DCF and Job offer

[Elisaz.91 0]

Hi! 

I am an Italian citizen living in Germany.

My husband is an American citizen. We got married December 2018 in Italy, he moved to Germany with me, where he got a Residence Card (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) through marriage, in January 2019. We wanted to live in Germany but things happened and we decided to move to the US. We have been filing I-130 in Frankfurt on May 20, 2019. By now, he has been a resident of Germany for the required 6 months for him to apply for me in Germany.

The 90 days have gone, we wrote the consulate  and they told us our request is still pending, they are taking longer cause short of staff and we will receive an answer in max.30 days. So we expect an answer by mid September.

 

Meanwhile, my husband got a job offer. Yesterday, completely unexpected, I got contacted by I company I was in touch with (with no job purpose) who thought about me for a job. They really would want to give me a job and would be willing, they say, to start an expedite work visa process for me to be there within 2 months to start working. They have to put together an offer in the next 3/5 days and then I'll have a few days to accept. 

 

Here my question: I know that it is not possible to have an EAD while applying DCF. How should one behave in this case?

The two options i thought of:.

1) withdraw the DCF petition, go throw work visa and have legal entry with that, and once there file again as AOF.

2) Write the consulate in Frankfurt, explain the situation and inquire the possibility of expediting the Marriage Based green card.

 

Or is there any other possibilities? I assume the company has contacts of an immigration lawyer, but I wanted to have ideas as clear as possible!

 

To be clear, I was not seeking job (I still have to discuss my PhD thesis in Germany and had no intention of applying for a job starting in the coming months) but the company looks very interested in me.

 

Thank you very much!

[designguy 1,179]

On 8/20/2019 at 10:42 AM, Elisaz.91 said:

Meanwhile, my husband got a job offer. Yesterday, completely unexpected, I got contacted by I company I was in touch with (with no job purpose) who thought about me for a job. They really would want to give me a job and would be willing, they say, to start an expedite work visa process for me to be there within 2 months to start working. They have to put together an offer in the next 3/5 days and then I'll have a few days to accept. 

 

Here my question: I know that it is not possible to have an EAD while applying DCF. How should one behave in this case?

The two options i thought of:.

1) withdraw the DCF petition, go throw work visa and have legal entry with that, and once there file again as AOF.

2) Write the consulate in Frankfurt, explain the situation and inquire the possibility of expediting the Marriage Based green card.

 

Or is there any other possibilities? I assume the company has contacts of an immigration lawyer, but I wanted to have ideas as clear as possible!

 

To be clear, I was not seeking job (I still have to discuss my PhD thesis in Germany and had no intention of applying for a job starting in the coming months) but the company looks very interested in m

Don't withdraw your petition! Unfortunately there is no such thing as an "expedite work visa". The options on the work visa side for you would be:

1. H1B - these are capped and there is a lottery that happens around April I believe and you can start working the following october.
2. EB - These are capped as well and there is no way to expedite. The employer must apply for a PERM to show they were not able to find a qualified american. There is no way to expedite these and they take at minimum a year
3. L-1  If you are already working for the company in a managerial and they have offices in both the US and abroad you can apply for an L-1 intracompany transfer (but i don't believe that is the case for you)

You can definitely write the consulate and ask however i think there is a 99.9% chance your request will be denied as having a pending job offer is not a legitimate reason to expedite. (in the eyes of the state department). I think your best bet is to go down the I-130 path.There is just no way to get a work visa within the next 2 months. Optimistically it would take you a year.

 

I am currently in the last stage of the EB3 process so if you have any questions on that let me know and Good Luck

[aaron2020 11,651]

Stick with the I-130.

 

If the work visa is a non-immigrant visa that does not allow for dual intent.  With the I-130, you have shown immigrant intent.  The work visa could be denied for immigrant intent.  

 

Be careful.  

[Boiler 43,790]

Wonder which work visa it is?

[US-UK 32]

6 hours ago, designguy said:

Unfortunately there is no such thing as an "expedite work visa". The options on the work visa side for you would be:

1. H1B - these are capped and there is a lottery that happens around April I believe and you can start working the following october.
2. EB - These are capped as well and there is no way to expedite. The employer must apply for a PERM to show they were not able to find a qualified american. There is no way to expedite these and they take at minimum a year
3. L-1  If you are already working for the company in a managerial and they have offices in both the US and abroad you can apply for an L-1 intracompany transfer (but i don't believe that is the case for you)

 

The advice will depend on the details of your situation and qualification but for clarity, an O1 visa is dual intent and can be done quickly through premium processing. EB1 green cards can also be done with premium and do not require PERM. Neither one took a year. Our EB1from Europe was approved and interviewed and passport picked up within 6 weeks.

[designguy 1,179]

17 minutes ago, US-UK said:

The advice will depend on the details of your situation and qualification but for clarity, an O1 visa is dual intent and can be done quickly through premium processing. EB1 green cards can also be done with premium and do not require PERM. Neither one took a year. Our EB1from Europe was approved and interviewed and passport picked up within 6 weeks.

