HELP CENTER

No. Form G-28 has no filing fee.

USCIS accepts it at no cost.

Your immigration attorney may charge their own professional fees for representing you, but the form itself is free to submit alongside your visa application, petition, or appeal.

Form G-28 is used for immigration matters before USCIS within the United States.

Form G-28I is a separate form used for matters outside the U.S., and it allows a broader range of representatives to file, including attorneys who are not licensed in the U.S. and certain family members.

If your case is handled domestically by USCIS, your attorney will use the standard G-28.

Yes. USCIS requires a new Form G-28 for each separate application, petition, or appeal.

Even if the same attorney is handling multiple filings for you, they must submit a new G-28 with each one.

The form applies only to the specific case it is filed with and does not carry over to other matters.

Yes. You are always allowed to represent yourself before USCIS.

Form G-28 is only necessary when you want a licensed attorney or accredited representative to act on your behalf.

If you choose to handle your own visa process, USCIS will communicate directly with you.

However, for complex petitions or cases involving RFEs, many foreign nationals find that working with an immigration attorney leads to better outcomes.

U.S. immigration groups employment-based green cards into five preference categories, EB-1 through EB-5, though most professional hiring runs through EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3. On the temporary side, the main employment-based visa types include the H-1B, L-1A, O-1, TN, and E-2.

So the practical answer is a handful of temporary categories plus three or four green card categories that cover the vast majority of cases.

Dual intent means you can hold a temporary visa and pursue a green card at the same time without raising questions about your intent to leave. The H-1B and L-1A clearly allow dual intent, which is why they're popular starting points for a longer plan.

The O-1 is treated flexibly in practice, while the TN and E-2 are tied more closely to temporary stay, so a green card plan on those needs careful documentation.

Among green cards, the EB-1A (extraordinary ability) and EB-2 NIW (national interest waiver) allow self-petition, so the individual files without an employer or a PERM labor certification. The E-2 doesn't use a traditional employer either, since it's based on the applicant's own investment.

Every other major work visa, including the H-1B, L-1A, O-1, TN, and the standard EB-2 and EB-3 green cards, requires an employer or a job offer.

The immigrant categories, EB-1A, EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, and EB-2 or EB-3 through PERM, lead directly to a green card. The temporary work visas don't grant permanent residence on their own, but several act as bridges.

An H-1B holder can move through PERM to EB-2 or EB-3, an L-1A manager to the EB-1C, and an O-1A performer to the EB-1A.

For eligible candidates, the visas without a lottery or labor certification tend to move fastest. The O-1 and L-1A have no annual cap, so a qualified case can be filed at any time, and the TN can sometimes be obtained at the border for Canadian citizens within days.

Speed also depends on whether premium processing is used, which guarantees USCIS action within 15 business days for an added fee, so the right answer depends on the candidate's profile and how urgently you need them.

Yes, moving from E-2 to EB-5 is a common bridge strategy for treaty-country investors. You enter on the E-2 to start your business, then file the EB-5 I-526E petition later once you can commit the $800,000 or $1,050,000 and meet the 10-job requirement.

Because the E-2 has no dual intent, plan the transition carefully so pursuing the green card doesn't complicate an E-2 renewal.

The E-2 is far cheaper to enter. It has no statutory minimum and is judged by proportionality to the business, so many E-2 investors start with capital well below six figures, while EB-5 requires at least $800,000 in a targeted employment area or $1,050,000 elsewhere.

The lower E-2 cost reflects a different outcome, a renewable visa rather than a green card.

No, the E-2 does not give a green card on its own. It is a nonimmigrant treaty investor visa that renews indefinitely as long as the business stays viable, but it never converts to permanent residency by itself.

Investors who want a green card move to EB-5 or another immigrant category later, which is why some treaty-country nationals use the E-2 as a first step.

If your country has no qualifying E-2 treaty with the U.S., you cannot use the E-2 at all, and EB-5 becomes the realistic route since it is open to any nationality. This is why nationals of non-treaty countries such as India and China often go straight to EB-5.

Confirm your country's status on the State Department treaty list before building any E-2 plan.

The current minimum is $800,000 if you invest in a targeted employment area (a rural area or a high-unemployment area) or a qualifying infrastructure project, and $1,050,000 for a standard investment elsewhere.

These amounts have applied to petitions filed since March 15, 2022 and are scheduled to adjust for inflation starting January 1, 2027.

You invest the required capital in a new U.S. commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs, file an immigrant petition (Form I-526 for a direct investment or Form I-526E through a regional center), receive a two-year conditional green card, and then file Form I-829 to remove the conditions and obtain a permanent green card.

In a direct investment you run your own enterprise and must create 10 direct jobs. Through a USCIS-designated regional center you invest in a pooled project and can count indirect and induced jobs, without running the business yourself.

Most investors use the regional center route.

Petition processing alone currently runs to roughly 32 to 33 months for the initial petition and around 20 months for the removal of conditions, and these times change frequently.

Investors born in backlogged countries such as India and China may wait additional years for a visa number, though reserved rural and high-unemployment categories can be faster.

Yes. The EB-5 is an immigrant category that leads directly to a conditional green card, then a permanent green card once conditions are removed, and eventually eligibility to apply for U.S. citizenship through naturalization.

Yes. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be included in the same EB-5 case and receive green cards as your dependents.

Yes. Three employment-based green card categories let you self-petition with no employer and no PERM: EB-1A for extraordinary ability, EB-2 NIW under a National Interest Waiver, and EB-5 for investors. In each, you file your own Form I-140 (or the investor petition for EB-5) and make the case for yourself.

The rest of the employment-based categories, EB-2 and EB-3 through PERM, do require a sponsoring employer.

EB-1A asks you to prove top-of-field recognition, either a single major internationally recognized award or at least 3 of 10 regulatory criteria. EB-2 NIW instead waives the job-offer and PERM requirement for someone who qualifies for EB-2, judged under the three prongs of Matter of Dhanasar. EB-1A generally wants a stronger record of acclaim, while NIW turns on the national importance of your work.

Our EB-2 NIW vs EB-1A comparison lays out both side by side.

No. PERM labor certification is a step in the employer-sponsored EB-2 and EB-3 process, where the Department of Labor tests whether a U.S. worker is available for the role. Self-petition categories, EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, and EB-5, skip PERM entirely, which is a large part of why they are faster to file and independent of any company.

It depends on your profile rather than being harder across the board. Self-petition removes the need to find a sponsoring employer and clears the PERM step, which simplifies the process. In exchange, the full burden of proof sits on you, so your evidence has to carry the petition without a company vouching for the role.

For a strong candidate the trade is often worth it; for a borderline record, a sponsored EB-2 or EB-3 can be the more reliable route.