Any company filing new PERMs in this economy?

[maverick80]

Help!!

Is any company filing new PERM applications in this economy? I was told that my current company (a really big one at that) is holding off PERMs indefinitely because we had some layoffs- indefinitely!

My H1 runs out in Oct 2010, and I heard that I have only till end of Nov 2009 (including what I found out is called recapture time) to file.

Now, I found out that my company have do newspaper/online ads for positions to demonstate that they tested the labor market etc etc (all stuff that I heard from the attorney), and I got the impression that she has no idea when they are going to do this and start filing again, and I got something like a best of luck look from her. I am freaked out now.

Any of you out there know if any companies are still filing PERMs? I am on a EB-2 in Software.

Also, if I join a new company, can I file a PERM immediately? Or is it just best of luck to me?

Looks like I have to look into a Canada visa / Australian or UK visa or better go back and spend sometime in India. Any thoughts from any of you more enterprising folks out there? I have little knowledge of the process (my fault!) but I am stressed and freaked now.

[nojoke]

Originally Posted by maverick80

Help!!

Is any company filing new PERM applications in this economy? I was told that my current company (a really big one at that) is holding off PERMs indefinitely because we had some layoffs- indefinitely!

My H1 runs out in Oct 2010, and I heard that I have only till end of Nov 2009 (including what I found out is called recapture time) to file.

Now, I found out that my company have do newspaper/online ads for positions to demonstate that they tested the labor market etc etc (all stuff that I heard from the attorney), and I got the impression that she has no idea when they are going to do this and start filing again, and I got something like a best of luck look from her. I am freaked out now.

Any of you out there know if any companies are still filing PERMs? I am on a EB-2 in Software.

Also, if I join a new company, can I file a PERM immediately? Or is it just best of luck to me?

Looks like I have to look into a Canada visa / Australian or UK visa or better go back and spend sometime in India. Any thoughts from any of you more enterprising folks out there? I have little knowledge of the process (my fault!) but I am stressed and freaked now.

You probably need to find another employer. Big companies will pull back the perm when they start layoffs. I had this experience during the dotcom crash. It took my company 3 years before they started doing the GC again.
Relax and don't get stressed.

[ganguteli]

Originally Posted by maverick80

Help!!

Is any company filing new PERM applications in this economy? I was told that my current company (a really big one at that) is holding off PERMs indefinitely because we had some layoffs- indefinitely!

My H1 runs out in Oct 2010, and I heard that I have only till end of Nov 2009 (including what I found out is called recapture time) to file.

Now, I found out that my company have do newspaper/online ads for positions to demonstate that they tested the labor market etc etc (all stuff that I heard from the attorney), and I got the impression that she has no idea when they are going to do this and start filing again, and I got something like a best of luck look from her. I am freaked out now.

Any of you out there know if any companies are still filing PERMs? I am on a EB-2 in Software.

Also, if I join a new company, can I file a PERM immediately? Or is it just best of luck to me?

Looks like I have to look into a Canada visa / Australian or UK visa or better go back and spend sometime in India. Any thoughts from any of you more enterprising folks out there? I have little knowledge of the process (my fault!) but I am stressed and freaked now.

You are undergoing what a lot of H1Bs go through.
They do not care about greencard on H1B thinking that it will come whenver the company applies until it is too late. They enjoy the first 3 years of H1B enjoying America and dollars and do not bother about IV or advocacy or contributing money to IV. I have seen such people even telling others it is a waste of time and making fun of IV. After 3 years they renew H1B thinking that they still have 3 more years. But once 6 years are about to expire they worry that they will have to leave US of A and the land of opportunities. It is at that time they try to start greencard process and check out IV. These same people then start contributing to IV and take this effort seriously.

You still have time of 1 year and 9 months and that is good enough to get your labor through. Good luck and hope you find help from people here.

[maverick80]

Haha. That is an accurate assessment at a 50-foot level. I was pretty disillusioned after a couple of years of working. A mixture of what the fuck am I doing, but not really knowing what to do, and all confused because I was at probably the biggest firm around and and a feeling of even if I switch, what's the point? And not having the balls to switch jobs, for the fear of throwing away what I had, mixed with personal struggles with life and not having the social life that I wanted.

In between all this, the desire to get the GC process kicked off came and went, esp. since I wanted to switch positions to a more people oriented role, and the feeling of gosh, do I want to stay in 6+ years in this job - maybe if I file, then I won't want to change jobs.

As you can see, even I am not sure what was going on there. But my personal life and acclimatizing has sorted itself out rather well of late, and I do want to stay here now that I have a really interesting life (and partly out of fear of throwing everything away and moving somewhere new).

