Disclaimer: The contents in this web site are only for your information and are not intended to be legal advice. While many of our applicants successfully obtain their I-140 approvals, the information here should not be considered as a guarantee of your green card application outcome.
OPT, H1B and Green Card
Published Feb 5,2015
By GCforPhD
Question
Dear GCforPhD team,
I was very happy to see your website. The information there is very important for people like me to get started. I have a specific question related to my situation. Hopefully you guys have an answer for me.
A brief intro to my background, and some questions during that process.
– I graduated with my PhD from University of ——– in 2012 December. Afterwards I was with the same advisor for another five months (with OPT) until I landed on a job. Now I am a postdoctoral research fellow with ———– University working for the xxxxxx experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory (I am stationed here at BNL). I do hold the authorship for all publications from xxxxxx experiment and I believe I can claim authorship to those papers during my I-140 petition. Am I correct here? I am currently the controls system expert for the entire detector system.
Here is my main question. I am still on OPT (OPT extension) and it will expire next year May. My employer could produce the H1-B for me if needed. Since I wanted to do some adjunct teaching, I thought its best for me to be on OPT until next year or so. However after reading your website, I decided to start the GC procedure. So, do you think that I should obtain H1-B before sending my I-140? Can I apply for GC when I am on OPT?
I’d greatly appreciate your input.
Regards,
Answer
You are correct you can claim that you are an author/contributor to the publications with your name listed.
Generally it is safer to apply for a GC while on a H1B rather than an OPT. However if you feel that during the time your GC is being processed you do not need an OPT extension or do not need to travel then you can apply while on an OPT. If your GC is not approved before OPT expires, you would need to request your employer to apply an H1B for you instead of getting an extension.
I hope this helps.
Best wishes
GCforPhd team
Question
Thanks for the response. That helped. One quick question on your response.
When you say GC is been processed, could that be only the time for I-140 processing or does that time include adjustment of status too? (I.e. I-485 filing)
Thanks, and I will keep in touch for future advice.
Disclaimer: The contents in this web site are only for your information and are not intended to be legal advice. While many of our applicants successfully obtain their I-140 approvals, the information here should not be considered as a guarantee of your green card application outcome.
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