EB / BB - Green Card Sponsorship (Sr Associate)
Hey guys, any Canadians here who moved from Toronto to NYC on a TN visa and got sponsored for a green card?
How long did the whole process take for you? I’ve heard that some companies start the process pretty quickly, like right after you join. Did you go through H1B first, or did your employer go straight to EB2/EB3?
I spoke to a BB, and they mentioned they could start as early as 6 months but may wait for a year. Would love to hear about your experience and any advice you might have
From my understanding it's hard to go straight from TN to GC because the former is a non-immigrant visa. L1 or H1B would give you the path to EB-3 green card.
Usually, the "trial" time varies. Cases I've seen:
1. Starting GC immediately as soon as you are on L1 or getting an H-1B.
2. Similar to case 1, but they'll have you wait a year or two
3. Waiting for your H-1B / L1 to get close to expiration before starting the green card process. I think this case is just unethical
4. Similar to case 3, they just don't sponsor you a green card, but put you on E2 or TN instead. I've heard some firms are extremely shady when it comes to applying a GC for you. HR said they would, but they never file for the application. This is also extremely unethical.
If the firm actually starts the GC process, it should take 2.5-3.5 years until you get a green card. Some firms I've heard intentionally stall the applications, making their employees wait 6+ years to get a green card. This is basically holding your employees hostage.
I recommend doing your DD extremely carefully before picking an offer, if you have the luxury of having multiple options.
Hope that helps!
E2 is the investor visa doesn’t have anything to do with the employer so they wouldn’t go on e2.
I would not try to apply for green card on TN, you will never get TN again if you show any immigration intent. Usually TN is the back up if you aren’t selected for H1B post OPT for Canadians. At the firm it’s hard to try for H1B if you’ve used up your chances so they usually place you on TN to keep you. Sometimes people lateral to other firms to restart the H1B process again. Not sure exactly if this is right so double check on this.
If you’re on L1 or H1B just start the GC process.
If you applied from Canada as a non mba US MBA or Canadian lateral usually you’re going to do TN. It’s harder to go from TN to H1B.
That’s why the easiest way to do to this is to just go to school in the US. You work on OPT stem and you do TN as a back up if they can’t sponsor you for whatever reason.
This is very helpful, and I’ve heard similar things. From what I understand, the typical path for ANL/ASO roles is through H1B or L1 visas. Do you know if the process is any different for VPs?
Has anyone heard about JPMorgan’s approach specifically? I was told they’ve offered EB2 sponsorship (select cases for Sr Aso) directly from a TN visa, which seems smoother than going through EB3.
Also, if someone is on an H1B, wouldn’t it be harder for a firm to “hold you hostage”? I imagine you could move to another firm that’s willing to sponsor quickly
No you’re allowed to change jobs on H1B, it’s actually easier to do that once you get it. The issue is navigating firms that sponsor H1B or not, as well as knowing if those firms are apprehensive to the GC process or not. What the previous commenter was talking about is the hostage being done to purposely keep you at the firm so you don’t change jobs so you work towards the green card. Some firms don’t do that they just help you right away. That’s why as a Canadian you have to be an impactful professional in the US, and you need your seniors to need to keep you. That means starting BD early as an associate so you can help with execution as a VP - basically going above and beyond the scope of your role. You need to be irreplaceable.
EB2 is an advanced degree employment visa. My girlfriend is looking into that for her PHD. Usually in IB you don’t have advanced degrees like that so it may just be for their quant desks as they may hire PHDs in math for example.
I think it' not just advanced degrees. Most VPs and above actually get it in this criteria. The BB I am talking to mentioned they can apply EB2 for me
It's either advanced degree OR bachelor's degree + 5 yrs of RELEVANT experience.
The only problem with EB2 is that if you get rejected, your TN will be hard to renew because you showed intent to 'immigrate'. In that case, wouldn't it be possible to move to the UK and come back on an L1 to apply for GC?
I think you’re overthinking this holding hostage situation that the other guy mentioned. If you’re good they’re not going to want to risk losing you. The US market is a deeper job market it’s not like Canadian banks which get away with shit that wouldn’t happen down there so don’t worry about that. Usually they’ll want to help you. I’m talking about global banks not bullshit boutiques like Roth MKM or whatever.
I'm that commenter above. Just wanted to add this - I have seen numerous cases where someone gets H-1B, then moves downstream to find a boutique shop that is willing to immediately start green card process on day 1. People sacrifice prestige, career development, and pay for quicker (and probably safer) path to green card. Too many times HR of big firms screw their H-1B employees over by making GC policy vague.
These folks then do an MBA immediately after getting a green card to repivot. Genius strategy if you ask me. The catch is that once you receive the H-1B, you have to move downstream immediately so that you can get a green card early enough to MBA your way back.
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