PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

Hi everyone,
I've been in the US on an L1B, then an H1B, for almost six years. My expiry is September 2023, and my current employer has been working with a law firm to support the ongoing renewals.
They are now trying to get me through the PERM (green card) process, which has been proving laborious.

I don't have a degree, which means providing three years of work experience for every year of a four-year degree that I don't have (basically, 12 years of work experience).

For my initial L1B, this was relatively easy, as they took my resume, gave it to someone to review, and it passed.
The L1B-H1B transition was also painless.

For my most recent renewal, the rules had changed (thanks Trump administration), and I needed to provide signed letters attesting to work experience from previous employers or Verification of Employment letters from HR departments. I've had a colorful and varied job history - working contracts for .gov.uk and .mil.uk companies for most of the first half of my career - which made getting hold of these letters quite tricky, but I managed it well enough to get my renewal.

The PERM process is now further complicated by the wording of the job description of a promotion I received in early 2022 and being told that specific experiences that supported my H1B can't be used to support my PERM process.
It's all been lots of paperwork back and forth for them to keep saying, "We don't have enough."

Whilst all this has been going on, I got engaged (hooray!) to my partner, who I'd been with a year before moving to the US (she's an American citizen).
We've always said that we didn't want to get married 'just for a green card,' but now that we're actually planning to get married anyway, the idea has come up again.
The company-led process has been such a PITA up to now we're wondering if we should just get married, get the paperwork, and submit our own petition for a green card. I've read up on the requirements, and I believe we have more than enough (we have leases and utility bills going back 5+ years to prove that we lived together, for example).

I'd love to ask my immigration team what they think, but ultimately their client isn't me, it's my company, and I'm sure they don't want to suggest an avenue that stops them from getting paid!
I just don't know if I'd be getting truly 'unvarnished' advice from them.

So I thought I'd put this out to the Expat community for some thoughts and feedback, especially from anybody who went down the H1B > PERM route via marriage.

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

I am doing this process right now; GC via spouse (Currently on H1B, also renewing that right now as my GC is still pending).

I recommend doing GC via Spouse instead of company because before even getting to the USCIS stage you need to file that whole PERM process which adds a lot more time to the application.

The spouse based GC is much more streamlined and you don't even need lawyers for that.

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

I agree, the AOS process for spouse of a USC is straightforward. Probably your best bet. No need to ask the company lawyers about it.

Rene

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

You make it sound like it’s a choice of 1 or the other… you can run both at the same time….

I was in a similar situation, on an L1a and they were filing EB1c.. and dating a USC, now Mrs tht. I choose to go through the EB1c only, and proposed and was married after I had a GC on my own merits in hand. I also filed N400 meeting 5 years not 3/married to USC.

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

Out of idle curiosity, did you marry more than two years after obtaining your LPR status? It would seem so inasmuch as you naturalized under the five year rule.

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

As a retired immigration lawyer, I am curious why you are giving credit to President Trump for procedures put in place during the second Bush administration?

As a matter of legal ethics, it is a topic of legal debate as to whom the lawyer represents in situations such as yours. It is a matter of dual representation. The issues arise when conflicts arise. It is a common misconception that the attorney has no obligation towards the alien.

When I was in practice I had occasion where the alien beneficiary married a U.S. citizen or the spouse naturalized (back when the LPR spouse category was backlogged). Quite often, the employer as more than happy to pay for my services.

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

Yes more than 2 years. Qualified under both options as I was close to 8 years or but had to wait to apply until I had Beibehaltungsgenehmigung from Germany, and then only had 2 years to complete the process as it has an expiery date , if your idle curiosity extends that far you can read about it here: https://www.germany.info/us-de/servi...igkeit/1216762

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

You had an extraneous reason to delay. Sometimes people decline to become US citizens as is their right. Naturalization is voluntary. (In a slightly different context, there are what laypeople call “accidental citizens.” But that is a different issue).

Once, a Citizen staff member married a person one year after obtaining LPR status. Expressed annoyance he still had to wait until five years after admission to LPR. I made him and staff member extremely happy by ability to natz a year sooner than they thought. (Free advice was an employee fringe benefit).

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

I would not call it extraneous, retaining current citizenships was part of my process even if unrelated to the actual US process.

And for some nationalities they don’t have the option to retain the current one if they become a USC, so it may not be as simple decision to apply for naturalization, but I would not call not applying declining.

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

Your first sentence is internally contradictory. That said, the law of expatriation varies a lot. It is an interesting area of comparative law.

Re: PERM: Company-sponsored vs Marriage
 

I was told by the attorney handling my case during the H1B renewal that things had been tightened up during the Trump administration, which is why the burden of 'proof of experience' was so much more burdensome than it had been during the prior renewal. It was implied that this change was also applicable to the PERM process.

I appreciate the insight regarding dual representation, with this in mind I will consult with the team working on my request.