatical purposes that did not involve unauthorized work in the U.S.
2. How to apply: Your U.S. employer has to file a Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, with USCIS. An LC is not required. However, please note that an I-360 petition and an I-485 application cannot be filed concurrently for this religious worker category.
3. Cap and Sunset date for Non-minister Religious Worker:
There is annual limit (“cap”) of 5,000 workers who may be issued a special immigrant non-minister religious worker visa per fiscal year. Also, this non-minister category has a sunset date of September 30, 2015---non-minister religious workers and their dependents immigrating under EB-4 must complete immigrating to or adjustment of status in the U.S. by the sunset date.
Broadcasters
The International Broadcasting Bureau of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), or a grantee of the BBG, may petition for you (and your dependents) to work as a broadcaster for the BBG or a grantee of the BBG in the U.S.:
----- BBG grantee means Radio Free Asia, Inc (RFA) or Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc. (RFE/RL)
----- Broadcaster means a reporter, writer, translator, editor, producer, or announcer for news broadcasts; hosts for news broadcasts, news analysis, editorial, and other broadcast features; or a news analysis specialist. Broadcaster does not include individuals performing purely technical or support services for the BBG or a BBG grantee.