h4 to f1(Phd) to GC: options ? NIW qualify ?

[dream16]

HI Everyone, please share your advices regarding this situation:

My wife is going to do her PHd in "Apparel & Textiles" from US. She will be changing from h4 to f1 visa.

She has a Masters from NIFT - India.

She is currently on h4 visa.

Question 1. What is the track-path from h4 to GC through PHD ? Is J1 involved or required in this ?

Here assumption is that my h1b continues to be in the line in eb3 for years and my wife's h4 to gc path remains independent of what's happening with me.

Start Date: Phd - Jan 2014

Expected: Jan 2018 *worst" case and Jan 2017 "best" case

Question 2: How to check if "Apparel & Textiles" can qualify for "National Interest Waiver" (NIW) ? This link talks about the different docs that have to be shown etc:

http://www.**************.html

3.Is this under Eb1C (self-sponsor) ?

4.In case, this degree doesn't qualify for "NIW", what are her options ?

5. If the university hires her as a "professor or assistant professor", then how do they sponsor ? AS J1 or H1 ? And obviously the university position will require a PHD etc so she will then go on h1b and then eb1 category and same h1b-GC process to get GC ?

6. This is a life-changing decision for us: if she cannot get GC through doing Phd, then there is no sense in wasting 4+ years in a remote countryside snow-land in US and we would rather do another Masters and then go the h1b-eb2 route.

Please advise

[t75]

Getting a university position is a long shot at best. She certainly would not be hired as a "professor" as that is for someone with many years of academic or industrial experience.

I cannot image how someone whose specialty is clothing has a position critical to the national interests.

If the only reason she is going for a PhD is a GC, she needs to rethink her plan. A GC is NEVER guaranteed. A PhD is a lot of work - at least it is in "real" fields.

[JoeF]

A PhD does not automatically qualify somebody for NIW. For NIW, what the person does would have to be in the national interest of the US NIW means National Interest Waiver.)

I don't see her field (which seems to be along the lines of Interior Design) as qualifying for an NIW. It is also pretty hard to get a professor job in that area, in particular in these days of tight state budgets.

If she wants to do the PhD in this field, if she loves it, by all means, she should go ahead, but don't think this will get you a GC earlier.

[dream16]

@JoeF: thank you for your insights, it seems then getting a PHD will be more of a pain

[GcLLC]

@JoeF: thank you for your insights, it seems then getting a PHD will be more of a pain

On the other hand, have you considered the PhD as something she might want to do (independent of the GC prospects)? It might be worth checking if she can get better job prospects with a PhD. Even now, if she gets a job and her employer is willing to sponsor her for a GC, she might be able to apply under EB2. NIW still follows under EB2.

If you are talking about EB1, then provided she finds a suitable job after PhD and the employer is willing to sponsor her, she might qualify for EB1-OR.

One thing I should emphasize: when going for a PhD, the GC should be the least of your concerns. There will be several other challenges!

[dream16]

On the other hand, have you considered the PhD as something she might want to do (independent of the GC prospects)? It might be worth checking if she can get better job prospects with a PhD. Even now, if she gets a job and her employer is willing to sponsor her for a GC, she might be able to apply under EB2. NIW still follows under EB2.

---->>> Well, if she does PHD, our intention is that she must qualify for EB1, even if it's a F1-h1-gc (eb1) route

If you are talking about EB1, then provided she finds a suitable job after PhD and the employer is willing to sponsor her, she might qualify for EB1-OR.

What's OR here ? Is there anything specific she need to do here to qualify for this ? (Apart from the job needing to have her a minimum of phd)

One thing I should emphasize: when going for a PhD, the GC should be the least of your concerns. There will be several other challenges!

----> i know the challenges can be research papers, citations, publishing, funding etc...right ?

[dream16]

So after doing some research here's some hard-conclusions:

1. Getting qualified under "EB-1 Outstanding Researcher (OR) is not easy at all. You need to have presentations/papers/publishing activities/authors in renowned forums/magazines/associations etc. Also to obtain recommendation letters from independent researchers and people to specifically show how my PHD helped them in their business or generation of profits as they used my idea/work. YOu also need to be a member of ASSOCIATIONS (THAT only qualifies you to be a member because of your OUTSTANDING achievements & does not give memberships to any xyz with a MS or Phd)

If somebody can honestly guide us on the amount of work that's specifically carved out for getting an eligibility under the "OR" will be a great help. One way or the other, nothing can substitute the hard-work, persevearance and all the will-grit and endless sleepless nights/hours this PHD will take to accomplish. But at the same time, not every hard-working individual is eligible. Also, reviewing large number of articles is another option.

Eb1-OR applications from good organizations are not denied normally. --> CAN ANYONE ELABORATE ON THIS ?

2. TO be qualified under EB1-OR ===> A person needs to have PHD+3 years of work experience as well ?

3. What is the difference b/w Eb1-OR and Eb1-EA ?

[dream16]

HOw will my degree in phD (Apparel and textiles) qualify for EB1-OR as how to make it qualify for NIW ? Are these two separate things ? Please explain

[rahul412]

HOw will my degree in phD (Apparel and textiles) qualify for EB1-OR as how to make it qualify for NIW ? Are these two separate things ? Please explain

Dude are you doing PhD to get your GC??

[t75]

She needs to consult an attorney specializing in these type of petitions. It is HER decision. Why do YOU not pursue advanced training in your field?

[JoeF]

As I mentioned before, an NIW requires that you can show that the work the person does is in the national interest of the US. For example, if the US would have great economic advantages from the person's work, and the US economy would suffer if the person were somewhere else.

That's rather hard to show in this particular field, unless your wife is on the level of, say, Martha Stewart. In the CS field I am familiar with, somebody like Linus Torvalds, the person who created and manages the Linux operating system, which nowadays is in pretty much every TV, Blue-ray player, network storage device (NAS), all cloud systems, etc. got his GC through NIW.

EB1-OR means OR, i.e., the person would have to be an outstanding researcher. Usually, getting a tenure-track faculty position would indicate that the person is an outstanding researcher, due to the intense competition for tenure-track faculty jobs. Such jobs require outstanding publications, or, for arts-related jobs, acclaimed exhibitions and the like.

[dream16]

As I mentioned before, an NIW requires that you can show that the work the person does is in the national interest of the US. For example, if the US would have great economic advantages from the person's work, and the US economy would suffer if the person were somewhere else.

That's rather hard to show in this particular field, unless your wife is on the level of, say, Martha Stewart. In the CS field I am familiar with, somebody like Linus Torvalds, the person who created and manages the Linux operating system, which nowadays is in pretty much every TV, Blue-ray player, network storage device (NAS), all cloud systems, etc. got his GC through NIW.

EB1-OR means OR, i.e., the person would have to be an outstanding researcher. Usually, getting a tenure-track faculty position would indicate that the person is an outstanding researcher, due to the intense competition for tenure-track faculty jobs. Such jobs require outstanding publications, or, for arts-related jobs, acclaimed exhibitions and the like.

Thank you Joef

Surprisingly other people here have relationship-based confused questions regarding who wants to do it and why and why am i not doing etc. Please guys: we are here to discuss the "REAL q" (not the televised relationship drama that you guys have envisioned happening here: watch some daily soap, as i don't know name of any)

This is not a relationship-forum. It's a visa forum.