For Employers: Why Support Dreamers?

Most employment based green card options require an employer sponsor. There are three preference categories of employment based green cards.

• First Preference (EB-1): Extraordinary Ability, Multinational Managers or Outstanding Professors or Researchers (no labor certification needed)
• Second Preference (EB-2):  Members of professions holding advanced degrees or persons of exceptional ability (most cases require a labor certification but some can be waived)
• Third Preference (EB-3):  Skilled workers, professionals, and other workers with less than 2 years of training or experience (labor certification needed)

As noted, the majority of these categories require a labor certification. This process is known as the PERM route. It is a three step process that includes testing the labor market to prove there are no qualified U.S. applicants. The details of this process are included in our resource: Green Card Process Through PERM.

The highest level categories don’t require a labor certification and some allow employees to sponsor themselves: EB-1/EB-2 Categories and National Interest Waivers.

The costs of sponsoring an employment-based visa depends on the employment-based option sought, whether the employer is a nonprofit entity or a small company, and the individual circumstances of the employee. For a general overview of the H-1B and Green Card fees, see our H-1B Visa and Employment-Based Green Card Filing Fees Breakdown.

Additionally, there are attorney fees to consider. Although our consultations are free, our services are limited to providing legal information and guidance about eligibility for these employment-based visas. While we generally do not handle the filing of petitions, applications, or consular processing, our attorneys can discuss the range of fees that attorneys might charge, depending on the size of your entity and the type of job. If you’re a nonprofit or government agency, Path2Papers may be able to refer you to free or low-cost pro bono representation, or access to organizations that can provide financial assistance, for these expenses.

We can also explain which filing fees must, by law, be paid by the employer, and which are negotiable. For employers, one concern is that the employee may leave soon after the employer pays for a green card. We can discuss options with your employment or labor counsel, such as reimbursing the employee for part of the fees if the employee stays a certain number of years (the carrot) or liquidated damages clauses (the stick).

The costs of sponsoring an employment-based visa depends on the employment-based option sought, whether the employer is a nonprofit entity or a small company, and the individual circumstances of the employee. For a general overview of the H-1B and Green Card fees, see our H-1B Visa and Employment-Based Green Card Filing Fees Breakdown.

Additionally, there are attorney fees to consider. Although our consultations are free, our services are limited to providing legal information and guidance about eligibility for these employment-based visas. While we generally do not handle the filing of petitions, applications, or consular processing, our attorneys can discuss the range of fees that attorneys might charge, depending on the size of your entity and the type of job. If you’re a nonprofit or government agency, Path2Papers may be able to refer you to free or low-cost pro bono representation, or access to organizations that can provide financial assistance, for these expenses.

We can also explain which filing fees must, by law, be paid by the employer, and which are negotiable. For employers, one concern is that the employee may leave soon after the employer pays for a green card. We can discuss options with your employment or labor counsel, such as reimbursing the employee for part of the fees if the employee stays a certain number of years (the carrot) or liquidated damages clauses (the stick).

In 2025, the Trump Administration announced that employers would be charged a $100,000 fee for each new H-1B that they sponsor. We have prepared this resource to explain the details of when this fee applies and updates to the litigation that is currently on-going.

Unlike green cards or O-1 or L-1 visas described above, H-1B visas have an annual numerical cap of 65,000-85,000 visas a year. Since there are generally more H-1B applicants than the number of visas available each year, the government has established a “lottery system” in which applicants enter a lottery to have a chance at obtaining an H-1B visa. This means that the probability of “winning the lottery” can be low.

However, certain non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, and government research agencies are exempt from this visa cap. These organizations are known to be “cap-exempt.” This means that employees working for one of these entities can apply for an H-1B without having to worry about the visa cap or entering a lottery. At the end of 2024, an “H-1B Modernization Rule” was published that clarified some of these exemptions for nonprofits and could make it easier to meet the definition of cap-exempt in certain scenarios.  Our team helped organize comments from nonprofits and government agencies to support this much needed flexibility. For more information on cap-exempt organizations, see our resource The H-1B Lottery: A Brief Overview of Cap-Subject and Cap-Exempt Employers.