TN or other visa suggested path to GC

K

konax

New Member
Hi,

I am seeking advice from experts and/or experienced folks regarding most probable ways to become a US permanent resident in a reasonable time (under 7 years) under current laws.

I live/work in Canada and think my current options to enter the US are TN, L1, H1-B or B1 visa, each of which have different issues in my case. I want to understand which of them (or any other visa) would be relatively easiest to switch into US permanent residency either directly or indirectly.

TN - easy to get it but will have to wait for about 1 year to get Canadian citizenship
L1 - could get it through current MNC employer (likely L1-B) but risk of losing the job before/while switching into other visas or GC
H1-B - toughest to get it given cap/demand and will have to wait until Oct 1, 2017 to start working in the US
B1 - have it but not sure if practical to switch into other visas or GC

My background:
- Born in India and hold Indian passport
- Permanent Resident in Canada
- Hold US B-1/B-2 visa
- Previously held H1-B visa (2004-2007) and used for 6 months
- MBA and over 11 years experience
- Family of 4 including myself, wife and 2 kids under 6

Thanks much in advance.
K
 
Forget B1, since that doesn't have a sponsor for you, and B1 entry is never assured. Your B1/B2 visa merely entitles you to request entry on B1 (which implies being in the employ of a foreign business), it is not a continuous status.

Your only choice right now is L1. You can switch to H1 or TN as you become eligible. I would not worry about the risk of losing job on L1, since that risk exists in all statuses.
Is your spouse Cdn-born? If not, your GC path will not be helped with Cdn citizenship, since you will always be under the India quota, rather than rest of world.

And be mindful of any Cdn residency requirements for applying for citizenship. These are slightly more strict than for simply maintaining PR status.
 
Hi nelsona,

Thanks for your prompt response. I was highly expecting it given your contribution here. Much appreciate it.

I have some follow ons.

On L1, I agree it is the best option But my biggest concern is losing the L1 job ahead of switching into either H1-B (Oct 2017) or TN (Cdn citizenship, say in Aug 2017).

So, can you please suggest what would be my options to remain in the US if I lose my L1 job? Can I apply for AOS or COS to B1/B2 (which I already have for 10 years)? Can I get another L1 with a new employer without having to exit the US or to work at new employer's non-US location for 1 year?

On GC, both me and my wife were born in India. Do you happen to know the India quota?

I know for the fact that Canadian citizenship doesn't require minimum residency, unlike Canadian PR. So I should be good there.

Thanks again.
K
 
L1 is not your best option, it is your ONLY option right now.
Regardless of your US status, if you are laid off any time before the last stage of GC, you are done, so why worry? B1 is NOT an employment status, it is a permission to enter US to conduct minor business matters fdor a FOREIGN company, so there is no path to green card from B1. Assume you will never get H1 as it is a lottery.

This is a TN forum. Since you are not eligible for TN at this point, and are asking questions regarding L status and H status, so how about asking those questions on forums dedicated to those statuses.

And as to Cdn citizenship application, there certainly are residency requirements based on the moment you apply:
"You must have been physically present in Canada as a permanent resident for at least 1,460 days during the six years immediately before the date of your application. You must also be physically present for at least 183 days during each of four calendar years that are fully or partially within the six years immediately before the date of application."​
You could easily see yourself still qualifying for PR status, but no longer able to apply for Citizenship after as little as 18 months abroad, thus my advice to be watchful of those limits. You also have to declare your intentions to live in Canada for the immediate future if you are abroad at the time of your application.
 
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Thanks. Will move over my pending questions to corresponding forums.

Re: Canadian citizenship, I misunderstood your reference to residency requirement as post-citizenship. I am aware of the requirements which are applicable until the time one takes the Oath of Citizenship (not just the date of application).
 
" be mindful of any Cdn residency requirements for applying for citizenship" seems pretty self-explanatory.
 
While I agree with the specific advice that nelsona offers--and I agree that nelsona is THE resident expert on here when it comes to TN matters--I am not sure that I agree that this TN forum is inappropriate for the original poster's questions. konax is close enough to Canadian citizenship--and hence TN eligibility--for it to figure meaningfully into future US immigration plans. And once a TN is potentially in play, this forum becomes a useful place to ask questions because people here are more familiar with "Canadian nuances" than others.

While it is true that losing your job in the US will mess up any work status--TN, L-1, or H-1B--L-1 is trickier in that regard because it is tied to having worked in Canada (or somewhere outside the US) for that particular employer in the past. By contrast, if you lose a TN job, you can find another one and get new TN status relatively easily.

