Hi folks,
I’d like to share my journey of coming to the U.S., hoping it might be helpful or inspiring for those of you going through the same process, especially with the upcoming H-1B lottery season!
I came to the U.S. in 2012 and attended a top 5 university, majoring in Computer Science. Fortunately, I secured a job before graduating with my master’s degree. Like many others pursuing the American Dream, I asked my company to sponsor me for the H-1B lottery before I graduated. At the time, my company had a policy: they would only start the green card process if I first secured an H-1B visa.
Looking back, I sometimes feel a little bit regretful－what if I came to the U.S. earlier in 2009 or 2010? Between 2010 and 2013, the economy was terrible, and there were no lotteries in these 4 years. But by the time I graduated in 2014, the H-1B selection process was once again lottery-based, with a 50-60% chance of getting selected, still much higher than today.
I didn’t get selected in my first three attempts, so I came across all the alternatives for my backup plan. I discussed with my company whether they could start my green card process instead of waiting indefinitely for an H-1B. After a lot of preparation and convincing, they agreed! (If you’re interested in how I persuaded my company and what documents I used, give me an upvote!!!I’d be happy to write a separate post about it.)
Even after all that effort, I still didn’t get selected in my fourth lottery attempt. To maintain my legal status, I enrolled in a Day 1 CPT school (a whole different story, especially when explaining it to my company!) Below is the timeline of my journey fyr:
- Mar 2014 – 1st H-1B lottery attempt (Not selected)
- May 2014 – Graduated, received OPT EAD card, started my full-time job
- Mar 2015 – 2nd H-1B lottery attempt (Not selected)
- Feb 2015 – Applied for STEM OPT extension
- Jun 2015 – Received STEM OPT extension EAD card
- Mar 2016 – 3rd H-1B lottery attempt (Not selected)
- Apr 2016 – Started exploring alternative options, preparing proof and documents to convince my company to support a green card application
- May 2016 – Presented my case to my company (2 follow-ups in May and June)
- Jul 2016 – PWD filed
- Sep 2016 – PWD issued
- Nov 2016 – PERM filed
- Mar 2017 – 4th H-1B lottery attempt (Not selected)
- Apr 2017 – PERM certified
- May 2017 – Transferred SEVIS to a Day 1 CPT school
- Jun 2017 – I-140 filed
- Mar 2018 – I-140 approved + 5th H-1B lottery attempt (Selected!)
- May 2018 – Filed H-1B petition (if your OPT hasn’t expired, it will automatically extend)
- Aug 2018 – H-1B approved
- Oct 2018 – H-1B activated, withdrew from Day 1 CPT school
- Oct 2024 – Extended my H-1B
Though I am still waiting to file my I-485 (my lawyer estimates I might need another five years based on the USCIS processing timeline 
), I feel lucky and grateful for the kindness I’ve received along the way in pursuing my American Dream. Keep going, and don’t lose hope!