Green Card on L1-A Visa

[johnpier]

I work for a Indian subsidary of an MNC. Our parent company has offered me a permanent position in the US on a L1-A visa & green card.

I am a bachelor and am planning to get married sometime this year.

As far as I know here is the process of GC application in case of L1-A.

1) For L1-A no Labor Certification is needed. So request department of state for immigrant visa number. (How much time will it take now ?)

2) Apply for a i-140 (How much time will it take ?)

3) Apply for a i-485 (How much time will it take ?)

4) Getting a green card.

(Please correct if I am wrong anywhere)

At what point in this process can I go back to India and marry and bring my wife back to the US, so that she also gets GC along with me ?

Also how much time it takes for each of the stages 1 & 2 & 3 & 4.

Can these stages or steps happen concurrently ?

I was told that green card processing for L1-A guys takes place very fastly, so I am fearing that if I get GC before I get married it will be a problem for me.

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[SetMax]

I work for a Indian subsidary of an MNC. Our parent company has offered me a permanent position in the US on a L1-A visa & green card.

I am a bachelor and am planning to get married sometime this year.

As far as I know here is the process of GC application in case of L1-A.

1) For L1-A no Labor Certification is needed. So request department of state for immigrant visa number. (How much time will it take now ?)

L1-A visa itself is not sufficient, you should be either in managerial or executive position both at India and US location

2) Apply for a i-140 (How much time will it take ?)

Applying can take 1 day... depends how fast you can prepare the docs. Approval can take 6-8 months

3) Apply for a i-485 (How much time will it take ?)

Can be applied concurrent with I-140 - as priority date is "Current"

4) Getting a green card.

Depends - but should be within a year if everying goes in your favour

(Please correct if I am wrong anywhere)

At what point in this process can I go back to India and marry and bring my wife back to the US, so that she also gets GC along with me ?

If you applied I-485 before marriage... you will have issue.

Also how much time it takes for each of the stages 1 & 2 & 3 & 4.

Can these stages or steps happen concurrently ?

I was told that green card processing for L1-A guys takes place very fastly, so I am fearing that if I get GC before I get married it will be a problem for me.

Ideally ... you should fine I-140 and let it process. Get married and file for I-1485 together

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[johnpier]

Thanks SetMax for your response.

Can I go back to my home country to get married while my I-140 is in process ? ( I may be out of the country for 15 to 20 days)

If I-140 processing completes before I get married, can I pospone filing of I-485 (assuming that I dont file 140 & 485 concurrently) ? If so, for how long ?

My sincere thanks to the people hosting this site and people sharing their knowledge with us through replies to various 'post's.

 

[SetMax]

Thanks SetMax for your response.

Can I go back to my home country to get married while my I-140 is in process ? ( I may be out of the country for 15 to 20 days)

YES... possible, but you must be in US while your I-485 is filed

If I-140 processing completes before I get married, can I pospone filing of I-485 (assuming that I dont file 140 & 485 concurrently) ? If so, for how long ?

I do not think .. there is any limit, but you can check with your company's lawyer


My sincere thanks to the people hosting this site and people sharing their knowledge with us through replies to various 'post's.

 

[techie8]

Please be aware that in order to qualify for L1A visa, you should have worked for atleast one year in a managerial position out of the previous three years before entering the US.

Also, team lead, module lead etc do not qualify as managerial positions. Managers who qualify should have the ability to hire and fire at their discretion.