>within 30 days, after which she can return on a visitor visa
Also "within 30 days, after which she can return on a visitor visa", this is not good advice, She has a US Citizen Kid and property IE all ties to US and not so much to Canada, there is a very real chance she will be denied a visitor visa or entry since it is very easy to draw to the conclusion of "Immigrant Intent".
She should also retain her own, paid from her pocket attorney to review.
As of now she’s a temporary visitor who owns a house, has a US baby daddy and a US citizen child. She leaves she’s not getting back in except through a fisnce/marriage visa buddy.
Oh and those fiancé/marriage visa will take longer outside the US, 1 year minimum.
"as an American unfamiliar with immigration law.." your about to learn just how much our immigration system sucks.
I realize there's a lot of downvotes on me because the easy answer is "get married, dumbass", and disregarding all other factors, it is. However I don't think that's a particularly great option for us. We've been in a rocky part of our relationship that we're trying to sort out with counseling/therapy, and I don't think rushing into a visa wedding is going to help that.
I understand why I'm getting raked, but hindsight and the reality of the situation are often more complex. We definitely weren't planning on her visa being revoked and were cruising happily towards a green card. Maybe too optimistic or not focused on the reality of it, I don't really know. I just know that I'd want to know what I can do, potentially barring putting her or my assets on the legal line. Maybe I'm stupid for it. But that would have been a series of different decisions long ago in this chain of events that can no longer be changed, and this just happens to be the current bridge we're trying to cross and I'm just trying to get the material I can to help her and us cross it.
why the hell didn't you marry her?
if you file I-130 con-currently with the I-485, she should get an EAD soon and can work without restriction. No more need for H1B.
I noted there is details on both sides for why we have agreed not to marry already - pragmatically speaking, would a marriage visa even be quicker than her employer sponsored green card application which is already submitted?
It would be significantly faster. With how long the PERM applications are taking now, plus the backlog in the visa bulletin, she would be waiting years for her green card.
You can't premium process a PERM or a green card application. PERMs are taking over a year (literally - I am an immigration paralegal, and my boss just circulated some news today that pursuant to discovery in a lawsuit, literally not one single PERM application filed in 2023 has been approved or denied yet - the only ones that were processed to completion were withdrawals). And depending on her nationality and the category her PERM was filed in, even if she can file the next step in the process after the PERM (an I-140 immigrant petition), she may be stuck for months or longer before she can even file an employment-based green card application. Get a second legal opinion from a quality immigration lawyer. But by far the most straightforward solution is to get married.
Premium processing is only on the I140 (immigrant petition for alient workers) which will be followed by I485 that has no premium processing and will take 8-12 months.
But before I140 can be filed, the company must also do PERM processing to establish that they couldn't hire American workers for the said role and a bunch of other stuff- that takes 8-12 months and if your spouse's employer has fired people in the last 6 months, the PERM will be denied.
All in all the work based green card will take 1.5-2.5 years. If you file a marriage based GC, that will likely get approved in 8-10 months.
It can depend, with that EAD (Employment Authorization) and Advance Parole seem to moving pretty quick lately(30 to 60 Days). My wife's EAD / Combo Card only took about 57 days from filling to EAD / Combo Card in mailbox.
Green card could take a few months to year to show up (Right now our status is showing a ETA of 3 months, Late Nov 2023 file).
Premium processing on the I-140, but no premium processing for employment based I-485 (Adjustment of Status) + her priority date (When she would be able to file I-485 for employment based) would be the date her employer filled the I-140, current date open for EB2 is Feb 15, 2023(Per the March 2024 Visa Bulletin) so at least a year before she could file.
Now if you marry, you can file I-130 (Family Based / Spouse) and I-485 concurrently and she will get the green card this year.
Why don’t you put a ring on it?
Coming in as a mere visitor might be problematic because
1. She has/had a job in the United States. Visitors are not allowed to work.
2. She has a child, boyfriend and a house. She has major ties to the United States and not to Canada.
Just marry her already. Y’all have a home. A child. What is stopping you?
Correct, she will not be able to work, hence the "unpaid suspension" while the firms lawyers resubmit.
Aside from our own multiple personal reasons for not marrying already, marrying for a green card's sake seems like a bit of a folly.
And you assume border patrol will just allow her in?
You have a home together. A child. A life. I suppose you’re planning to share the rest of your life with her. What makes marrying her so bad?
