L1-A Visa to Green Card

Actually George, you were given correct advice. It should take 8 to 14 months for your green card applications (and your family's) to get processed.

If the sponsoring company applies for an L-1A for you and your family receives L2's, you should be able to qualify for EB-1c status (international executive / manager) and your dependents will go along with you. EB-1c priority dates are current - which means the only wait time is as long as it takes to process the I-140 and I-485 forms - since visa numbers are immediately available in this category. Depending on where you will be working, 8 to 14 months is entirely reasonable.

I know people that applied under EB-1c that got their green cards in 3 months, others in 12.

I myself am an L-1a and EB-1c applicant - waiting for my turn and it should be at some point before the end of the year (I applied for AOS in august).

Because they have not started processing I-130s for 2008 except for family based sponsorships. Unfortunately, employer sponsorships take several years, as Steven stated earlier. I have a friend who has been waiting over 5 years now for his green card to come up from work sponsorship. 5 YEARS.

You've got quite a wait ahead of you I'm afraid, and by then it sounds like your kids may be aged out.

Besides which, I don't think Texas service centre is processing I-130s at all now. Either Vermont or California only AFAIK.

It all boils down to which category you're in, and I have to say I've never been clear on how they figure them out frankly.

If you're EB-1 or EB-2 it's pretty quick, but EB-3 takes years. The problem is working out which one you're in. I knew a water skiier who got EB-1 and without labour certification to boot. And he just applied for it, never bothered with non-immigrant status.

But on the other hand you hear about people who have 20 years experience as computer programmers who are stuck in EB-3 for years.

This is basically how immigration lawyers earn their bread and butter, how good they are at making your resumé sound impressive to USCIS.

Dear Sir,

I have similar question. Me and my husband are from India and my husband is currently having L1A Visa as he is working as Development manager here in US.

My husband has come to US on L1B visa in 2006. At that time also his title was Product manager but his company filed L1B instead of L1A. I don't know why.

But after 2 years upon my husband request beacuse of his title and role here thay have changed it to L1A but still not filling the GC.

My question is can my husband file GC himself? Is he eligible for EB-1C category, If yes can he file his GC himself?

Please ask this at an immigration site.

you should go on trackitt.com to ask about your eligibility.

just an update to this original thread:

I came to the US on an L-1A in april 2008
I applied for a green card under EB-1c (I-140/I-485) in august 2008
I received my greencard in june 2009.

from start of green card app to green card receipt: 10 months.

So, to the original poster, yes it's possible to receive your green card in a year or so (give or take) if you are EB1.

-- Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:04 pm --

Because they have not started processing I-130s for 2008 except for family based sponsorships. Unfortunately, employer sponsorships take several years, as Steven stated earlier. I have a friend who has been waiting over 5 years now for his green card to come up from work sponsorship. 5 YEARS.

You've got quite a wait ahead of you I'm afraid, and by then it sounds like your kids may be aged out.

Besides which, I don't think Texas service centre is processing I-130s at all now. Either Vermont or California only AFAIK.

Reba - If this person is waiting over 5 years, then that person is EB-3 category. without getting into the intricacies, the key is simply if there is a visa number available for you. If so you can file I-485 and then expect a decision within a year or so (as long as there are still visa numbers available for you when they start looking at your case).

Pretty much, if you qualify for EB 1 you'll get it in under a year (most of the time), EB2 as well, unless you're from India/China (about 5 years right now). EB3 is the killer category (which is where most H1Bs fall under), right now they're processing applications from 2002. yikes!

so anyway.. it just depends on your category.

Miguel is correct. Most firms, unless they can bump you up to Eb2 or EB1 aren't even bothering with GC sponsorship at this point, since it has almost no chance of being approved while the employyee is still working for that company. They don't want to undertake a costly process from which they will almost never benefit.

They only start looking seriously at GC if the employees H1 clock is running out, or if he is now inline for a promotion that would get him EB-2 classification.

But USCIS will continue to process the I-140 (I-130 is for family sponsorship, of course) even if priority dates are backed up. In fact once you do PERM you MUST file I-140 within short period. It's the I-485 that aren't being accepted for EB3 unless you've been in the pipeline since almost before 9-11!

i would not have moved to the US if i knew that waiting for a green card was going to take that long. i was fortunate in qualifying for EB1 - don't know how EB3's stick around in limbo for so long... just awful.

I started my process before 9-11, when EB3 had no limits, by the time I got GC, in 2008, it was 7.5 yrs later.

And I was only restricted quota-wise for about 9 moths. The rest of the time was poor processing, and post 9-11 moratorium while INS got their heads out of their a$$ after letting terrorists roam the country learning to fly planes into buildings.