301–310 of 486 posts
Should I apply for an H1B or an O1 visa if the end goal is to self-petition an EB-1A green card application?
Over a year ago we filed a for I-130 to move towards her getting a Green Card and being able to live with me in the US.
Right now the USCIS website estimates that it will be another 20 months until our form is processed. This seems like an absurd amount of time? I've tried reaching out to the White House, who passed my case onto USCIS, who told me to pound sand, and to my congressional representatives, who told me they would "look into it".
Is there anything I can do to move this process along?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You still can apply for a Certificate of Citizenship but there's a cost associated with it and I really don't think it's necessary or even advisable because you are now giving the government a chance to reassess its previous approval. A U.S. passport is always considered sufficient evidence of U.S. citizenship.
Thanks. I guess that’s a valid point - why invite unnecessary scrutiny.
If good documentation and good behavior won't protect you, then that leaves trying to avoid being in the front page of search results.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
TN is not a visa and all you need to get this status is a job offer. There's really no work of any specialized nature but some companies do get legal advice to help streamline the process and get better outcomes like reducing the probability that the person would be denied. (EDIT: it is sometimes referred to a visa and sometimes as a status but at any rate as someone who had TN status with two different US startups t…
The US State Department literally calls it a visa, I'd trust them before I trust random Internet commenters: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employme...
> Requirements for Canadian Citizens
> A visa is not required for a Canadian citizen entering the United States as a USMCA Professional, although a visa can be issued to a qualified Canadian TN visa applicant upon application at a U.S. embassy or consulate.
> A Canadian citizen can apply for TN nonimmigrant status at a U.S. port-of-entry. Learn about these requirements on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) websites. More information about receiving TN status without applying for a visa is also available on the U.S. Embassy Ottawa website.
Should I apply for an H1B or an O1 visa if the end goal is to self-petition an EB-1A green card application?
Doesn't matter since the EB1A requires a separate assessment that is not tied to the underlying status. But between the two, because of the inability to travel on an O-1 visa while in the last stage of the green card process, the H-1B is slightly better.
I asked this question in the first place because I heard/read that an EB1A application is a little more likely to be accepted if you already possess an O-1 visa. The reasoning behind this being the similarity in the eligibility requirements for the O-1 and EB1A applications make them more “compatible”.
What do you think of this?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also not a lawyer, but wanted to second what jsbg said. I've been through this process many times, and I would always say yes and then mention with the recruiter (even if I had to explain that the process was basically "asking politely for permission at the border"). The underlying question that employers really care about is "will you be legally allowed to accept a job offer without unexpected expenses or delays". E…
Employers are subject to substantial penalties if they hire someone who is not legally permitted to work. I think they are woried about more than unexpected delays, though I admit I'm way out of my sphere of knowledge on this subject.
No portion of my initial comment should have been interpreted to mean that employers do not do their own due diligence after actually hiring someone.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it true that most big tech companies and possibly the startups you work with strongly prefer H-1B transfers over candidates who might have held an H-1B in the past (with an approved I-140), but are currently on a B-2? In your experience/opinion, is such a situation disadvantageous to the candidate's competitiveness in attaining employment at these coveted companies?
If the company is paying attention and knows what it's doing, then the interim B-2 status of a candidate shouldn't matter; at worst, it just means that the candidate might have to depart and reenter to activate his or her H-1B status with the new employer.
There has been a bunch of chatter in Canadian founders whatsapp groups about people getting detained for long periods of time coming into the states either at SFO or pre-clear in Canada. Are you advising Canadians travel with any additional documentation these days?
Im a Canadian and go to the US for work fairly regularly. Something I didn’t realize is that the laws are different in preclearance areas. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-19.32/FullText.ht... For example, you are allowed to withdraw your application to enter the US and leave the preclearance area. Additionally you are bound by different laws for search and siezure. At this point I am only going to the US t…