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Hi All,
I am in the process of applying for EB1-C green card and thought I'd say hi for one thing, tell you my story for another, and absorb knowledge while also writing about my experience to date.
I moved to the US from the UK in 2013 under an E2 visa (UK Manager transferring to the US office). We had set up a US incorporated company in 2010. The whole process took about 6 months due to a criminal conviction (shop lifting a CD in 1987, and driving without insurance in 1996) since we gathered more personal commendations etc in order to show eligibility and why the convictions shouldn't preclude obtaining a visa. As it turned out, they weren't really interested in these since one was when I was 17 and the other was a minor 'traffic' violation. The original E2 was for 3 years and was subsequently renewed for 5 years in 2016.
In 2016 I bought a house with my US fiance and in 2018 we were due to get married.
8 weeks before the marriage, I got a phone that because our company had been acquired by a US company the previous year, the E2 status no longer applied to me and I had to leave the US...immediately. The reason for the 'immediately' was because my company promised they could fix the issue and I could return to the US under a different status, but the quicker I was out of the US the better. my fiance and I broke up and we sold the house.
First step was to apply for a travel visa so I could go back to the US and sell the house. This took a couple of months...but same process. File the request, wait for approval...visit the US embassy for interview, obtain B1/B2 visa.
The original plan for the full return was an L1A. In order to be eligible for this, I had to work for the UK company, in the UK for a period of not less than 12 months in the last 3 years (so as above, the sooner I left the US and started working for the UK company, the quicker the 12 months could be reached). Since I had been in the US for 5 years, this meant staying in the UK for at least 12 months and after 12 months had elapsed we could then apply for the L1-A and I could return home to the US. During subsequent conversations about this we discovered that this wasn't going to be possible since the L1A visa requires an office....bricks and mortar...and in the US (California) we work from home. Our immigration lawyers (Ortega Medina) advised that there was an alternative, the EB1-C and work began.
I returned to the US in October 2019 on something called a Special Business Concession Visa (official term is B1 in Lieu of H1) as my company wanted to get me back to the US as quick as possible to get work done. While that was happening we were preparing everything for the I-140. The SBC visa is only valid for a year and expired in September 2020, but my I-94 is valid until march 2021.
I-140 was filed on 28th February 2020 and was approved on 12th September 2020 and sent to NVC on 20th September for visa processing (no idea what that actually means!). Our original plan was to go for consular processing in the UK, but covid hit and travel restrictions have really messed that idea up. So, we are going to go down the Adjustment of Status route. This will be filed on or around 15th December 2020 and we are preparing the paperwork right now.
From what I've read, the EB1-C AoS (I-485) approval timeframe is looooong, but at least I don't have the issue of having to leave the US while it happens. My driving license is valid until 2023 (a colleague in a similar position might struggle since his driving license expires and he wont have the necessary status to renew it). I was hoping to buy a house soon but without a greencard that will be difficult and so I have to wait.
So, that's it. I've just been answering another bunch of questions about assets, bank accounts, credit report etc and emailed it back to our lawyers.
I will keep people updated with what happens, and if anyone has any advice as I wait, please let me know
I am in the process of applying for EB1-C green card and thought I'd say hi for one thing, tell you my story for another, and absorb knowledge while also writing about my experience to date.
I moved to the US from the UK in 2013 under an E2 visa (UK Manager transferring to the US office). We had set up a US incorporated company in 2010. The whole process took about 6 months due to a criminal conviction (shop lifting a CD in 1987, and driving without insurance in 1996) since we gathered more personal commendations etc in order to show eligibility and why the convictions shouldn't preclude obtaining a visa. As it turned out, they weren't really interested in these since one was when I was 17 and the other was a minor 'traffic' violation. The original E2 was for 3 years and was subsequently renewed for 5 years in 2016.
In 2016 I bought a house with my US fiance and in 2018 we were due to get married.
8 weeks before the marriage, I got a phone that because our company had been acquired by a US company the previous year, the E2 status no longer applied to me and I had to leave the US...immediately. The reason for the 'immediately' was because my company promised they could fix the issue and I could return to the US under a different status, but the quicker I was out of the US the better. my fiance and I broke up and we sold the house.
First step was to apply for a travel visa so I could go back to the US and sell the house. This took a couple of months...but same process. File the request, wait for approval...visit the US embassy for interview, obtain B1/B2 visa.
The original plan for the full return was an L1A. In order to be eligible for this, I had to work for the UK company, in the UK for a period of not less than 12 months in the last 3 years (so as above, the sooner I left the US and started working for the UK company, the quicker the 12 months could be reached). Since I had been in the US for 5 years, this meant staying in the UK for at least 12 months and after 12 months had elapsed we could then apply for the L1-A and I could return home to the US. During subsequent conversations about this we discovered that this wasn't going to be possible since the L1A visa requires an office....bricks and mortar...and in the US (California) we work from home. Our immigration lawyers (Ortega Medina) advised that there was an alternative, the EB1-C and work began.
I returned to the US in October 2019 on something called a Special Business Concession Visa (official term is B1 in Lieu of H1) as my company wanted to get me back to the US as quick as possible to get work done. While that was happening we were preparing everything for the I-140. The SBC visa is only valid for a year and expired in September 2020, but my I-94 is valid until march 2021.
I-140 was filed on 28th February 2020 and was approved on 12th September 2020 and sent to NVC on 20th September for visa processing (no idea what that actually means!). Our original plan was to go for consular processing in the UK, but covid hit and travel restrictions have really messed that idea up. So, we are going to go down the Adjustment of Status route. This will be filed on or around 15th December 2020 and we are preparing the paperwork right now.
From what I've read, the EB1-C AoS (I-485) approval timeframe is looooong, but at least I don't have the issue of having to leave the US while it happens. My driving license is valid until 2023 (a colleague in a similar position might struggle since his driving license expires and he wont have the necessary status to renew it). I was hoping to buy a house soon but without a greencard that will be difficult and so I have to wait.
So, that's it. I've just been answering another bunch of questions about assets, bank accounts, credit report etc and emailed it back to our lawyers.
I will keep people updated with what happens, and if anyone has any advice as I wait, please let me know
