H-1B and DV Green Card lottery results are out. What to do in case you did not win?

With the H-1B lottery results and the DV Green Card lottery results out and in case you applied but were not chosen, let’s think about other options – aside from trying again next year!

For example:

• Look for a cap-exempt H-1B employer;
• If you are a Canadian, Mexican or Australian citizen, get a TN or an E-3 visa if you are eligible;
• Extend your OPT if you are a STEM graduate;
• Go to graduate school on an F-1 visa;
• Have your employer sponsor you for a green card.

In general, to be eligible to apply for a green card, you either must be sponsored by a U.S. citizen relative, U.S. permanent resident, (Family-based immigrant visas) or by a prospective employer (Employment-based immigrant visas) and be
the beneficiary of an approved petition.

Employment-based visas encompass a wide range of situations from the Oscar winning actor to the skilled cook. There are 5 categories of Employment based green cards:

EB-1 for Priority Workers

EB-2 for Professionals holding advanced degrees or persons of exceptional ability

EB-3 for Skilled Workers

EB-4 for Special immigrants

EB-5 for Investors

The first, fourth and fifth category immigrants are exempt from a labor certification requirement, while the majority of second- and third-preference immigrants are not.  In order to obtain a labor certification (PERM), the employer must demonstrate that – despite a good faith effort to find a U.S. worker or permanent resident to fill the job, none was available or qualified and that the employment of the foreign worker will not adversely impact the wages and conditions of employment of similarly placed U.S. workers.

Luckily, the wait times have been getting shorter and shorter and if you are present in the US on another type of working visa (E-1, E-2, H-1B, H-4, J-1, J-2, L-1, L-2, O, P, R, etc.) your employer can sponsor you for a green card, and you will probably get an EAD within 12 months and a green card shortly thereafter.

If you are outside the US, you will have to get your green card abroad, but do not let that stop you. If your US employer is willing to sponsor you for a green card, you will probably enter the US as a permanent resident within 1 to 2 years – unless you were born in India and China.

Unfortunately, for citizens of these countries, there are much longer wait times and Congress has yet to abolish these.