Finding a company that would sponsor my green card?

Student Lounge International Students
1

So, I am going to apply for GC hopefully this month, but there is a chance that my GC until the time I apply to med school…

In that case I will have to put a “hold” on my doctor dream, and be employed by a company that will hire me after my UG.

  1. What kind of visa will I get ?

  2. how long after will I get GC?

  3. anything else I should know?

I am sorry that my question isn’t phrased in the best way but right now I am so confused…

2

Odds are that the company would first hire you on OPT for 1-2 years (assuming you’re currently in F-1 status); then they would sponsor you for an H-1B, on which you could work 6 more years. At that time they’d have to decide if they want to sponsor you for a green card or let you go.

Depending on your nationality and priority group, it could take another 10 years after your employer submits your green card petition before it gets processed. Meanwhile you’d continue to be in H-1B status and tied to your employer.

You should very much not take it for granted that an H-1B employer would be willing or able to sponsor you for a green card. For an H-1B, your employer only needs to document that hiring you does not negatively affect US workers. For a green card, they need to document that there’s no US worker qualified to do your job. That’s a much much much higher bar.

If push comes to shove, you’ll have much better odds of getting your green card through marriage than through employment. (That’s not counting the medical school option. Foreign primary care physicians can self-petition for a green card, so that’s an entirely different situation.)

3

Paul,

Knowing you are a CheE major, actually I know a VERY large Asian chemical company who’s branch in the USA(also large) Will sponsor their employees to gain green card status. They have a team of lawyers doing nothing but green cards. However, they do not pay well, during the application period, perhaps 12 years as described above, they pay only minimum wage or little above that, but you work as a full fledged engineer. You will not have any promotions either. You will be stuck with the company and perhaps your boss, whether you like it or not. All the employees there knows their predicaments and as soon as they have a chance they quit. None the less, the competition to get in is fierce.

So, that is the story about green card applicants.

4

Hmm @artloversplus‌ thank you. I guess the company is taking advantage of the employees. Oh well…

I am not particularly attracted to companies with lots of Asians…hope my application for GC doesn’t have any hiccup.

This is what may happen.

My sister is a citizen (21 yo) and my mom requested green card through her. Hopefully she will get it this month. Then, I will apply for GC through her but the problem is that if I go over 21( I am 20 now and will turn 21 next Feb) the waiting period will be longer with no specific time frame. Age adjustment is possible but not always.
Also I was told that I need another visa after I am done with undergraduate while waiting for the GC…which kinda sounds weird. Can somebody confirm this?

5

http://www.uscis.gov/archive/archive-news/questions-and-answers-extension-optional-practical-training-program-qualified-students

6

There’s two steps for family-based immigration that involves a preference category (e.g. any child of a permanent resident, a child over 21 of a US citizen, or a sibling of a US citizen).

First, your relative would file a Petition for Alien Relative. If this gets approved, you need to wait for your “priority date” to become current. Meanwhile, you’ll need your own valid visa if you want to stay in the US.

Once your priority date becomes current, you can apply for a green card. This can be done via Adjustment of Status if you have another valid US visa at the time, or Consular Processing if you’re outside of the US. If you go the Adjustment of Status route, and receive an acknowledgement that the AOS application is complete and being processed, then you can stay in the US until a final decision on your green card application is made, even if your previous visa expires in the meantime.

If you were to apply in a category where a visa is immediately available (e.g. parent of an adult US citizen or minor child of a US citizen), then both petitions could be filed concurrently and there’d be a much shorter waiting period during which you’d need your own visa to stay in the country.

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^ I should add that this is my own person understanding of the process, but I am by no means a reliable source. Double-check with USCIS or an immigration lawyer.