Chronological steps of H1 to Green Card

[BiboBhua]

Can someone explain the steps involved in the conversion of H1 to green card with the time it may take for each step in laymans words for a Physician doing residency on H1 which will be compliting in year 2006.
I have heard people saying diffrent states have diffrent time periods so how should one determine which state to go , how u figure it out by going online ?
Thanks

 

[J1victim]

H1 to GC in simple stepts

Can someone explain the steps involved in the conversion of H1 to green card with the time it may take for each step in laymans words for a Physician doing residency on H1 which will be compliting in year 2006.
I have heard people saying diffrent states have diffrent time periods so how should one determine which state to go , how u figure it out by going online ?
Thanks

H1 to GC via Employment (also called Alien Labor Certification - ALC):
involves mainly 3 steps -

1. Alien Labor Certification (2 levels: a. state labor certification, b. regional labor certification)
2. I-140 petition (under *EB2/Advanced degree or exceptional ability*)
3. I-485 or CP (consulate processing)

a). employment based GC is for FUTURE job that you will start once you get your GC. So after getting GC, you will HAVE to work for the sponsoring employer (it doesn't matter whether you are/aren't working for the sponsor before getting your GC). You have to stay with the SPONSORING employer for a REASONABLE period of time AFTER getting the GC. There may be some exception to stay requirement - e.g if you get Fired/employer declares bankruptcy etc etc.
b). 1 and 2 are employer sponsored. Employer can withdraw them anytime before they are approved or Revoke them after approval before you get your GC.
c). if the sponsor folds (business closes) before you get your GC, then entire process is gone waste and you have to start all over again with a new employer.

The real process:

(1). ALC (Alien Labor Certification): done with Labor Dept. you need 2 levels of approval that are SUCCESSIVE in order. employer's petition for you > will go to State Labor Dept first > if approved > go to Regional Labor Dept.

can be Regular ALC or RIR ALC. (Reduction in recruitment). in RIR, employer does advertising first, then files paperwork. in regular ALC, the state labor department will work with the employer and do the advertising and monitoring of replies. in most state, RIR takes about 1 year and regular takes 3 years.

In some states like Indiana, there is NO RIR process and every file goes via Regular ALC. in some states, RIR ALC is also backlogged, e.g. for NY it is about 3 years for RIR and 3 1/2 for regular ALC.

for RIR:

- employer does advertisement (usually 6 months of efforts: ad in national level journal e.g. JAMA/NEJM, local newspaper, letters to residency programs etc
- employer writes a Recruitment report (detailed report that advertising was done in xyz jounal and NO US citizen found)
- fill Forms ETA 750A (filled by employer) and ETA 750B (filled by future employee)

submit (Recruitment Report + ETA 750 A + 750 B) to state labor dept.

state labor approval time for RIR: about 1 year
regional labor approval time for RIR: apprx 4-6 months

check times here: http://www.ows.doleta.gov/foreign/times.asp

(2). I-140 petition: submit to USCIS:

employer filled form I-140 + Original approved ALC from dept of labor + financial report of employer on ability to pay your salary.

approval time: apprx 9-12 months.

(3). I-485 / or CP
you fill this petition. you may change your status to GC via

I-485 petition - takes about 2 1/2 years
CP - you will go to a US Consulate outside US to get your GC stamp - takes about 6 months.

processing times for (2) and (3) check here and select the service center:
https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/ptimes.jsp;jsessionid=boKT6h4JgEt8

**************
discalimer; my personal opinion only.
.

 

[hadron]

> I have heard people saying diffrent states have diffrent time periods
> so how should one determine which state to go , how u figure it
> out by going online ?

There are gigantic differences. If you go on the DOLETA website mentioned above, you will see that states vary widely. You first have to look up the state time, and add to that the time it takes at the respective federal regional processing center. However, the times given on the website are rather conservative, some LC's get processed a lot faster. I have two:
1. ) from Louisiana: approved after 3.5 years
2. ) from North Dakota: approved after 5 weeks

One thing to keep in mind is that the whole labor certification process is in flux. On one hand, DOL is consolidating the processing of the overdue cases in a few backlog reduction centers, they are also redistributing work from some regional centers to others. So, something that might be great today (e.g. ND which is almost current on the state level and almost current on the federal level) might turn into a less favorable location 12 months down the line. The second change is the mysterious 'PERM' labor certification. Although DOL keeps putting it off, it is supposed to streamline the entire process. Normal LC's are supposed to get approved within 60days (basically if the labor department doesn't object they get approved automatically). The track record of the labor department to f__ the process up is pretty impressive, I don't believe a major change until I see it.

The most important step for you is to find a large stable employer in a state that doesn't have many immigrants. So, stay away from places like TX, FL, NY, NJ, CA. There are many large clinic organizations in the upper midwest and plains states that are quite familiar with recruiting physicians that need some immigration help. Also, in places like SD, ND and IA the number of immigrants is lower, the entire system is less strained than in the classic immigration states. If you ever have to go to a local office for something, it comes in handy if you are #12 that day instead of #12000.

Btw. If you are in a primary care specialty and you plan to practice in a medically underserved (typically rural) area for 5 years, you can apply for your GC through the so called 'National Interest Waiver'. In that case, you get a letter from the state department of health stating that it is in the public interest that you get a green card. With that letter you can file an I140 without getting the LC first. The I140 gets approved within a year in these cases. After you have worked in the underserved area for a total of 5 years, you send paperwork from your employer/hospital CEO/other physicians affirming that you indeed practiced there, and you get your GC. In some states with unfavorable labor certification conditions, this might be a worthwhile option. Usually, the LC route is faster, but if rural primary care is your thing the NIW might be an alternative. The other advantage is that you can sponsor yourself based on a proposed business plan. In LC based cases your employer needs to proove that he can pay your salary (130k for specialty physicians), with small practices this can be an issue.