Now, I know that IV is not a self-help trauma group, so I will cut short my story here, which has little to do with the raw facts of my immigration situation

And yes, I did not participate or know much about the visa process, or IV till recently, and am a recent need based participant, but I hope that does not stop anyone from contributing their ideas to help me out.

*** Also, to the previous poster (nojoke) who said that big companies usually hold off on perms, are you suggesting that I have a better chance at a smaller company then?

UPDATE: My company attorney suggested talking about this in April, and I am nervous about waiting till then in limbo - things are only going bad to worse, I might as well find a job at a place which will sponsor a PERM sooner rather than later.

I request you to PM me if you have any leads for such companies might still be a good bet for filing a PERM.

uhh..damn immigration process..

[nojoke]

Originally Posted by maverick80

Haha. That is an accurate assessment at a 50-foot level. I was pretty disillusioned after a couple of years of working. A mixture of what the fuck am I doing, but not really knowing what to do, and all confused because I was at probably the biggest firm around and and a feeling of even if I switch, what's the point? And not having the balls to switch jobs, for the fear of throwing away what I had, mixed with personal struggles with life and not having the social life that I wanted.

In between all this, the desire to get the GC process kicked off came and went, esp. since I wanted to switch positions to a more people oriented role, and the feeling of gosh, do I want to stay in 6+ years in this job - maybe if I file, then I won't want to change jobs.

As you can see, even I am not sure what was going on there. But my personal life and acclimatizing has sorted itself out rather well of late, and I do want to stay here now that I have a really interesting life (and partly out of fear of throwing everything away and moving somewhere new).

Now, I know that IV is not a self-help trauma group, so I will cut short my story here, which has little to do with the raw facts of my immigration situation

And yes, I did not participate or know much about the visa process, or IV till recently, and am a recent need based participant, but I hope that does not stop anyone from contributing their ideas to help me out.

*** Also, to the previous poster (nojoke) who said that big companies usually hold off on perms, are you suggesting that I have a better chance at a smaller company then?

UPDATE: My company attorney suggested talking about this in April, and I am nervous about waiting till then in limbo - things are only going bad to worse, I might as well find a job at a place which will sponsor a PERM sooner rather than later.

I request you to PM me if you have any leads for such companies might still be a good bet for filing a PERM.

uhh..damn immigration process..

Yes, you may be better of in a smaller private owned companies that will do perm and are in a strong position. This downturn will get worse...Even if you want to wait and see what your attorney has to say in April, you can try to look for other jobs and be ready with options..

[maverick80]

And what exactly is contributing to IV about? I read something about a rally, but I have this feeling that nothing we do or say is gonna what the behemoth yank senator and government thinks, to which we are just numbers, categories and despertate 3rd world replacable units.

[ajp5]

Ganguteli,
If you can help our friend who is stressed, thats great. If you cant, this is no time for "you should have come to us earlier" moment. Ridiculing a guy who has just come to this forum is not going to help you get over your GC frustration.
***
Dont stress out buddy. You might have to make tough decisions..like move back to India, Canada...UK immigrants are going through a tough time...... You still have 9 months to either get your employer to apply Labor or find another job that does.......If you cant..its not the end of the world....Enjoy your time here...start applying in India..... For any other questions do come back to this forum again.....Almost everyone is very helpful, non-judgemental & friendly.

Originally Posted by ganguteli

You are undergoing what a lot of H1Bs go through.
They do not care about greencard on H1B thinking that it will come whenver the company applies until it is too late. They enjoy the first 3 years of H1B enjoying America and dollars and do not bother about IV or advocacy or contributing money to IV. I have seen such people even telling others it is a waste of time and making fun of IV. After 3 years they renew H1B thinking that they still have 3 more years. But once 6 years are about to expire they worry that they will have to leave US of A and the land of opportunities. It is at that time they try to start greencard process and check out IV. These same people then start contributing to IV and take this effort seriously.

You still have time of 1 year and 9 months and that is good enough to get your labor through. Good luck and hope you find help from people here.

[ganguteli]

I would not wait until April to be told by HR, Sorry we cannot do it or we will do it at our own pace. I mean, what is so difficult for HR or attorney to decide in filing your Perm? Do they need to do meetings about you everyday for 2 months to decide if they need to file for you?
Is that how corporates work? Imagine if you are given a project and you tell them to come back and talk after 2 months. Dude your end of H1B countdown has already started and you need to act even if you have a buffer time. I have also heard that if a company has layoffs, the company cannot do PERM for 6 months. So what if some layoffs happen until April? You maybe in a soup.