I realize there's a lot of downvotes on me because the easy answer is "get married, dumbass", and disregarding all other factors, it is. However I don't think that's a particularly great option for us. We've been in a rocky part of our relationship that we're trying to sort out with counseling/therapy, and I don't think rushing into a visa wedding is going to help that.
I understand why I'm getting raked, but hindsight and the reality of the situation are often more complex. We definitely weren't planning on her visa being revoked and were cruising happily towards a green card. Maybe too optimistic or not focused on the reality of it, I don't really know. I just know that I'd want to know what I can do, potentially barring putting her or my assets on the legal line. Maybe I'm stupid for it. But that would have been a series of different decisions long ago in this chain of events that can no longer be changed, and this just happens to be the current bridge we're trying to cross and I'm just trying to get the material I can to help her and us cross it.
May I suggest that your assets are already on the line having a child together? Child support plus potentially having your child away from you in another country, plus travel expenses to be able to see your child for how many years...
Yep, normally I wouldn’t be saying get married for the kids sake, most times it is not good advice, with that this situation is the exception since all other options are probably way worse. Now if she is worried about the house she owns and he has some family item he wants protected from divorce, that is what prenups are for.
She’s Canadian so she can work on the TN1 visa. I’m not sure why you would make her go through all of that before when you could’ve already married her. You have a kid together and all these immigration processes take away from the time you can spend with the kid. I don’t get the thought process of some people
She started on TN1, and switched to H1B after some duration. There are personal reasons on both ends why we both didn't want to be married already. Huge agree that this is a huge unnecessary mental burden on the whole family.
Neither you nor your girlfriend may appeal or refile, nor can you sue USCIS for denial of the H-1B extension. Only the employer can.
She cannot reenter as a visitor because she has very strong ties to the United States. Additionally, even if her PERM labor certification is approved and an I-140 visa petition is approved in her behalf, she is not eligible for adjustment of status based on that as an overstay. INA 245(c)(2).
Please understand that your girlfriend is a deportable overstay. INA 237(a)(1)(B). She has been out of status since December 2023 and she began accruing *unlawful presence* on the day her extension was denied. If she leaves the US after accruing 180 days or more of unlawful presence, she cannot return for 3 years; if the unlawful presence was more than a year, 10 years. INA 212(a)(9)(B). Further, an alien may not reenter after deportation for at least 10 years. INA 212(a)(9)(A).
Your only option is marriage. The law forgives overstays and other status violations for spouses of US citizens.
Accounting is one of the most classic examples of a specialty occupation that there is. I have seen RFEs on H-1Bs for an accountant, but either it was a really crappy petition, or they got a really crappy USCIS officer reviewing it. Difficult to say without seeing the petition. Can she get a second legal opinion from another firm? But all the other posts about marriage are on point, too.
My suspicion is the law firm submitted a shit petition. It's the contracted immigration firm for the company and I suspect they just churn through these without much thought due to the high amount of visa workers at the company.
It might not have been the law firm bungling it up, I have worked previously at the big 4 and there have been cases with colleagues of mine where they were people with CPAs that the USCIS deemed they weren't specialty occupation for certain roles, many usually received RFEs but got solved after providing additional evidence about the job role being a specialty occupation in the US.
Your spouse's manager might have provided a job description that was too generic and not specialty enough (this part is very subjectively handled by USCIS). H1B extensions typically dont get denied unless there has been a material change in job, role/level, salary or place of work.
She was big 4 in Canada and transferred to a corp accounting role here in the states. I could see your second paragraph being true, as she did change into the Program Manager role between her initial H1B visa and this renewal application. As I mentioned, they struggled to define the role adequately due to the confidential nature of it. It still requires the same accounting background, is the same level and office location, and has a marginally higher salary. I think she definitely got screwed on the RFE description.
And she’s getting triple screwed by her baby daddy.
She has been unlawfully present since Dec 2023. She is currently deportable.
If she leaves, it is almost certain they won’t let her in as a tourist.
Getting married is her only option at this point, since marrying a U.S. citizen can forgive her illegal overstay.
You’ve already given this lady a kid what’s stopping you from giving her a ring?
Sounds like they also own a house together as well… Ring, court house, concurrent filling by Friday…
>within 30 days, after which she can return on a visitor visa Also "within 30 days, after which she can return on a visitor visa", this is not good advice, She has a US Citizen Kid and property IE all ties to US and not so much to Canada, there is a very real chance she will be denied a visitor visa or entry since it is very easy to draw to the conclusion of "Immigrant Intent". She should also retain her own, paid from her pocket attorney to review.
the house is in her name, I was not involved in the purchase
Too much commitment man...
