FUB05

Hello All,

I am a British National currently working on an L1B Visa in the USA. I have been working here since November 2008 and wanted some advise about the process of going from an L1B visa and applying for a Green Card.

I have read many stories on the internet with no real concrete timescales on when you can apply for a green card from an L1B Visa and also how long it will take on average to receive the green card once the application is in place? Maybe there is no official timescale but i thought i would ask the following questions to you all before going to an immigration lawyer:

1. Do i need to be working a certain amount of time in the US on the L1B Visa before i apply for the the US Green Card? I have heard a few stories on the internet where people waited 3 years to apply for the Greencard. Is this the earliest time in which you can apply for the greencard?

2. I am a bit confused with who has to apply for the Green Card. Is this something you can do yourself (if so is this an expensive process?) or does your employer have to apply for the Green Card on your behalf?

3. Upon applying for the Green Card do you know what the average waiting time it is before you receive the green card is successful?

Thanks for your help in advance.

ian-mstm

That's exactly right.


No, there is no specific time frame.


Your L1 sponsor must apply on your behalf; you can not apply on your own.


That varies greatly, but generally 2-3 years for an L-1B and about 1-2 years for an L-1A. It depends on how backlogged your EB category is. Check here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bu...etin_4539.html.

Ian

sangiano

There is no minimum time before you can start the GC process. It is more a case of persuading your employer. Companies may have internal guidelines on when they will start the process. In our case it was 1 year.

Just in case it is an issue, please be aware that it is country of birth that is the determining factor, not country of Citizenship.

This will depend entirely on the EB classification you are able to apply in.

PERM will take a few months for either. After this you can submit your I-140 petition and possibly your I-485 to adjust status. Again, it depends on the EB classification.

The PERM and EB classification (probably EB2 or EB3) depends on your qualifications/experience AND the need for them in your GC job. Merely having the qualifications is not enough.

If you can apply in EB2, depending on the Service Centre, approval could be from a few months to 18 months from submitting the I-140.

Since EB2 is usually current for EB2-ROW, you would be able to concurrently file I-485.

If you apply in EB3, you would not be able to submit the I-485 concurrently, as this category is retrogressed.

After the I-140 is approved, you would have to wait until EB3-ROW becomes current to submit your I-485.

EB3-ROW is currently unavailable and in October 2009 will become available again. The date is likely to be sometime in 2003. The last time it was available in April 2009 the date was 01MAR03 (the cutoff date).

Only when the cutoff date is later than the date your PERM application was submitted is the date "current" for you. Only then will you be able to submit your I-485.

Due to a change in interpretation 2 years ago, EB3-ROW now gets less extra visa number due to spill up/spill down from EB1, EB4 & EB5, so the cutoff date is not moving as quickly.

It is impossible to tell how quickly the cutoff date for EB3-ROW will move forward, but in this EB category you should expect to wait around 6 years for your GC.

If immigration reform is passed that :

a) Recaptures "wasted" visas from previous years.
and/or
b) Removes dependent applications from the visa count.

then the dates would move forward extremely quickly, if not become current immediately.

Please also be aware of the timings. You have a maximum of 5 years on an L1 visa. There is an excellent recent thread describing the potential problems.

Good luck

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Your questions are good ones. You have gotten some answers here already, but I already see some mistaken information. Nothing big, but it could make a difference.

I often find that a little of professional fact digging and going down an evaluation tree in the context of an attorney consultation is not a bad idea.

Just last Thursday, I had a referral from the Los Angeles County Bar Immigration Assistance Clinic. These people are good, but they spotted it an issue that happens to be one of the areas I am spearheading -- it is an area of great controversy in interpretation and application of the law. Potential client's mother was extremely puzzled as to why no clear answer could be given.

Like I say, your questions are good -- but navigation to something approaching clear answers is problematical. Get that consulation.

FUB05

Hello All,

Thanks for those that did respond to this thread.

The answers I got to point 2 suprised me a bit as i figured working in the USA on an L1B Visa you would be able to apply for the green card on your own. I thought I read this a couple of occasions somewhere on the Interent.

Nevertheless I took the plunge today and approached my employers about the possibility of applying for a Green Card. The first step was for them to put me in contact with their Attorney (same people who helped with the L1B process) to ask about average timescales to get a Green Card and also the costs involved.

Hopefully I will hear something back soon on these 2 points. After that its then a case of making a business case to the Partners to why i want a Green Card. My current L1B Visa runs out in June 2011 although i am aware that you can apply for a 2 year extension on this.

Someone earlier on this thread mentioned the EB Category to which i fall under being the important factor with regards timescales for applying and successfully receiving a Green Card. I have yet to look into this fully but I am British Nationality but actually born in Germany so not sure how much of a difference this actually makes.

Something else i read on the internet was that once you have received your Green Card you must stay with your employers at least 366 days. Has anyone else heard of anything like this?

On a side note, does anyone know that if my company started the Green Card process on my behalf and then say within 8 months i was transferred to another office in a different country (London, Sydney etc) could the Green Card process still take place? Or is it entirely based on me working in the USA on the L1B Visa?

Thanks

ian-mstm

Wherever you read it... they were wrong.


None at all.


You should stop reading stuff on the Internet.


Complete rubbish.


A transfer to another country would pretty much negate the entire process. The actual name for the "Green Card" is "Permanent Resident" card... it's hard to be a PR of the US when you're living someplace else!

Ian

FUB05

Hi Ian,

Thanks for replying to my above message in a clean clinical way lol... Seriously much appreciated.

Good to know that if i was successful in having my employers sponsor me for a Green Card visa say sometime in September 2009 i potentially could look to leave the company sometimes within 2 - 3 years when the Green Card arrives. This has really put a big smile on my face.

Now its time to convince the employers to apply on my behalf.

Thanks

Folinskyinla

Hi:

The Green card process is separate and apart from the non-immigrant process. So, it is not necessary for you to be in non-immigrant status in the US. You would simply do the immigrant process via the I-140 [in the US] followed by an Immigrant Visa application abroad.

Do talk to the attorney about this.

discoviking

You should find out what your company's policy on this issue is. While there is no law that I am aware of that says you have to stay with the company for x amount of days after receiving a green card, many companies will not agree to go through the expense of sponsoring you unless you sign an agreement with them that you will remain with the company for a specific time after you receive your green card.

FUB05

I am the first person they have transferred abroad so I doubt there is any real company policy for them to draw upon for this.

Does anyone know the approximate costs for a company to sponsor you for your Green Card?

FUB05

I've just been looking at the EB categories and think i fall into EB2 or EB3 I' not 100% sure. I hope if the application is submitted i fall into EB2 as it does sem that EB3 is currently unavailable.