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I agree with the author that the process is absurd, as many of my colleagues have gone through it. But, as far as I understand it, employer sponsorship is not the only path to a green card. One colleague and friend works at a startup, and he is pursuing his green card himself, through an immigration lawyer he hired. It is not cheap - with lawyer fees and all, I believe it's in the $20,000 range - and it requires making the case that you're a top performer in your field.

At the least, if you find yourself in the author's position, consult an immigration lawyer.



I know someone who went down this route; an honors ivy league graduate who chose a smaller, more exciting firm rather than a large stagnant one.

The lawyer didn't raise any concerns based on historical precedence, but immigration had decided to apply their rules with increased strictness: her firm was not large enough and she would have to leave within 3 months, and could not re-apply for 6.

Good use of $20k.


That top performer category is hard to get. It's for world class people, like professional athletes, world renown artists, or Nobel Prize winners.


It is hard to get, but I don't think you need to be literally a Nobel Prize winner: http://www.curranberger.com/eb1_niw/eb-1a-frequently-asked-q...

I believe it's the category my colleagues have gone for, but meeting 3-5 items in that list comes as a result of graduating from a PhD program.




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