Can anyone please provide me with some useful advice on when and how I can apply to change my status from H1B to Permanent Residency (Green Card) plus any other information regarding this topic?

I started my H1B from October 1, 2005. When can I apply to change my status from H1B to Permanent Residency (Green Card)? I've heard a lot of rumors such as anytime after starting my H1B to a year after but I'm not quite sure which avenue to follow?

Please offer me some useful and correct advice on this topic preferably from someone who has been through this process.

Thank you (in earnest).

Dude,
Review the following link, its too long to copy and paste.
H1BASE.COM
Hope this helps.

Peace

Applying for permanent residency and working on H1B are two different things.

How long will you need to be in H1B before applying for a green card?

EB1 case - You don't need any sponsor if you qualify for EB1 category. You have to be internationally renown scientist/researcher to qualify for this category. Just petition for yourself. Visa number is currently available. No need to waste a single day.

EB2 case - You need to persuade your employer to apply for green card. Visa number is currently available - principally you don't have to wait if you already qualify for this category and your employer is ready to sponsor you. Normally MS/Ph.D. plus three years of experience is required in this category.

EB3 case - Visa number is currently backlogged by about 4 years. Even your employer is ready to sponsor, you can't file for green card. However, if you should start the process as soon as possible to be in the priority list. If your employer gets labor certification approval (PERM) for you, the date of PERM approval will be your priority date for future filing.

H1B is only a transition before applying green card. It allows you to work for the H1B sponsoring agency for upto 6 years (You can extend in annual increment if you have already applied for green card and it's still pending for at least one year at the end of this 6th year). H1B is dual intent status and even if your green card application is denied, you can still remain in status if you have maintained the H1B througout.

Here are few resources.
- http://www.uscis.gov
- http://www.immigration.com
- http://www.shusterman.com
- http://www.murthy.com
- http://www.usabal.com

Harris ji,
You seem to be a guru in this. Let me ask you something.
Currently, I qualify for EB3 category. If I start the process now, then it takes about 4 years for me to get the Permanent Residency Card, right? However, after 2 years from now, I will be qualified for EB2 as well. So, even though I start the process with EB3 now, can I change it to EB2 after 2 years?

Thank a lot.

Harris is partially right about the EB3 case. The time you apply for the PERM would be your Priority Date or PD, not the date when your labor gets approved.

H1B visa is for 3 years, after that you can extend for another 3 years. Prove that you have your labor or I-140 pending within USDOL or USCIS, you will be eligible for 7th year extension beyond your 6 years limit.

Once your filed Labor and I-140 gets approved, you can extend your H1B for another 3 years. (given that your visa number being retrogressed meaing you cannot file for Green Card, commonly known as Adjustment of Status (AOS). DOS publishes monthly visa bulletin with the cutoff date, you should check it in regular basis to see if you are eligible to file for GC. Filing AOS or I-485 will also let you and your wife (if you have any) to file for Employment Authorization (i-765) Document and also Advance Parole (I-131) or Travel Documents to travel back and forth without any problem.

naake, to answer your question, if you file your PERM under EB3 now and when it gets approved you may apply for I-140 as well. Once both are approved you may be able to transfer your PD to EB2 later on. But you have to start the process again from scratch for EB2. The only benifit to this is, you may keep your PD which is very important in todays retrogression hit world.

Your labor should be pending for 1 year to get the benifit for 7th year extension within Department of Labor. These days due to PERM filing, your labor may get approved within couple of months, so you may file I-140 immediately upon approval of PERM will give your direct benifit of filing your H1B for 3 years increment.

You guys are great. I have a question too. If my employer requests for my green card, do i get work permit to work in other places other than the employer who sponsors me? I mean, i can work 40 hours at the sponsoring employer and work part time on another place? Do i even get a work permit like that, or do i have to wait till i get my green card on my hand?
also, once h1 gets approved, can i go to school, do they give residency tution benefit for h1s.. what about after filing for green card?

please help

Green Card these days can be taken as a slow or fast process that solely depends on your eligibility catagory. EB2 for World Wide is Current. So if you fall on EB2, you can apply for your Labor which is likely to get cleared in 4 months from the date you start. Then you have an opportunity to file I-140, I-485, I-765(EAD also known as Work Permit) and I-131 all together. Once you have a work permit in hand, you can go and work any where you want. Granted that your employer filed your petition on your behalf, you are not required to work for him until you have the GC on hand. In some instances with the American Competativeness of 21 century allows you to change your employment once the I-485 is pending for six months when I-140 is cleared. At this stage, even your employer wants, they cannot revoke your I-140 petition. Filing AOS or I-485 is what you do on your own. Employer has nothing to do with it.

After your H1B gets approved, you are no longer in your previous status. Meaning if you come to US in F1 visa, upon H1B approval, your status should read as H1B of which your newly issued I-94 will describle the duration of your stay in US. People with H1B status can go to school, but in order to maintain the residency, in many cases school by school, they have to stay in a state for a year and should maintain the residency. You need to check with your school what are the documents that prove your residency status where you may eligible to pay in-state tution.

Filing a Green Card won't give you status instantly. If you file GC in your H1B status, till it gets approved, you are still in the H1B status. Once you are eligible to file EAD, and when you start working on EAD, you will lose your H1B status and come to stats which is commonly known as Adjustment of Status (AOS). At this time if your GC petition is denied, you will lose all your status, so its really important if or not you want to work on EAD. If your job is stable and you are not looking to work in others, then I would suggest you to stay in your H1B status. Even getting GC, you still have to maintain your stay in a state for more than a year in order to file for in-state tution. So getting GC in NY wont let you file residency to study as an in-state student in CA. I hope this helps. If you have futher question, let me know.

Thanks a lot everyone for all the useful information and tips provided here; to IndiraGandhi, much appreciated for your generous advices, you truly are the IndiraGandhi of the 21st century.

Thank you so much Indira. It is very helpful. So if someonehas just an undergraduate degree that would fall under EB3 and the process of getting work permit takes lot longer? do you know how long?

dyamn: If you have undergrad degree, yes, you may fall in EB3 catagory. But if you have undergrad with 5 years of progressive experice, you may fall in EB2 catagory of which the visa numbers are available for Worldwide Catagory - the only thing is your employer MUST proof the business necessity of which they apply your petition. Due to the retrogression, it will take few more years for your EB3 to get the work permit, since you can only apply I-140, but not I-485. I-485 can ONLY be applied when your EB3 catagory will be current or the cutoff date is your Priority Date. I would suggest you to start the processing as soon as possible. Sooner the better.

How is work experience counted? Does anyone need to be in the same job for 3 years to fall in the category EB3 to EB2?

Thanks

Question: How is work experience counted? Does anyone need to be in the same job for 3 years to fall in the category EB3 to EB2?

Once you apply for the Labor, you need to be in the same job on what you are doing and being advertised to seek active employment in the Permanent basis. Staying in 3 years for the same job wont give you EB3 catagory. EB3 is with Bachelor and 5 years of progressive would count towards your EB2. If you work in a certain industry for 5 years with valid BS degree, you may fall for EB2 to begin with. I hope this helps, let me know if you have futher question.