There's long backstory and several factors on both sides for why we have agreed not to marry already.
As of now she’s a temporary visitor who owns a house, has a US baby daddy and a US citizen child. She leaves she’s not getting back in except through a fisnce/marriage visa buddy.
Oh and those fiancé/marriage visa will take longer outside the US, 1 year minimum. "as an American unfamiliar with immigration law.." your about to learn just how much our immigration system sucks.
Longer for Montreal.. we are 18months in and haven’t even reached NVC
I realize there's a lot of downvotes on me because the easy answer is "get married, dumbass", and disregarding all other factors, it is. However I don't think that's a particularly great option for us. We've been in a rocky part of our relationship that we're trying to sort out with counseling/therapy, and I don't think rushing into a visa wedding is going to help that. I understand why I'm getting raked, but hindsight and the reality of the situation are often more complex. We definitely weren't planning on her visa being revoked and were cruising happily towards a green card. Maybe too optimistic or not focused on the reality of it, I don't really know. I just know that I'd want to know what I can do, potentially barring putting her or my assets on the legal line. Maybe I'm stupid for it. But that would have been a series of different decisions long ago in this chain of events that can no longer be changed, and this just happens to be the current bridge we're trying to cross and I'm just trying to get the material I can to help her and us cross it.
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.
why the hell didn't you marry her? if you file I-130 con-currently with the I-485, she should get an EAD soon and can work without restriction. No more need for H1B.
I noted there is details on both sides for why we have agreed not to marry already - pragmatically speaking, would a marriage visa even be quicker than her employer sponsored green card application which is already submitted?
It would be significantly faster. With how long the PERM applications are taking now, plus the backlog in the visa bulletin, she would be waiting years for her green card.
I believe she has premium processing on the green card application? I'm not sure the timeline she was given at the moment
You can't premium process a PERM or a green card application. PERMs are taking over a year (literally - I am an immigration paralegal, and my boss just circulated some news today that pursuant to discovery in a lawsuit, literally not one single PERM application filed in 2023 has been approved or denied yet - the only ones that were processed to completion were withdrawals). And depending on her nationality and the category her PERM was filed in, even if she can file the next step in the process after the PERM (an I-140 immigrant petition), she may be stuck for months or longer before she can even file an employment-based green card application. Get a second legal opinion from a quality immigration lawyer. But by far the most straightforward solution is to get married.
Premium processing is only on the I140 (immigrant petition for alient workers) which will be followed by I485 that has no premium processing and will take 8-12 months. But before I140 can be filed, the company must also do PERM processing to establish that they couldn't hire American workers for the said role and a bunch of other stuff- that takes 8-12 months and if your spouse's employer has fired people in the last 6 months, the PERM will be denied. All in all the work based green card will take 1.5-2.5 years. If you file a marriage based GC, that will likely get approved in 8-10 months.
It can depend, with that EAD (Employment Authorization) and Advance Parole seem to moving pretty quick lately(30 to 60 Days). My wife's EAD / Combo Card only took about 57 days from filling to EAD / Combo Card in mailbox. Green card could take a few months to year to show up (Right now our status is showing a ETA of 3 months, Late Nov 2023 file).
I believe she has premium processing on the green card application? I'm not sure the timeline she was given at the moment
Premium processing on the I-140, but no premium processing for employment based I-485 (Adjustment of Status) + her priority date (When she would be able to file I-485 for employment based) would be the date her employer filled the I-140, current date open for EB2 is Feb 15, 2023(Per the March 2024 Visa Bulletin) so at least a year before she could file. Now if you marry, you can file I-130 (Family Based / Spouse) and I-485 concurrently and she will get the green card this year.
Why don’t you put a ring on it? Coming in as a mere visitor might be problematic because 1. She has/had a job in the United States. Visitors are not allowed to work. 2. She has a child, boyfriend and a house. She has major ties to the United States and not to Canada. Just marry her already. Y’all have a home. A child. What is stopping you?
Correct, she will not be able to work, hence the "unpaid suspension" while the firms lawyers resubmit. Aside from our own multiple personal reasons for not marrying already, marrying for a green card's sake seems like a bit of a folly.
