I am a US graduate and is applying for H-1 this year. Can anyone tell me how long it will take for master's to get greencard... Because i graduated in december 07 and my opt will expire in dec 08 so i heard that it will take just 6 months to get work permit and if i can get work permit on 6 months why should i apply for H-1. I am planning to apply directly for green card.. So would you please share your experience here...

Your help will be turely appreciate.

i am not sure about MBA, but i know with engineering masters degree, some people have done that.  it will be approved only if your job requires masters degree and your salary matches to that level.  consult lawyer for detail.  not all the jobs that we do requires masters degree, so you need to make sure the position you are working on requires masters degree and while you to the labor, you need to advertise your job stating MBA is required.  hope this helps little bit.  if you are filing now, consult your lawyer, he/she will be more helpful.

Hey Siwani,

The length of time for a green card depends on various factors such as your job, your location, your company, your filing category etc. You will hear of situations where people get there their green cards within a year but that is an exception not a norm. So when you estimate the length of time please consider the norm not exceptions, if not you might be disappointed.

Firstly you need to look at your job function. Did your job posting have a Masters degree or an Undergraduate degree with 5 years experience as a requirement? If so you qualify under the EB2 category for green card filing. This means your process will be quicker than the general category of EB3.

The recruitment process is the first in the list. This differs by company depending how frequently they sponsor candidates for a green card. If your company doesn't sponsor a lot of candidates it will take longer as they have to go through various steps of recruitment. Once this is over they file the PERM labor certification with the department of labor (DOL)

The department of labor uses the job guideline listed by Onet. If your job function in this site has Undergraduate as the minimum requirement, than the probability of an audit is higher. An audit doesn't mean you are in danger of being rejected. Its just a way for the department of labor to understand why your particular job requires more than what they think is required to perform your job. If DOL sees more companies are requiring Masters degree for that job function they will update it (so its a form of quality check for them too.)  As I mentioned above there are various factors. Maybe the department or company you work for is very small and you have other responsibilities even though you title says otherwise. You need to document it. For example, your job title may say Accountant but you perform job functions of an accountant, financial analyst and file taxes for your company. This means you need to have a lot more qualifications than a John Doe who works as an accountant at a large company. Don't worry if you have a good lawyer he/she will prepare the argument with a little guidance (because you know your job best) from you.

The Labor certification process takes about 60-90. Some folks will tell you their labor certification got approved within a week. Again that is an exception not a norm.

Once your Labor is approved you need to file an I-140 and an I-485. Assuming you are under the EB2 category and a Nepali citizen, they can apply for this concurrently. You can apply for an I-140 under premium processing where you pay an extra $1000 and they will guarantee a response (I think its 15 days but don't quote me on it). I personally think its useless because even if you get your I-140 in 15 days you have to wait for a year for I-485. I-140 usually takes about 6 months to process and your I-485 takes a year (under normal circumstances).

So the whole process without an audit under normal circumstances takes about 12-18 months under the EB2 category but if you are lucky you could get your green card between 6-12 months.
 
I would suggest you apply for H1 unless you have lawyer that guarantees you a green card within a year. I am yet to come across one.

Good Luck.

Biggy's response is good enough. If your labor go for audit, it will take more than 4 months. And Audit has been a trend recently. With a Masters Degree in Engineering and Level II wage, DOL audited the case for business necessity.

Thank you so much Biggy Small, *  and aabha_in_us. This was a great help to me . I did not know about the  " it will be approved only if your job requires masters degree and your salary matches to that level". Can you please let me know what is the required salary level to apply under master's degree ?? I dont know about that. Can anyone suggest me about the good layer who can look after it properly....

Hello biggy small,

Great response. It seems like you have enough experience about those kind of things. Could you please give me some suggestion too. I just finished my PHD in physics and currently working in postdoc position. Don't have many publications things like that but my work is recent hot topic. I have to do by my own . Do you have any idea about how long it will take and the way how to apply.

thanks in advance.

Hello Nilopani,

I am not aware of the green card process for PHD candidates but have heard you can apply without any sponsors. I don't want to give you any false information. I researched on green card sponsorship for people with Masters degree because my situation was similar to Siwani's. I wanted to have all the information before talking to my employer and the lawyer. Trust me that investment helped me a lot.
I would definitely suggest you to talk to a lawyer. Please do your initial research on the process and lawyers. Its always good to go through referrals. I apologize for the lack of information. Good Luck.

Biggy small,

Thanks for your nice response.  

Thanks for sharing the information Biggy Small.