Has anybody managed to get their spouse a work permit through a joint GC application by the employer? Employer will start GC process right away after starting for the whole family. I’ve read that while GC app is pending, spouse can get EAD after about 3 months. Just curious if anybody has done this?
Are you talking h4ead or EAD/AP from greencard? Spousal EAD/AP is issued during the i485 stage and maybe more like 6 months after filing i485 these days though some may be lucky and get it in 3. If you are from a backlogged country it will take many years before you will be able to file i485. If not, it will take a few months to process i140 and then you can file i485 so from the time you start spouse may have EAD about 7 to 9 months later.
Thanks! That’s the info I was looking for. I am from Europe and on O1. So I guess I am looking at EAD/AP. As spouses can’t get an EAD through O3, this seems like a great option.
You are looking at around 18 months before you get EAD for you and your wife. Around 9-12 months for PERM, followed by about a month for I-140 (if you file in premium category) followed by I-485, EAD,AP which will take another 4-6 months.
That timeline seems a lot longer than what I have heard and what I have seen in this thread. I am moving over on an O1 so wife got O3. Employer is filing for GC on day 1 for both of us. Are you saying that for her to get an EAD it’ll take 18 months? We are not from backlogged countries.
Do you need to file PERM with DOL on O1 visa? If yes, timeline would be around what I mentioned. If you don’t need to file PERM, then you can cut the first 9-12 months of the process.
Many people did that. I think it takes roughly 6-8 months from very start to getting EAD (for both you and your spouse)