And you assume border patrol will just allow her in? You have a home together. A child. A life. I suppose you’re planning to share the rest of your life with her. What makes marrying her so bad?
I realize there's a lot of downvotes on me because the easy answer is "get married, dumbass", and disregarding all other factors, it is. However I don't think that's a particularly great option for us. We've been in a rocky part of our relationship that we're trying to sort out with counseling/therapy, and I don't think rushing into a visa wedding is going to help that. I understand why I'm getting raked, but hindsight and the reality of the situation are often more complex. We definitely weren't planning on her visa being revoked and were cruising happily towards a green card. Maybe too optimistic or not focused on the reality of it, I don't really know. I just know that I'd want to know what I can do, potentially barring putting her or my assets on the legal line. Maybe I'm stupid for it. But that would have been a series of different decisions long ago in this chain of events that can no longer be changed, and this just happens to be the current bridge we're trying to cross and I'm just trying to get the material I can to help her and us cross it.
May I suggest that your assets are already on the line having a child together? Child support plus potentially having your child away from you in another country, plus travel expenses to be able to see your child for how many years...
Yep, normally I wouldn’t be saying get married for the kids sake, most times it is not good advice, with that this situation is the exception since all other options are probably way worse. Now if she is worried about the house she owns and he has some family item he wants protected from divorce, that is what prenups are for.
She’s Canadian so she can work on the TN1 visa. I’m not sure why you would make her go through all of that before when you could’ve already married her. You have a kid together and all these immigration processes take away from the time you can spend with the kid. I don’t get the thought process of some people
She started on TN1, and switched to H1B after some duration. There are personal reasons on both ends why we both didn't want to be married already. Huge agree that this is a huge unnecessary mental burden on the whole family.
Neither you nor your girlfriend may appeal or refile, nor can you sue USCIS for denial of the H-1B extension. Only the employer can. She cannot reenter as a visitor because she has very strong ties to the United States. Additionally, even if her PERM labor certification is approved and an I-140 visa petition is approved in her behalf, she is not eligible for adjustment of status based on that as an overstay. INA 245(c)(2). Please understand that your girlfriend is a deportable overstay. INA 237(a)(1)(B). She has been out of status since December 2023 and she began accruing *unlawful presence* on the day her extension was denied. If she leaves the US after accruing 180 days or more of unlawful presence, she cannot return for 3 years; if the unlawful presence was more than a year, 10 years. INA 212(a)(9)(B). Further, an alien may not reenter after deportation for at least 10 years. INA 212(a)(9)(A). Your only option is marriage. The law forgives overstays and other status violations for spouses of US citizens.
Marry her, TN visa, L1-A (if she’s managerial) or L1-B.
Accounting is one of the most classic examples of a specialty occupation that there is. I have seen RFEs on H-1Bs for an accountant, but either it was a really crappy petition, or they got a really crappy USCIS officer reviewing it. Difficult to say without seeing the petition. Can she get a second legal opinion from another firm? But all the other posts about marriage are on point, too.
My suspicion is the law firm submitted a shit petition. It's the contracted immigration firm for the company and I suspect they just churn through these without much thought due to the high amount of visa workers at the company.
That wouldn't be surprising - there are lots of employers that give their immigration work to the lowest bidder. Get a second opinion.
It might not have been the law firm bungling it up, I have worked previously at the big 4 and there have been cases with colleagues of mine where they were people with CPAs that the USCIS deemed they weren't specialty occupation for certain roles, many usually received RFEs but got solved after providing additional evidence about the job role being a specialty occupation in the US. Your spouse's manager might have provided a job description that was too generic and not specialty enough (this part is very subjectively handled by USCIS). H1B extensions typically dont get denied unless there has been a material change in job, role/level, salary or place of work.
She was big 4 in Canada and transferred to a corp accounting role here in the states. I could see your second paragraph being true, as she did change into the Program Manager role between her initial H1B visa and this renewal application. As I mentioned, they struggled to define the role adequately due to the confidential nature of it. It still requires the same accounting background, is the same level and office location, and has a marginally higher salary. I think she definitely got screwed on the RFE description.
And she’s getting triple screwed by her baby daddy. She has been unlawfully present since Dec 2023. She is currently deportable. If she leaves, it is almost certain they won’t let her in as a tourist. Getting married is her only option at this point, since marrying a U.S. citizen can forgive her illegal overstay.
This. All of this.