You were able to compile all the evidence, submit that application and go through consular processing within 6 weeks? That would seem pretty quick to me. Also EB1 are currently retrogressed for ROW to October 1, 2017 with no expectation of becoming current in the short term so its not an option in the short term. Your suggestion on the O1 is good it just would depend on if the OP would qualify? Ive heard the instances of RFEs for the Os have gone up considerably lengthening the processing times. Maybe she can provide some clarity into her professional background?

[Boiler 43,790]

OP posted and ran.

[US-UK 32]

01 definitely depends on qualification. We were confident my partner met the standard, but the OP may not qualify or, if close, shouldn’t take time / risk to ‘test the waters.’  Application to visa was 6 weeks in 2017 for us and continues to be quick for my colleagues filing in 2019. (The same can’t be said for people coming over to my office on L1 or seeking EAD renewals. We’ve actually put quite a few people on leave and had to send a few back home in recent months.)

 

Yes, it can take time to gather the letters for 01 depending on how responsive and experienced your people are. Ours were close colleagues in academia, NGOs and former US government officials who were familiar with the process and importance of reverting materials quickly. The rest of the documentation was already up to date and available for CVs or for previous visas and residency permits. Also, our outside immigration counsel was fantastic and responsive, and the CEO, GC and HR for the company were wonderful about supporting/reassuring us in the background. I think, generally the key is to be prepared and organized (we took about 3 weeks to get the materials prepped), and of course hire extremely experienced counsel to avoid RFEs.

 

Clearly we got very lucky by filing for the green card in 2018 as everything was current and it was only a few month wait for our ‘number’ to come up after the 15 minute interview.

[designguy 1,179]

18 minutes ago, US-UK said:

01 definitely depends on qualification. We were confident my partner met the standard, but the OP may not qualify or, if close, shouldn’t take time / risk to ‘test the waters.’  Application to visa was 6 weeks in 2017 for us and continues to be quick for my colleagues filing in 2019. (The same can’t be said for people coming over to my office on L1 or seeking EAD renewals. We’ve actually put quite a few people on leave and had to send a few back home in recent months.)

 

Yes, it can take time to gather the letters for 01 depending on how responsive and experienced your people are. Ours were close colleagues in academia, NGOs and former US government officials who were familiar with the process and importance of reverting materials quickly. The rest of the documentation was already up to date and available for CVs or for previous visas and residency permits. Also, our outside immigration counsel was fantastic and responsive, and the CEO, GC and HR for the company were wonderful about supporting/reassuring us in the background. I think, generally the key is to be prepared and organized (we took about 3 weeks to get the materials prepped), and of course hire extremely experienced counsel to avoid RFEs.

 

Clearly we got very lucky by filing for the green card in 2018 as everything was current and it was only a few month wait for our ‘number’ to come up after the 15 minute interview.

Did you do an AOS or consular processing?

[Elisaz.91 0]

Thanks for the many answers.

 

The job requires a native Italian speaker and they told me they couldn't find any also qualified for the specific job. That would be the only element, given that besides that it is not a highly skilled job or so.

 

While talking they mentioned "expedite work visa" but didn't go into specifics yet.

 

 

I will be talking to them tomorrow again, and hopefully they did more research into what it means for them to request a work visa for someone who already has applied for a green card... 

 

In general, I see that it is more risky than fruitful - and that it does anyway make more sense to wait for the DCF to work...

Edited August 23, 2019 by Elisaz.91

[designguy 1,179]

1 minute ago, Elisaz.91 said:

Thanks for the many answers.

 

The job requires a native Italian speaker and they told me they couldn't find any also qualified for the specific job. That would be the only element, given that besides that it is not a highly skilled job or so.

 

While talking they mentioned "expedite work visa" but didn't go into specifics yet.

Did you look at the O1 or EB1 requirements? If you don't qualify then there is no work visa option that will get you to the US in under a year unfortunately.

[Boiler 43,790]

Odd, there are lots of Italians in the US.

 

Intrigued as to what they have in mind, please let us know, does sort of sound that they are clueless. 

 

 

[Elisaz.91 0]

1 hour ago, designguy said:

Did you look at the O1 or EB1 requirements? If you don't qualify then there is no work visa option that will get you to the US in under a year unfortunately.

I don't fit in those, or better, for sure not for the position the job would be. I do have a PhD and so on, but the kind of position they want to put me in would not need that kind of requirements. 

 

 

45 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Odd, there are lots of Italians in the US.

 

Intrigued as to what they have in mind, please let us know, does sort of sound that they are clueless. 

 

 

Yes, I do think when the boss mentioned the visa probably did not previously make enough researches. I'll let you know! I think if they want to hire me they probably just have to wait the DCF, which makes even better sense to me.

[designguy 1,179]

Just now, Elisaz.91 said:

Yes, I do think when the boss mentioned the visa probably did not previously make enough researches. I'll let you know! I think if they want to hire me they probably just have to wait the DCF, which makes even better sense to me.

Maybe you can work remotely till then?

[Elisaz.91 0]

Just now, designguy said:

Maybe you can work remotely till then?

No, it is a teaching position, so that doesn't work... But it's ok! Honestly I'd rather have a green card sooner than having to go through AOS after all the waiting already for DCF ...