I just talked to my director to see if he is willing to put my name in the H1B lottery. He happily agreed but he told me he is clueless about how to go about it. I told him I will prepare some documentation. Can someone guide to some good resources that I can share with him? I don't want to miss anything and want to be ready when March comes. Also should I get a lawyer? Current status: first year of my OPT and have 2.5 years remaining. TC: 85k
Every company has its own ways. So share your company name, someone could let you know the process. Also, check with your internal immigration team on what needs to be done. Usually such activities are outsourced to immigration firms, and they earn based on number of candidates. They will happily guide you
Try to ask this on avvo.com Itās completely free
Basic QnA is free but not the actual filingā¦
That said, Avvo is definitely a good place to start with. Post a question and you will get responses from multiple lawyers. You can pick one from them.
Registering for a lottery doesn't require a lawyer.. They only come in when you get selected and they make application ready for you... Registering is a simple process which takes 5-10 minutes. My director screenshared when he applied for me. But let them know that they will need a immigration lawyer to process once selected
Ping me I can connect you to couple of lawyers who do h1b for companies, I was in similar boat when I started out. So I have those legal contacts
Get a lawyer. They will tell you what to expect and when, the whole process. They will also give a template to fill in. If you are in the bay area, i can give you the lawyer my company uses.
Are the lawyers fees paid by you or by the company?
By the company. I belong to a small company, very few h1 filings, so has seen up close to what is needed/required.
Work with a good law firm. Also register for Murthy updates and signup for trackitt
How can we track it?
I saw someone who directly applied for a greencard without having h1b as he was the first one just like you.
I am Indian, so green card is out of the picture. Unless I am missing something? If the company applies for my PERM, will I get to stay here even if it takes 150 years?
The PERM process will be slightly different from others - maybe higher priority process. Of course you better to search about it because I had 0 idea how someone can apply PERM without going through h1b. Most of time you get work permit while processing PERM and I think it is transfferable at some point like after passing a certain process.
I was in same boat few years back I can help you out, you can DM
Youāll need lots of stuff - I saw what my lawyers put together. I dont think youāll know how to handle the information from the documents, but you would easily gather all the information needed to create those submission files. I suggest a lawyer šÆ I dont imagine lawyer fees would cost you more than 3k, if you win you might have to pay another 2.5k if I remember forrectly
Is the lawyer fees paid by you or by the company?
By the company..
your company should have a law firm that helps with immigration. Hope the costs dont change your Directorās mind
They don't. I am the first immigrant that's working in this company.
Just curious how expensive it is. I read somewhere that it costs 31,800 for a new application. Is it true?