Anyone have experience with trying to get someone a Green Card?

[joeybee12]

A friend in the Czech Republic is interested in coming over here for a few years. He wouldn't be able to get a job with his company, and then use an Hb1 visa. I can't seem to get to the State Department web site to research this--is this another sign of Condo-liar's incompetence?

Anyway, I assume with a Green Card he could work here for a bit. Am I correct? Again, anyone know more about the process? Hard? Worth ursigin, or an endless nightmare?

[Squeech]

1. Yeah, but

he can't cut any corners, he'll have to do everything by the numbers.

Unless someone's willing to marry him, and that presents whole new challenges.

[kick-ass-bob]

2. I thought a green card meant you could stay permanently.

No?

[ceile]

5. No

Depending on the country of origin, a greencard can be good for up to 10 years (if you're from Ireland, for example). You can get the card renewed in the future (could be wrong about that), or apply for citizenship.

[Goldmund]

9. It does mean you can stay here permanently.

You just have to renew it every 10 years, which is a formality, like you have to renew your passport.

[NoSheep]

3. I know a South African woman who moved here-had to have a

sponsor (basically a job and a boss that would say she was necessary) and it took her more than 6 yrs and lots of money to lawyers (who often seemed to put her case on the back burner) before she got hers. She is a computer programmer for Alcoa with 2 children. One has special needs. What I'm saying is, even for the talented and needy, it can be difficult. Get married? No problem. But you have to live together for a while.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. Good luck.

Incredibly hard. We have family friends from Italy that we tried to get over here - no such luck, even with a specific job and a sponsor.

[Goldmund]

6. I've done it.

Basically, you have to do one of the following:

1) Get married;
2) Get a sponsor; or
3) Claim refugee status and seek asylum.

However, he doesn't necessarily need a green card to stay here for a few years. Anybody can come for a few months on a tourist visa; then, while he's here he can look around and see if he can find an employer willing to sponsor him not necessarily for a green card, but at least for an H or a J visa. He can also enroll in a school and seek and F visa, which can then be used to obtain a work permit... The catch is, it's only valid while you're in school.

[joeybee12]

8. Can I be a sponsor? I mean, can it be a person, or does it have to be

an employer?

Thanks!

[Goldmund]

10. It has to be an employer.

You can only sponsor tourists as an individual.

[joeybee12]

14. Thanks--say he got a visa just for a visit, and then decided to enroll

in school here--is that feasible?

[Goldmund]

19. Yes

But he would have to seek an entirely new visa (F), from outside the US borders. He could decide to enroll right now, from Chech Republic -- him visiting here wouldn't make a difference.

[joeybee12]

22. Thanks--that might be the easiest way...

[Modem Butterfly]

13. The F-1 Visa is good for a year after graduation

The student visa, F-1 (used for practical training) is good for one year after graduation. FYI.

[Goldmund]

15. My bad, sorry

I got my green card right after college, so I didn't experience that per se.

[Modem Butterfly]

23. Good for you

Getting a Green Card is really an individual experience. That's why I want to stress to everyone who's considering this for themselves or their friends to GET A COMPETENT IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY!

[Goldmund]

24. I did it without one,

since I couldn't afford one.

But the amount of grief I went through is absolutely staggering. They lost my papers literally 4 times, they sent me wrong paperwork, etc, etc. Whenever I went to their office I witnessed similar incidents with other immigrants, and they all took it on the chin and just re-applied, danced like puppies or whatever they wanted them to do (because these assholes literally hold your life in their hands, since most people who're applying for a green card have been in the US for years and have established a life here). So I did that too, until one day I came to see why I hadn't been invited to my interview, and they nonchalantly told me that they sent the notice for that interview to an old address of mine (which I had changed with the INS), and that I missed my interview and would have to start from scratch... At that point, I threw the papers back in their faces and did a 2-minute rant at the top of my lungs. I just figured I had nothing to lose, they had it in for me, I was fucked, so I just vented. This was in a room full of immigrants... Needless to say, everybody was shocked. There was a 10-second stunned silence, after which they told me that they would look for my address-change form, and that I should come back the next day. The next day I went back, walked in, they took my picture and gave me my green card. Without an interview, really.

Later on I applied for citizenship, and got it without any trouble. It was SOOO much easier than getting a green card.

[Modem Butterfly]

7. You have to have a visa before you can get a Green Card in most cases

I have some experience from an employer's point of view. My best advice would be to get a reputable immigration attorney. The green card process can take up to two (or more, in some cases) years to complete. Best to come to the states on a work visa, then apply for legal alien status. JMHO.

[joeybee12]

12. He's had a visa before--he came to visit, and the US requires a

Visa for Czech citizens. Could he try to get that again, and then apply for a permit while he's here? Thanks.

[Modem Butterfly]

16. Not on a tourist visa

But he could find a job with an employer willing to sponsor an H-1b visa. Not an easy task depending on the field, but doable, especially if he's willing to front the costs, which could be a couple grand, IIRC.

[joeybee12]

21. The H-1b seems quite complex from what I've read...

Doesn't sound like there's any easy way...thanks.

[valis]

11. These days it's hard... If he has published a lot of articles and can

argue he's a "brain" the US might want to snatch, then he may have a chance...

[On the Road]

17. Yes, He Could an "Alien of Extraordinary Ability"

My girlfriend got that because she had some papers published. But it was still a trial, and dragged on for quite awhile.

[northzax]

18. you can't

is the simple answer. Without an H1b, or a marriage license (and you must remain married for at least two years, including cohabitation) you basically can't do it.

sorry for the dissapointment, but it takes rounds and rounds of lawyers, and the wait lists are impressive (10-15 years in most places) seriously. I have a friend, british, who's brother is a natural born American citizen. so she is guaranteed her green card, as soon as they get to her application. She filed it in 1998. Her application is due for review in December of 2011.

13 years to get rubber stamped.

your friend should come for graduate school. that's margianally easier.

[Goldmund]

20. "you must remain married for at least two years"

Actually, you must remain married for two years AFTER you get your temporary green card. You can't apply before you're married... So, it's two years + however long it takes them to issue you a temporary green card from the time you apply + the time between getting married and applying.

And the time it takes them to issue a temporary green card can be a millenium. They are the most incompetent bureaucracy I've ever seen.