Question about green card process and travel authorization after being rejected in the H1-B lottery
I’m researching green card options and am reaching out. I currently hold H1B, and my fiancé(e), who works at the same company, was rejected in this year’s H1-B lottery entirely, and their OPT will end this June.
So we’re considering discussing a green card with the company together, and I have a few questions.
If the green card process begins before OPT ends, when might they be able to work again? Is there a possibility of getting an EAD, like H1B holders have, to work temporarily before the green card is issued? And how long would that take?
First, even if someone is rejected in the H-1B lottery, if people who went through the first lottery round have issues with their PWD not being ready or not filed, or are rejected, there can be a second lottery round. You’d need to reapply then, and it could go as far as a third round, so please check until the very end. Also, since the EAD is issued after filing I-485, if you move quickly, this can happen within a year. The fastest path is roughly 8 months for the first PERM stage, followed by premium processing for I-140 and concurrent I-485 filing.