blue_harbor

Hi Everyone,

I follow this forum regularly and this is my first post & would appreciate any help with my question.

I'm a British national currently working in USA with a multinational company on L1 A visa. Green card processing from company may not be possible, hence planning to file for H1B in this year

1. I came to know that 'Green card processing can start before H1b-filing' as one of the consultants advised me.

a. I would like to know if this is a possibility as I want to go for this
option to save time on GC process.

b. Could anyone share their experience, thoughts or any drawbacks
with this approach "Start GC process before H1B filing, and apply
for H1B in this year quota"

c. & could anyone suggest Attorneys who has experience with H1B
filing, GC process for British nationals.

Any advice on the above would be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

henryh

a. Yes. They are completely independent and separate processes.

Michael

I don't understand. You are currently on a L-1A visa but changing to a H-1B visa. Are you changing jobs to a new company that will apply for a H-1B visa and sponsor you for a green card? If so, that company will need to start the green card process.

If you are staying with the same company, the company must be willing to sponsor you for the green card.

blue_harbor

Thanks for your reply.

I'm planning to change job and get the H1B and GC done by a consulting
company.

The consultant company advised me that they can start processing GC and then apply for H1B & would like to know if anyone has followed this approach before and looking for some advice.

SanDiegogirl

If you are "planning" to change jobs, surely the H1B must be applied for by the company you are joining, not a third party consulting company.

Until such time as you have obtained the job and the necessary H1B, how can a third party consulting company start the Green card application for you.

The Green card is the next step following your work visa. If you don't have the necessary work visa yet (H1B) how does a third party have all the information regarding job position, responsibilities, employment category?

When I went for my Green card the company lawyer who had been instrumental in my L-1A application did all the necessary work for the Green card application.

Personally, I don't know how a third party would have been able to do it.

Noorah101

The phrase "consulting company" makes me nervous. Is this "consulting company" a qualified immigration attorney? Is it an immigration law firm that the H1B sponsor uses?

I personally have not seen it done in that order. I've seen it done the other way around...H1B, then green card process.

Rene

Michael

Consulting companies are the top 10 users of H-1B visas. Some are Indian outsourcing companies and some are American or European consulting companies. If it is a non Indian company such as Price Waterhouse Coopers or Deloitte Consulting, I doubt there would be much problems getting everything worked out correctly. On the other hand, Indian outsourcing companies are on the radar screen by USCIS.

ian-mstm

I'm pretty sure they lied to you. Whatever else you do, don't give them any money.

Ian

SanDiegogirl

..... but how do you apply for a Green card when the applicant does not have the relevant work visa yet

Michael

That is the issue that I don't know. Maybe he can start a direct EB1(c) visa which doesn't require another visa or sponsor but at the same time that the company applies for a H-1B visa.

henryh

None of the employment immigrant categories (EB-1x, EB-2, EB-3) require the beneficiary to be on any kind of work visa (H-1B, L-1 etc). The beneficiary often does happen to have a nonimmigrant work visa, but that's coincidental.

Michael

That is what I was thinking but it is probably messier. He may possibly have to leave the US to get the medical, interview, and visa.

scrubbedexpat099

Why?

I think you are trying to confuse two separate issues.

Michael

Well I assumed when one is done though a company sponsor, it is similar to an Adjustment of Status going from non immigrant status to an immigrant status which is all done within the US. Doing a direct filing for an EB visa is not an Adjustment of Status but applying for an immigrant visa.

Maybe there isn't any similarity to marriage based visas and Adjustment of Status but I assumed that USCIS might have some sort of consistency in the way they do things.

scrubbedexpat099

There is not usually an issue adjusting status in country as long as one has a status to adjust from.

Both H and L are dual intent.