Trump Falsely Claims U.S. Has No Merit-Based Immigration. We Do. Here Are Main Points

Whether you favor more immigration, the same, or less, let’s be clear: the U.S. already has a merit-based immigration system (separately, we have asylum and lottery visas). The public record on Melania’s entry to the U.S. is unclear. She came to the U.S. to work as an elite fashion model. She had a job here before she arrived (common for her skill level). Maybe she had an O-1 visa which is specifically for fashion models (downside: it’s temporary); or maybe she had an EB-1 visa is for “extraordinarily talented” people (hence, called the Einstein visa but commonly used for elite pro athletes). EB-1 is a permanent visa—a green card.

I’ve kept the descriptions for merit-based visas short in the hope that you’ll quickly read them.

When Trump says “skill based immigration” he means an English proficiency test. The following visas are based on occupation, skill, training, and education—but not an English proficiency test. 

TEMPORARY VISAS (FROM SEVERAL MONTHS TO THREE OR MORE YEARS)

H-1A - registered nurses

H-1B - workers with "specialty occupations" admitted on the basis of professional education, skills, and/or equivalent experience;

H-1C - registered nurses to work in areas with a shortage of health professionals under the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999;

H-2A - temporary agricultural workers coming to the United States to perform agricultural services or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature when authorized workers are unavailable in the United States;

H-2B - temporary non-agricultural workers (e.g., hotel maids) coming to the United States to perform temporary services or labor if unemployed persons capable of performing the service or labor cannot be found in the United States;

H-3 - aliens coming temporarily to the United States as trainees, other than to receive graduate medical education or training;

O-1, O-2, O-3 - temporary workers with extraordinary ability or achievement in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; those entering solely for the purpose of accompanying and assisting such workers; and their spouses and children;

P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4 - athletes and entertainers at an internationally recognized level of performance; artists and entertainers under a reciprocal exchange program; artists and entertainers under a program that is "culturally unique"; and their spouses and children;

Q-1, Q-2, Q-3 - participants in international cultural exchange programs; participants in the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program; and spouses and children of Irish Peace Process participants;

R-1, R-2 - temporary workers to perform work in religious occupations and their spouses and children.

See other sections of this Glossary for definitions of Exchange Visitor, Intracompany Transferee, and U.S.-Canada or North American Free-Trade Agreement classes of nonimmigrant admission.

PERMANENT VISAS (GREEN CARD)

Employment-Based Immigration: First Preference EB-1 Extraordinary Ability

Employment-Based Immigration: Second Preference EB-2 Advanced Degree

Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3 “Skilled workers” are persons whose job requires a minimum of 2 years training or work experience, not of a temporary or seasonal nature; also  “Professionals” are persons whose job requires at least a U.S. baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent and are a member of the professions

Employment-Based Immigration: Fourth Preference EB-4 “Religious workers”

Employment-Based Immigration: Fifth Preference EB-5 “Investor visa.”   Congress created the EB-5 Program in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors.