Canadian citizen dentist in US : H1B to Green Card, process?

[Ramy012 0]

Hi experts,

 

I am a Canadian citizen - dentist. I am planning on moving to US on a TN visa in a few months. 

I am going to start looking for an employer who will sponsor my TN visa. I would like to apply for a US green card in the near future. 

I would like to understand the process. 

 

1. Employer sponsors my TN visa.

2. Next year by April, employer will apply for H1B before April 5th.

3. Hopefully my H1B will get picked in lottery.

 

My question really comes after this,

As a dentist, can my employer file for my green card in EB1 category?

How long will it take to get my green card via EB1?

If not, what are the other options and processing times.

 

I know and understand that next year things my change. Processing times vary as per Visa processing center, category of Green card filing, etc.

But still approximately? 

Since I am Canadian citizen, I was reading somewhere it is 4 to 6 years...

 

Thanks in advance! 

[SalishSea 17,928]

Are you licensed to practice in the US state where you want to work?

[randomstairs 303]

Why EB1? The employer can sponsor you for EB2. You can also self-sponsor for EB2-NIW in some cases. 

[appleblossom 2,688]

Why the H1-B if you'll have a TN by then? I can't see any employer wanting to spend the extra on that when it's not necessary?

 

Not sure an EB1 will work for a dentist, but as above, have a look at EB2. If your employer won't sponsor an immigrant visa (lots are reluctant to, as it cost them a large amount of money and means you can then go and work for anybody else), then you may need to look at EB2 NIW.

 

Good luck.

[Ramy012 0]

6 hours ago, SalishSea said:

Are you licensed to practice in the US state where you want to work?

Yes I am. 

[Ramy012 0]

5 hours ago, randomstairs said:

Why EB1? The employer can sponsor you for EB2. You can also self-sponsor for EB2-NIW in some cases. 

EB1 processing time is  about 1 year 

EB2 processing time is years, now sure how many, Like 4 to 6 years for a Canadian citizen. 

Please correct me if I am wrong. 

 

Thanks. 

[Ramy012 0]

3 hours ago, appleblossom said:

Why the H1-B if you'll have a TN by then? I can't see any employer wanting to spend the extra on that when it's not necessary?

 

Not sure an EB1 will work for a dentist, but as above, have a look at EB2. If your employer won't sponsor an immigrant visa (lots are reluctant to, as it cost them a large amount of money and means you can then go and work for anybody else), then you may need to look at EB2 NIW.

 

Good luck.

TN VISA is for 3 years and it can keep getting extended for 3 years and so on.

But if I went to get a green card in US, I will have to go the H1B route as TN is not a dual intent visa :( 

 

Definitely need to apply for H1B first 

[M+K IL 102]

55 minutes ago, Ramy012 said:

TN VISA is for 3 years and it can keep getting extended for 3 years and so on.

But if I went to get a green card in US, I will have to go the H1B route as TN is not a dual intent visa

 

Definitely need to apply for H1B first 

I've heard you can go straight from TN but it's a gray area. Can confirm my Canadian colleagues and friends normally wait to get H-1B first.

 

There's the advantage that since as you said you can keep renewing TN, you can keep dipping into the H-1B year after year until you get selected - the downside is only IIRC TN gives less time to find another job if you lose it than H-1B?

 

I don't know what the backlog is right now but back in 2016 or so Indonesians and Germans get GC in less than two years total in the EB-2 category, not sure if the queue is longer for Canadians.

 

Good luck!

[igoyougoduke 1,662]

1 hour ago, Ramy012 said:

TN VISA is for 3 years and it can keep getting extended for 3 years and so on.

But if I went to get a green card in US, I will have to go the H1B route as TN is not a dual intent visa

 

Definitely need to apply for H1B first 

what country were you born ? its not the citizen but the birth country that matters

[Ramy012 0]

32 minutes ago, M+K IL said:

I've heard you can go straight from TN but it's a gray area. Can confirm my Canadian colleagues and friends normally wait to get H-1B first.

 

There's the advantage that since as you said you can keep renewing TN, you can keep dipping into the H-1B year after year until you get selected - the downside is only IIRC TN gives less time to find another job if you lose it than H-1B?

 

I don't know what the backlog is right now but back in 2016 or so Indonesians and Germans get GC in less than two years total in the EB-2 category, not sure if the queue is longer for Canadians.

 

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply! 

[Ramy012 0]

8 minutes ago, igoyougoduke said:

what country were you born ? its not the citizen but the birth country that matters

Wow I didnt know that 

That isn't good 

So, it depends on your country of origin, like the country you were born in and not which country you are citizen of? 

I was born in India 

I came to canada when I was 3 years old 

That means it will take me 10 to 15 years on a EB2 category to get a green card  

Correct? 

I don't know if there is any other way for me to get a green card.  

Through marriage yes but I am not doing that...  

[igoyougoduke 1,662]

2 minutes ago, Ramy012 said:

Wow I didnt know that 

That isn't good 

So, it depends on your country of origin, like the country you were born in and not which country you are citizen of? 

I was born in India 

I came to canada when I was 3 years old 

That means it will take me 10 to 15 years on a EB2 category to get a green card  

Correct? 

I don't know if there is any other way for me to get a green card.  

Through marriage yes but I am not doing that...  

Yes birth country is all that matters unless you marry a US citizen where country quota per year has no limits 

[M+K IL 102]

20 minutes ago, igoyougoduke said:

Yes birth country is all that matters unless you marry a US citizen where country quota per year has no limits 

I'm a bit curious about this - say you're born to two Canadian citizens, and have Canadian citizenship from birth, but were born abroad in a country like India or China (where the per-country queue is long).

 

Do you get put in the Canadian queue or the India/China one?

 

(From what I can see USCIS only asks for country of birth and not citizenship at birth)

[appleblossom 2,688]

1 hour ago, Ramy012 said:

TN VISA is for 3 years and it can keep getting extended for 3 years and so on.

But if I went to get a green card in US, I will have to go the H1B route as TN is not a dual intent visa

 

Definitely need to apply for H1B first 

Not necessarily, you could do consular processing rather than AOS. But yes, India will be your country for processing purposes, so a much longer wait - you might want to just apply for EB2 NIW directly from Canada instead and wait it out there?

[igoyougoduke 1,662]

26 minutes ago, M+K IL said:

I'm a bit curious about this - say you're born to two Canadian citizens, and have Canadian citizenship from birth, but were born abroad in a country like India or China (where the per-country queue is long).

 

Do you get put in the Canadian queue or the India/China one?

 

(From what I can see USCIS only asks for country of birth and not citizenship at birth)

what matters is the country you are born in . citizenship is irrelevant.  in this case.. you are in india/china queue