Yay! I can not believe it took only 10 months to get my green card. We moved to the USA in March 2021 on an L1A visa which is a temporary work visa. In this post I am going to summarise the green card journey for me, including the timelines.
As of May 2023, Anton’s GC has not been approved yet, he is waiting on a date for his interview.
My L1A to EB1C green card journey timeline….
March 2021
Arrived in the USA from UK
on an L1A Visa. This is a non-immigrant, temporary visa that would allows us to work in the USA for 3 years. I must stay working for the company that sponsored this visa.
July 2021
Started working on the paperwork
Met with the immigration attorney who explained the process, the various forms that needed filing, expected timelines and what evidence we needed to pull together. The immigration attorney really stressed the importance of getting the petition evidence right to avoid an RFE (request for evidence).
July 2022
Biometrics appointment
We had fingerprints and pictures taken.
September 2022
Green card in hand!
Physical green card arrived.
I have said this before a green card is not citizenship. A green card gives you legal permanent residence. The main differences is that you can not vote and if you were ever in trouble with the law they could deport you and revoke the green card. Think of it as conditional residency.
Going from a green card to citizenship is possible after 5 years of continual residency. This is something we may consider in the future.
That’s it for my green card, journey. All I can say it is what really very easy and can not believe it only took 10 month! I am very happy to have the green card, a sense of relief. I will feel even better once Ant gets his.
If you have any questions about this journey, post in the comments below.
