H1B or EB-2

C

Civeng15

New Member
Hi everyone,

I talked to my manager about working towards permanent residency. He mentioned that the company will do everything to keep me and promised to help me.
The question here is: do I ask for H1B or EB-2 or 3.
I am a Canadian citizen (North Africa born), moved to USA with TN status about a year ago, hold a bachelor and a master degree from Canada, registered professional engineer in Canada and working toward engineering licensing here in USA. Also I have eight years of engineering experience.

As usual. your help is much appreciated,

Thank you
 
How would asking for H1-B help you with your GC? Two totally separate things!
If you want a GC, first and foremost, your sponsor needs to file a PERM/Labor Certificate to prove there are no Americans with your skill set (that's where your 8 year experience and also education come into the picture). The details of PERM and the EB-2 process is well beyond the scope of this "TN Forum". There are plenty of info available on the web about the details of EB-2 process.

One key note: when you get close to filing an I-485, you'll need to have enough time left on your TN, otherwise, you may have to extend the TN before filing a 485. We can help you with that topic on this forum. But you're way far away from that point of the process as of now. So focus on PERM first that may take from 1.5 to 3 years.
 
H1-B and GC are not either/or. Some falsely believe that you must get H1 before attempting GC, but this is false, as the thread mentioned above will pain-stakingly detail.

As to whether you should try EB2 or just use Eb3, I don't think for a non-Indian, non-Chinese immigrant that it matters. You would be borderline EB2 in any event, so why bother. Just file EB2 as quickly as possible, without wasting any time with H1-B.
 
Also for you , GC from TN makes sense as your priority dates wont be that backlogged and you may even be able to file 485 immediately after your 140 is approved.
 
the most common questions are how long will it take and how much will it cost to get employment based Green Card (EB2 or EB3). do your own homework... lots of websites out there...
from my experience and investigation:
it will take years....several years. from start (defining job description, prevailing wage determination, recruiting, PERM filing) to finish will be over 2 years, but likely more. could be 3 years or more. they are now doing interviews at the final stage which is slowing down the process.
the good news is your employer is required by law to pay almost all of it. but it is still expensive. filing fees are cheap, lawyer fees are expensive.
TN status can be several thousands in legal fees ($3-5k)
H1B status (if you go down that route) can be more ($5-8k)
PERM to I-140/I-485 will be the most, $15-20k, likely spread over two years.
your employer will likely ask you to sign an agreement to continue working for them after you receive your green card (one year is typical). if you quit within a year of obtaining your green card they will ask you to pay back the legal fees.
sounds like you have a solid case, engineer with Masters degree in Canada, you just need patience. lots of patience.....
 
Amberleaf said:
it will take years....several years. from start (defining job description, prevailing wage determination, recruiting, PERM filing) to finish will be over 2 years,
Click to expand...
Several years is probably not the case unless one is India or China born. In the case of OP (non-India/China country of birth), PERM filing and approval + 140 approval can be done in 18 months. After that, EB2/EB3 ROW is likely to stay current so he/she can file 485 right away and then its obviously dependent on security clearances etc
 
Thanks to all of you for the useful information.
So far my manager set up a meeting for me with HR next week and they will listen to me and he promised to do his best to help me.
My big concern here is to have my wife start working asap. I hope HR are familiar with such situations.
 
As Mister said, it will not take "years" to get GC (whether EB2 or EB3) if you are from N Africa. As long as your sponsor keeps the ball moving forward, ie. no waiting for H1-B, acting quickly on PERM and I-140. etc.
 
Thanks again to all of you!
I still have 2 years left in my TN, do I have to wait until I renew it or I can start the process right away?
 
start PERM right away followed by 140 renewal....

before filing 485 though, you'd want to make sure you have TN renewed or have enough time left on it. Do read up on CuriousGeorge's post
 
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