My Green Card Journey as an Indian

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 :melting_face:), 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!

5 Likes

Thank you for sharing! it is really useful

Very happy for you! I am currently feeling a similar regret about unfortunate timing that you mentioned. You missed the no-lottery H-1B, and I feel I missed the time when there were abundant job opportunities. Hopefully it will work out for me like it did for you!

Thanks for sharing!
I have a question!
Can you change employer during I-140?

Since my Green Card is company-sponsored, it is tied to my employer. You can only switch jobs after 180 days of I-140 approval. If you change jobs within 180 days, your employer has the right to withdraw the I-140. But if you are self-sponsred (NIW), then it doesn’t have too many limitations.