Native of a qualifying country: In most cases this means the country in which the applicant was born. However, if a person was born in an ineligible country but his/her spouse was born in an eligible country, such person can claim the spouse’s country of birth providing both the applicant and spouse are issued visas and enter the U.S. simultaneously. Also, if a person was born in an ineligible country, but neither of his/her parentswas born there or resided there at the time of the birth, such person may be able to claim nativity in one of the parents’ country of birth.
Education or Training: An applicant must have EITHER a high school education or its equivalent, defined in the U.S. as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. The U.S. Department of Labor’s O*Net OnLine database will be used to determine the occupations that require at least two years of training or experience to perform.