Mrc

Hi All,

I'm looking for a bit of advice.
Currently coming up to 2 years in US on L1B visa. Would really like to have the option to stay after the 5yrs are up. I believe that there may be a couple of options open to me:
1. Apply for H1B then GC
2. Apply for L1A then GC.

Could someone help explain the pros and cons of both (bearing in mind that i only found out about L1A "functional manager" visa tonight and am not really sure whether i'll qualify!
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Neil

tonrob

Is your current employer prepared to sponsor you for a Green Card or not?

If yes, then I'm not sure where the L1-A comes in. You can get to a GC from an L1-B.

If not, do you have another employer lined up who is prepared to sponsor you for an H1-B (and wait for you)?

ian-mstm

Your employer, not you, applies for the GC on your behalf - so you first have to get the employer on board with your wishes. If he goes for it, great! If not, it won't happen... and you may want to find another employer to sponsor you. Find this out first... and then come back and ask about changes in status!

Ian

MsElui

L1B to GC is mainly same as H1B to GC.
L1A is better than L1B/H1B due to speed of green card.

Will current employer sponsor a GC at all? If they will then you can explore the options.

lisa67

H1B to GC can take f-o-r-e-v-e-r

Socal Local

If you qualify for L1-A than that would definitely be the best option - in general a much faster path to green card, plus L1-A can be renewed for up to 7 years compared to the 5 year maximum on L1-B.

L1-B and H1-B are likely to broadly follow the same process for the green card and in both cases it is likely to take years. H1-B probably offers some advantage in being able to more easily switch to a different employer if that becomes necessary and it can be extended annually if you have reached a certain point in the green card process. Bear in mind though that I think that time spent in L1 status counts towards the time limit on an H1-B.

Mrc

Thanks for all the inputs -

Firstly some answers to your questions.
Will current employer sponsor a GC at all?
- yes, current employer will sponsor for GC.
do you have another employer lined up who is prepared to sponsor you for an H1-B
- No, i thought that the process of going from H1-B to GC might be easier and give me more time options

Some further questions.
"H1B/L1B - GC = long time" - any idea of how long this might take? i should have 3 years remaining of the L1B just now, is this too short?

What stage does the green card have to be at before you can get H1B extended further (this was one of the reasons i though about transferring to H1B)

If i were to apply for L1A and got knocked back would this affect my L1B status?

Thanks for all your help and advise, it is really appreciated.

Neil

JAJ

Depends on whether you qualify for green card through first, second or third preference!

John Manley

For H-1Bs you should bear in mind the H-1B visa cap. I am quoting directly from the USCIS web site, which posted the following update on H-1Bs on April 20, 2009:

"USCIS Updates Count of FY2010 H-1B Petition Filings

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced an updated number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program. USCIS has received approximately 44,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap. Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, we continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable. Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas."

The visas are still there for H-1Bs. However, no one knows how quickly it will take to fill the remaining 21,000 cap numbers.

If you are considering the H-1B and have an employer willing to sponsor you, you should proceed quickly.




I believe that there may be a couple of options open to me:
1. Apply for H1B then GC
2. Apply for L1A then GC.

Neil[/QUOTE]

bilbos92

Yes the time for the L1B visa to green card is long. Our PD under the EB3 category is Mar2007 - and at the moment no PD under the EB3 is current - I estimate ( notice the **estimate** ) that we are in far about another 5 year wait until our GC comes through due to the back log. Hubby is not able to move to a EB2 or EB1 as his job doesn't qualify - but they are the quickest option.


Moving from the L1b to H1b isn't required. The GC process, filed concurrently, gives you both an EAD ( work autho) and AP ( travel papers ) which maintains your *status* whilst your application rolls on and on.....and on

I would speak to your company's immigration lawyer and get the GC process started and get individual advice for your situation.

henryh

At the current rate, the H-1B cap will be reached sometime between June and October. Pretty uncertain, but importantly there *is still time* for your employer to apply for one if you start the process soon.

Mrc

3rd preference

JAJ

Is that what you think or do you know for sure?

In particular, if you can use the functional manager argument, you could be first preference. If job requires and advanced degree, then second preference is a possibility.

It is probably worth a consultation with an immigration attorney, as third preference could take some years.

Socal Local

The problem for the OP though is that you can't file I-485 and get the associated EAD and AP without a current priority date. With EB3 currently unavailable, there is no way of knowing whether that will happen before his L1 expires.

Socal Local

In fact this is one reason why a switch to H1B might be beneficial if the OP is definitely going to be EB3 - although the time on L1 counts towards the H1-B six year limit, the H1-B can be extended in one year increments if a labor certification or I-140 has been pending for 365 days or more, so this would allow someone to wait out the required time in EB3. On L1-B if the five years ran out before I-485 could be filed, that would be the end of the line.

The other advantage of H1-B over L1-B is that it might make life a bit easier if there was ever a need to switch to a different employer.