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Comment by drpancake | Hacker News Reader

Interesting read. Does anyone have recent experience in obtaining a Green Card? I'd be interested to know how long it takes on average, transitioning from an H1-B visa.

>Mecca for Software Engineers, the only place in the World where the guy in front at Starbucks has big chance to be Software developer.

I'm a iOS developer and I love software, but this was one of my main reasons for leaving SF.

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Depending on your educational background and working experience, you go into one or another category. Most people here will fit in EB-3, EB-2 and EB-1. If you are in EB-1 you can get it in about a year; in EB-2 you can get it in two years unless you're from China or India; in EB-3 you can probably get it in seven years, unless you're from India.

It depends on a lot of factors. You can get an H1B and renew it once, and each period lasts 3 years. During your H1B, your company can sponsor your Green Card application, which in itself can take anywhere from 5 to 10 years - sometimes longer.

It depends on the E status you can get. If you get sponsored for an E3, forget about it. With an E1 (say, you are the world expert in your field), you can have a green card very quickly. E2 can take a year or two.

The other course, depending on your country of citizenship, is asylum, which enables you to skip the queue and apply for your green card after a year. However, fraud is a big issue and you will eventually get slammed.

I think you mean EB status not E status, which refers to the priority level of the green card application.

I was really confused because an E3 is a visa very similar to a H1-B for Australians and an E1 is a visa for traders from countries that the US has a free trade agreement with.

YES! Early morning brain fart? :-) Thanks for clarifying that.

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