Please help to evaluate my case

Denverer

Registered Users (C)
Hi, Friends,
   Two months ago, I applied for asylum for one of my relatives who is
staying with me in the U.S. right now. During the interview, the asylum officer asked my relative:"Do you have a lawyer?" He answered"No". Officer:"Job better done than many lawyers". I am glad that his case was approved within 18 days of interview, and 3 months since I mailed the package.
   If any of you want to do asylum for your relatives, I\'ll be happy to share my experience with you.

   Now I am tempted to resolve my own "status" problem:
I am a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at a university in US, and I expect to graduate in early 2003.
Has published 4 papers, but only with second authorship. However, one first-authored paper is about to be submitted to a top conference.
Used to work as a graduate researcher for a nationally recognized foundation for 1.5 years. ( I think I slipped the chance away, I could have done NIW on that ).
Have not served as a conference judge panel or reviewed papers. But I guess I can at least "volunteer" on a few occasions soon...

Friends, please help me to evaluate the chance if I try EB1-OR,
and NIW( I think NIW is not as good as EB1-OR,since it takes longer time?)
Advice and insights appreciated!
 
NIW or EB1-EA

You can try NIW or EB1-EA, but you are not eligiblbe for EB1-OR because it requires employer\'s support.
 
NIW needs an advanced degree

If you have at least a MS, or PhD you may try NIW; a PhD candidate will not satisfy the requirement. EA is even harder. I think your case is pretty weak.
 
Other points

Dr, Zhu,
   But I heard from friends in New York that, most Ph.D. candidates from Cornell and other Universities in NY have obtained their GC via
EB1-OR. I understand that the employer sponsorship may be waived.

   I am wondering, man, there are 40,000 lots for EB1-OR/year, but how many Ph.Ds and candidates you have each year in this country?

   Just a little story ::Before I decided to do the asylum application for my relative, the
arrogant lawyer didn\'t even want to take our case for first down of $2500. I was just fed up with her arrogance, so I decided to do it by myself. Guess what, two similar clients who went for the lawyer was turned down by INS. One client, who is also a friend of my relative, told us that on the way to interview, the lawyer was hastily glaring at the paperwork! Again, their job, our life.
 
It may be true a while ago

For most of the students who came in early to mid 90\'s, they got GC through NIW when they were still in graduate school. I also got my PhD from a university in NY. None of the relatively recently students got green card as a student or PhD candidate, while the guys who have been here for 5-6 years all have got GC.

EB-1/OR does require employer sponsorship and 3 years of research experience, although not specifically refer to 3 years after PhD. If you can prove that your work while you were still doing your degree is outstanding, the years in your PhD program can also be counted.
 
Laser

Hi, Laser,
    I read your previous postings. Perhaps it is more difficult to get EB1 now. So, in your case, you had a Ph.D. in 2000, But, when you start work initially, didn\'t you negotiate with your employer about sponsorship of EB1? Why you still need to frustrate over how to get a GC now, 1.5 years after you were employed ?
  In my case, a local university promised to help me to apply for EB1-OR if I will work at their CS department when I graduate.
  Please enlighten me with some recent market trends...
 
Hi, Denverer

Several yrs ago, you were right, lots of PhD candidates obtained green card through NIW (most) and EB1 (some).
EB1-OR needs employer sponsorship, which cannot be waived. EB1EA and NIW can waive sponsorship.
Now it is much harder to get green card application approved through EB1 and NIW. Universities in New York areas (at least most of them) do not sponsor PhD candidates for I-140 petition (EB1-OR), very reluctant to sponsor post Dr for this kind of petition, but sponsor faculty or similar for the petition.
Each yr, around 8000-10000 PhD candidates graduate with PhD from US universities, half of them are foreigners. EB2 and EB3 can take the rest of EB1 unused each yr.
If you hire a bad lawyer, it will do more harm than good. You need to pay attention to every detail for your petition even you hire a lawyer.
 
Right after your graduation, yes, you can ask your university you work with to

sponsor your green card application for EB1-OR. You can try to count your yrs of graduate studies for 3 yrs requirement. But now, it is hard for such a sponsorship.
 
Denverer

Actually, I got my PhD in summer of 2001, and started work since then. So it is less than 7 months till now, and I am still using my OPT. My company is kinda nice in terms of sponsorship for GC. Since I am the only foreigner working in this compamy (around 40 employees), they do not have any experience dealing with such things. I am working on my NIW and EB-1/OR right now.
 
Laser, EB1-OR is better

than NIW, you can do both, since EB1 is less likely to be backlogged during adjustment of status.
 
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