B1 visa

[Eric Lemaitre]

Hi all !

I might have a US job offer which would imply B1 visa, which means (providing I understood properly) swinging back & forth between US and my country every 3 mounths before some kind of durable situation may be stabilised (presumed through future H1B). This should be because H1B are said to be completely exhausted for present year, so sending a petition on 1st april 2007 couldn't legaly lead to an H1B before 1st october 2008 at best, 1 year and a half after. Rumour says it is possible to ask for GC after 3 mounths of legal labour paid presence on US soil, but may take many years. This is utterly stupid, but they say they couldn't do better right now considering present US labour visa situation (L1 is no option since it is a US company, not an alien subsidiary on US soil).

Another company proposed me an H1B but without evoking any kind of difficulty by regards to visa, so I remain suspicious because I know it is far from simple.

Could someone who recently got a US labour visa bring me clues about real present state of labour visa processing speed after petition for H1B, B1 and GC ?

TIA, best regards.

[Luke Kolin]

With a few small exceptions, B1 holders are not permitted to engange in employment in the United States.

An H1B petition in April 2007 is for work starting in October 2007. Although it is for Fiscal Year 2008, keep in mind that FY2008 starts in 2007. Right now we are in FY2007 already.

Your prospective employer could apply for a GC for you today. There is no requirement that you work even a single day in the US (or even set foot in the US) until the process is complete. The problem would be waiting for your priority date to become current if you filed EB3. That might be several years.

However, if you can qualify for an EB2 Green Card, it might actually be faster and cheaper than applying for an H1B.

Cheers!

Luke

[Ganpi Srinivasan]

If you are entering USA on a B1 visa you CANNOT work. Period. You can engage in business discussions with clients etc. but cannot work and earn wages. That is the most widely accepted norm. Again, you might want to confirm this with an immigration attorney.

Regards
Ganpi