So I think before going the L-1 route you need to answer two questions. One is whether you will still be able to get Canadian citizenship while in the US on L-1 status (the concerns nelsona raises are valid). And the second is whether your job is secure enough to provide a high probability of seeing you through to your GC while remaining on L-1 status.

Waiting until you become a Canadian citizen and then going for a TN is definitely the safer route especially since you've mentioned--even without anyone needing to mention it to you--the risk of job loss in the US.
 
Another key thing to remember is that you mentioned the possibility of getting gc in 7years. With the way things are stacked when country of chargeability is India, unless you come to the US on L1A, getting it in 7 years will be next to impossible. Not trying to scare you but just stating facts as they are today. Good luck
 
As cal and mister have clearly demonstrated in their recent posts, there isn't any TN question in your future, so the L and H forums should be your source of immediate information.
 
Thanks all for great insights. Cal, to your questions, (1) yes and (2) depends, prob is <50% on L1B but >50% on L1A.
 
Honestly if you are born in India, forget about getting a green card in 7 years. My Indian colleagues have been waiting for 10 years under EB-2, let alone EB-3. And they retrogressed everybody in August, including me on EB-2 ROW and my GC is stuck. The future is very gloomy with regards to EB GC. They're extremely backlogged.

Also, isn't L1 limited to 6 years and cannot be extended beyond that at all? The best choice of status for people with super backlogged priority date(PD) is H1 or TN (if you're Canadian). You can keep extending H1 beyond its 6 year limit if you have an approved I-140 and a PD that is not current. TN can also be extended indefinitely while you wait for your PD to become current.
 
August retrogression is not unusual Sens, but still sucks. You should be OK by October if you were on track earlier.

There are more criteria that will allow H1 extension, but let's leave that to the H1 crowd.
 
L1A==maximum 7 years
L1B==maximum 5 years

But, yes, it is going to be kind of tough to complete the process in even 7 years if the country of chargeability is India. I wouldn't read too much into retrogressed dates late in the fiscal year (as we are right now) because they may just retrogress the dates to manage the flow of people into the queue at the end of the year. However even the months with more favorable dates have been touch and go as to whether you can get the GC as an EB-2 (let alone EB-3) chargeable to India. And remember it will take a little time at the beginning to get your case filed (even if the employer is willing to act "expeditiously") and get your priority date and a little time at the end to actual process the I-485--so you have to assume that if a priority date is (say) 7 years in the past, people currently getting approved probably started the process a bit more than 7 years ago.

Plus konax said he'd likely have to go with L1B not L1A.

All in all it looks more and more like waiting for Cdn citizenship and then going the TN route is the safer option.
 
Does my acquiring Canadian citizenship and then applying for GC via TN, L1 or H1 visa make things simpler for me vs. applying with an Indian passport?
 
Nelsona,
Before the retrogression they said I was stuck in background review (or additional review as in SR responses language). And now this! For months, MyCaseTracker has been showing 25% of 485's as pending. This is an election year and there was also a VisaGate earlier this year that was followed by a failed lawsuit by Siskind that pissed USCIS off royally. I am not surprised that they have kept 25% of the applications in the pending background review just to show that they're super backlogged. Just a very bad timing for me :(

CalGreenCard
It is not just a matter of fiscal year quota. There was a VisaGate way much earlier this year that has retrogressed EB India and China big time.

Konax,
A Canadian citizenship will facilitate getting a TN. That's all! It won't help you with PD.
 
Sens, don't try to divine what will happen to ROW retrogression based on India/China. background check is more serious concern, but August retrogression shouldn't worry you.
 
I feel bad to hijack this thread. I think there is a cap per country and per EB as well as the total cap. Last time they retrogressed EB-2 ROW was in 2012 and it didn't become current until Nov. So technically you're right that India/China shouldn't affect ROW but where did all the visas go, especially after retrogressing India all the way to 2004 early in the fiscal year?!!

As for the background check, my company lawyer and I were getting ready to file a writ of mandamus when it retrogressed. Can't file a WOM now. So while waiting for PD, I have requested a FOIA on all my files to see why I am stuck in background check. When all said and done, it will be a heck of a story to share on this forum just like CuriousGeorge's.
 
India and china only affect ROW in -- you guessed it -- august and September of the year. Don't worry about that.
I was in background check for 3 years, maybe 4, so unless you hit that mark, your story won't be that "sens"ational. Do you work in a highly regulated industry (like nuclear)? then, bg check/stuck is almost automatic, since and previous investigations of you by a federal agency gets you kicked out of the pile (where it sits for months/years). Sorry to hear that they are back in that mode of (non)-operation.

And, election year also slows work as they try to process natz requests so they can vote in November.

But as you say, off topic, not your thread... best to end this here.
 
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