L1A to Green Card (GC)

[drdevi22]

I am on L1A visa working in US from past 5+ years. My Indian company did not apply for Green Card. Now my client in US is offering me a full-time job position. I would appreciate if someone can answer below questions:

1) Am I eligible for EB1 category?
2) Can my client process the GC based on my current L1A visa?
3) How long does it take to complete the process?
4) My visa/I-94 is expiring pretty quick and my company had already applied for the extension. Will this impact any of the GC process?

Regards,
Devi

[raghvi]

L1A to Green Card (GC)

Green Card can only be filed by your current employer, ie. your Indian company, as you are on the payroll of the employer not the client. If the client is offering you a full time job then you would have to go for L1A to H1 conversion. Resign from the Indian company and go on client's payroll. Then the Client company will have to file for GC, now whether that come sunder EB1 or not will have to be assessed by the immigration attorneys. this is my opinion , please do consult expers too.

[rvisak]

To be EB-1 eligible you should have worked for the SAME company outside of US for a yr...in your case you are not EB-1 eligible if you move to the client.

You will also need to move to H1 to join your client...which cannot happen before oct 2012. and your GC needs to be filed 1 yr prior to your max out, which means if you move to H1, you will be maxing out in less than a yr from now (assuming you have been here for 5+ yrs)

[drdevi22]

Thanks for the replies. One other question. My sister is a US citizen. Does it help in any way?

[rvisak]

she can file your green card but we are talking 15 odd yrs here...otherwise, no it is of no help to you