davidw76

Hi everyone

Eight months after my employer started the process of getting me an L1B, I've finally made it to the US. As happy as I am about that, I know that now begins the more difficult task of getting a GC.

Doing some research online, I came across this outline of the process...

"Labor Certification through the PERM process. 1-4 months.
I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. 3-8 months.
I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence. 12-24 months"

That means I +could+ get a GC in under 3 years, well within the 5 year limit of my L1B. That sounds too good to be true given the horror stories I've heard in the past... is it accurate? Has the PERM process made things much better?

Would I be better off waiting a while and seeing if I can switch to an L1A to avoid the LC step? I work for a mining software company so I have mining skills (and plan to do masters degree in mining eng.) and a degree in software engineering which means I'm pretty confident about the LC anyway.

Is it even neccessary to switch to an L1A in order to skip the LC? Could I just remain an L1B and apply for a GC as an exec (assuming I get promoted with a year or so) and skip the LC?

My wife is a nail technician and plans to purchase/set up a salon here in Denver (probably around 100k purchase price). Is it worth (or even possible) her persuing an E1 as a backup plan?



Thanks for any advice

scrubbedexpat099

Welcome to Colorado.

Which category would you fall in, EB1, 2 or 3.

E1 and Nail Technician, that completely loses me, somebody will need to explain.

Most Salons here operate on a sort of Franchise basis, you rent your space, probably a better way to start until she has her qualifications, built up her business.

davidw76

Thanks for your reply

It would be EB3 for me.

I thought that if she buys a business worth over $100k and employs a few people, she could apply for an E1? I don't think it matters what kind of business? She already has 2 salons in the UK so she knows what shes doing.

scrubbedexpat099

EB3 is a long wait.

Could she go for her own L?, might be a good safety plan if she is keping her UK operations going.

I think you might be considering a E2 Visa from hell, $100,000 would be very thin, but if you buy the property in Denver then that would take you well over.

My knowledge is limited to a friend in the business, or was, operates very differently from the UK. She had 6 or 7 people working in her Salon/Spa at least, one was an employee, part time. Decided the aggravation was not worth the money and now operates individually, she could make more money herself than spending that time running the business.

chicagojlo

You would be much better off trying to go for the L1A since the requirements are pretty much the same as EB1-C GC which is practically current compared to the 5-6 years and counting for the EB3. Our lawyer didn't think our L1B would last long enough for us to go EB3, she wanted us to get H1B in order to give us more time but luckily the L1A possibility came up so we could avoid all the H1B/H4 hassle. Even if you go to L1A and can't go for EB1-C you will need those extra 2 years for the EB3.

Socal Local

I agree with chicagojlo that there is not much to lose by looking at L1-A/EB1C if it might be an option - if the I-140 is not approved then you still have the option of going down the LC and EB3 route, although the problem here is definitely getting everything done in the time allowed on L1-B. It is not so much the LC that is the problem but the priority date retrogression for EB3 which means that current priority dates are somewhere around Sept 02!

You mentioned however that you are also looking at doing a masters. Depending on how long this takes to complete, if you could show that this is a requirement for your job, you might be EB2 which is also current at the moment and avoids the whole EB3 nightmare.

Octang Frye

Tarkak and I are in Boulder/Denver.

Send me a PM if you want to have a beer. I'm clean and don't shed much.

Socal Local

Just remembered something else after I posted - for L1A/EB1C I think you need to have been in a management position in the UK before the transfer, so waiting for a promotion over here might not work - sorry.

chicagojlo

Yesterday I mentioned the concept of functional manager which is where the job is of an importance that it requires a managerial post, rather than having staff report to you which is the usual manager definition. My husband came on an L1B, but is currently adjusting to L1A and our lawyer thinks she has enough proof of the previous function being also at the functional manager level to do EB1-C.

davidw76

Thanks for all the advice. I will talk to our lawyer about whether it's feasible for me to switch to L1A.

If I have to stay with L1B and go through the LC - EB3 route... it sounds like that might take 6 years or so total? So could I just go work in the UK for the final year while waiting for everything to complete?

davidw76

I see, so the "waiting for current priority date" is an additional step to the 3 in my original post and comes right before the final step. So the timeframes I quoted may well be accurate but don't include waiting for the priority date. So if the current cutoff is Sept 02 then thats 6 years +plus+ the 2-3 years for LC -> I-140 -> I-485 = 8 or 9 years. Is that correct? So there's no way anyone could enter the US on an L1B, apply for a GC as EB3 and get the GC issued before the 5 year limit expired on the L1B? I would have to return to the UK for several years before I might finally get a GC?

davidw76

Please ignore this last post. I see now that the date of the LC filing is the "priority date". And the current EB3 priority date is Nov 02 so thats 5 years 3 months plus 12 - 24 months for the final adjustment of status, so about 6 years total if I'm lucky. That doesnt seem too bad if I can just come back to the UK and wait for the final year or so.

chicagojlo

The L1B is not meant to be for people who intend on staying. L1A has dual intent so gives you the option of deciding to stay if you want to (obviously through applying for GC). They are not exactly trying to encourage people who aren't skilled enough to qualify for L1A to stay here. They have enough skilled people of their own to try and find jobs for!

Elvira

Are you sure - I thought all L (and H) visas are dual intent.

Some just take longer to get to the point where AOS can be filed for.

davidw76

Surely L1B is dual intent? If it wasnt then you couldnt apply for GC while in L1B status right?

I'm not sure what you mean by "people who aren't skilled enough to qualify for L1A". L1A is for managers... it doesnt neccessarily follow that the most skilled people are all managers, some are just great engineers!

Anyway, I'm not feeling quite so negative now. It seems that if I go the L1B -> EB3 route then I might reach the AOS stage within my 5 years and then just have a year or so in the UK to wait for AOS.

Alternatively, I think I have a good shot at EB2 which, assuming the priority date remains current, would give me a GC in 2 to 3 years.

And... I could just switch to H1B which means I could keep extending my visa while waiting for a priority date anyway. I have only a project to hand in to get my MSc in Comp Sci from Cal State which I think would make me exempt from the H1B cap.

And... who knows? maybe theyll sort out the backlog and make EB3 current again?

So all in all, I feel reasonably confident. There are no guarantees but I feel the odds are good enough for it to be worth a go.