Greencard application question.

Question:

Your website is definitely a great source to apply green  card for phds.

I am just trying to find the right option to get the green card at its earliest time. I want you to just advise me, whether I should go for green card through Phd or thru employer sponsorship.

Coming to my background, I have done my Bachelors in computer science & engineering from JNTU, INDIA and MBA in management of IT from schiller, FL, USA.  I am planning to do another masters as the job market is really low. I would be grateful to you, if you suggest me on the right option ie. Whether to go for phd and apply for green card or work and apply thru employer sponsorship. Also, please let me know how long it takes to get  a green card thru phd including the number of yrs in phd.

I know this is a petty question for you, but  it would be great for me so as to take a right option at this time.

Regards

Answer:

This is a hard question to answer. You should be aware that Phd can take anywhere between 4-7 years. If you have a strong publication record and a justifiable NIW research area you can apply for a green card potentially just before you finish. Add to this couple of years (for NIW applications) or one year if you choose to apply EB1A. So your i-140 petition approval can take 5 years at least. Since you are from India, with the current I-485 processing times, you can expect a GC in 5-8 yrs time. This calculation is only an estimate and much can change in a short time depending on the govt policies.

On the other hand if you were to choose an employer approach, most of the time you only have a choice of NIW or EB2. If the employer decides to sponsor you now, then I-140 approval can be couple of years and 485 approval can be another two years (estimates from current processing times). So you may be able to get a GC in 5 yrs or more. As again a lot can change in this time span.

You can think and decide what best suits you.

Best of luck
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