I am a H-1B visa holder(work visa) and my family holds H4 visa(dependent visa). So, what is the minimum and maximum period to process a green card after applying for it specifically?
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It depends on which center would be processing your forms. Los Angeles as of today (28 Mar 2016), says last August while Washington DC says last May and a change of status. See this site.– mkennedyCommented Mar 28, 2016 at 15:34
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Are you familiar with the concept of "priority date" and is yours current?– littleadvCommented Mar 28, 2016 at 20:06
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1 Answer
Between 1 and 15 years
It depends on number of factors:
- if your employer is paying for premium processing
- if your application is subject to additional auditing
- your nationality
- green card preference class
There are 3 phases
Labor Certification (aka PERM)
- Preparation by attorneys (including getting papers translated if necessary etc). A couple of months.
- Recruitment Period (as in your company posts offer to demonstrate that they can't find US resident for the position) — minimum of 90 days
- Processing by Department of Labor — 6-8 months
- (if unlucky) Additional DoL audit — 10-12 months
I-140 Immigration Visa Petition
- Preparation by attorneys — couple of days / weeks
USCIS processing queue depending on country of origin and Green Card preference class (EB-2, EB-3 etc).
- can be checked in Dept. of State's Visa Bulletin
- as of now:
- India — 7-11 years
- China (mainland) — 1-8 years
- Philippines — up to 6 years
- all other countries — no wait
Processing by USCIS:
- 4-6 months regular
- 1-15 days premium
I-485 Adjustment of Status
- Preparation by attorneys — couple of weeks
- USCIS decision — 4-8 months
- EAD: 90 days
- AP: 90 days (I have no idea if EAD and AP can be filed at same time)
I-140 & I-485 can be filed in parallel
