ManUtd68

Can anyone give me a rough estimate of how long it takes for an application for permanent residence by an employer actually takes and is it ok to work in the USA while the application is being filed??

I know the main stumbling block is the proof to the DOL that the job is one a local american cannot do or is not qualified and as such i am not taking a job away.

I have just been asked this by a couple of companies who are looking at this option vs just obtaining me on an H1B visa. ie permanent vs temporary.

ladyofthelake

Depends which employment category you come under, EB1, EB2 or EB3.

Check them out here
Whilst most people would like to think of themselves as exceptional and outstanding, the reality is most people come under EB3 which is pants and takes years.

You can see why by looking at the processing dates for each category here
The EB3 has a date of March 2002, ie people who filed on that date can only now apply for the final stage to get the visa.

That's a very brief and over simplified version of it. That's why so many get the H1B first, then change to permanent once here.

Elvira

My DH was EB1 and it still took more than 4 years...

ManUtd68

like you said my mum thinks im special but in all honesty i am just a lowly EB3!! so you recommend going the H1B with extension totalling 6 years, while on it apply for LPR???

ladyofthelake

Yep. My oh is an EB3 too, his date is March 04, so some time to go yet and his Labor Certification hasn't even been approved yet. You don't need to worry about that bit as it's all changed now and you usually only wait a couple of months to get the LC approved. Once that's done, and the I130 form, you sit back and wait a few years.
We reach our 6th year on H visas next year, but we can get 1 year extensions from then on until the LPR visa is issued.

ManUtd68

So your oH can work without labour certification and all?? or he is on an H1B?

ladyofthelake

He's on an H1B, which expires in Nov 07. After that he will have to get a 1 year extension every year until the GC is approved. He can do that because he started the GC process before his 5th year (Nov 06) If no GC is started by the 5th year anniversary, you have to leave after the 6th year expires.

BTW, you don't need labor certification to work on an H1B, it's a non-immigrant visa (and only temporary) The LC is for the immigrant (permanent residency) visas EB2 and EB3. Your employer will need to file a LCA to get the H1B, but it does not require any proof of no americans available like the LC does.

Here's some more info on the H1B and LCA Dept of Labor

leedsPaddy

Unless you have years of experience, degrees through the a-s-s, then you haven't a chance in h-e-ll of getting a H1B visa especially since they lowered the quota down to a pitiful 65,000. Even if you do have the qualifications to get approved, you have to be fast off the starting blocks because they go fast. This year, the USCIS started accepting H1B applications on april 1st and reached the quota by the middle of May. So the earliest you could work in the US on a H1B would be October 2007. That is of course providing there are any visas left to apply for. You see, the previous year applicants get preference over new applicants. So just say that 30,000 applicants did not get their H1B visa the year before because of the quota but were approved, the number of available visas would fall automatically by 30,000 this year. This situation will never improve until they raise the quota.

Your best bet to get over here is to either go to college over here or marry an american or better still cross the desert with the illegals and hope for amnesty!!!!! good luck in your endeavours, hope you succeed