I suggest you take a hard look and do what is in your best interest. Put your own interest over all interest.

To know about contributions, you can click the second last link on top right. It is a small amount everyone tries to donate to IV so that we can continue to sustain this non-profit organization.

[ganguteli]

Originally Posted by maverick80

UPDATE: My company attorney suggested talking about this in April, and I am nervous about waiting till then in limbo - things are only going bad to worse, I might as well find a job at a place which will sponsor a PERM sooner rather than later.

I request you to PM me if you have any leads for such companies might still be a good bet for filing a PERM.

uhh..damn immigration process..

Maybe your company attorney is busy until April filing for H1B lottery and is busy. That maybe more profit for him. Maybe you should consider getting an attorney yourself to do the greencard process. Someone who can get started ASAP and look after your interests.

[longwait4gc]

Originally Posted by maverick80

UPDATE: My company attorney suggested talking about this in April, and I am nervous about waiting till then in limbo - things are only going bad to worse, I might as well find a job at a place which will sponsor a PERM sooner rather than later.

I request you to PM me if you have any leads for such companies might still be a good bet for filing a PERM.

uhh..damn immigration process..

I was in similar situation last year. This what my attorney told me after layoffs. They have to wait 6 months after layoffs in the company before filing PERM again. The perm filing process in big companies take atleast 2-4 months. So if they are planning to file after 6 months then this is right time to start collecting documents. For this to happen it might need little push from your manager.
If your company is in a situation where they are planning to layoff people continously over the next year(I know one big company which is doing this) then it is better to talk to lawyers right now and decide the course of action because there is no point in waiting until april. If your manager strongly supports your case then some times lawyers can pull off tricks like there are no layoff with this particular skill set or in this division etc..

I dont know of any big company that is hiring. If your resume is hot(has specialized skills) then put it in dice or monster you will always find employer.
You can always switch to consulting and find consulting company which applies for GC right away.

[hopefulgc]

Dude,
Take your company attorney & HR guy(al) out for a $250 lunch and first build a rapport with them. Tell them about what you need & do tell them politely that if they care about you as an employee, they need to get on with your immigration process.

Nothing unethical, illegal or embarrassing about push your point forward.

There are ppl who will tell you that sth like this would never work. time ot prove me wrong!

Its your future. Take charge.

Originally Posted by maverick80

Haha. That is an accurate assessment at a 50-foot level. I was pretty disillusioned after a couple of years of working. A mixture of what the fuck am I doing, but not really knowing what to do, and all confused because I was at probably the biggest firm around and and a feeling of even if I switch, what's the point? And not having the balls to switch jobs, for the fear of throwing away what I had, mixed with personal struggles with life and not having the social life that I wanted.

In between all this, the desire to get the GC process kicked off came and went, esp. since I wanted to switch positions to a more people oriented role, and the feeling of gosh, do I want to stay in 6+ years in this job - maybe if I file, then I won't want to change jobs.

As you can see, even I am not sure what was going on there. But my personal life and acclimatizing has sorted itself out rather well of late, and I do want to stay here now that I have a really interesting life (and partly out of fear of throwing everything away and moving somewhere new).

Now, I know that IV is not a self-help trauma group, so I will cut short my story here, which has little to do with the raw facts of my immigration situation

And yes, I did not participate or know much about the visa process, or IV till recently, and am a recent need based participant, but I hope that does not stop anyone from contributing their ideas to help me out.

*** Also, to the previous poster (nojoke) who said that big companies usually hold off on perms, are you suggesting that I have a better chance at a smaller company then?

UPDATE: My company attorney suggested talking about this in April, and I am nervous about waiting till then in limbo - things are only going bad to worse, I might as well find a job at a place which will sponsor a PERM sooner rather than later.

I request you to PM me if you have any leads for such companies might still be a good bet for filing a PERM.

uhh..damn immigration process..

[pointlesswait]

abbe ghado...
he is a worm...;-)

[maverick80]

Thanks for the perspectives.

Yeah, it's just been a day since I got this news so I am still processing it, talking to friends and colleagues.

I am going to look around for people who are going to file.

Thanks for the advice about taking a lead on things, and also pushing my manager to file it.
And it is true that they are planning more layoffs over the next few months, so I am in the soup if things stay this way. All good ideas, which I am willing to experiment with.

I am also looking at this as a golden opportunity to do something that I wouldn't have done if my GC process was going on - like move somewhere else to a smaller firm or change my job title a bit.

Or travel to Canada or Australia and work/live there for a bit, explore the world, and come back later.