Immigration Site

Hello everybody in the forum, heres my situation:

BS in Structural Eng. in foreign country
MS e PhD in US Top 12 Structural Engineering Dept. Schools
Civil Professional Engineering license [require job experiences, education, engagement recommendation letters and of course passed exams (3)]
Currently employed by same top 12 SE Dept. as an Assistant Project Scientist step IV.

I have coauthored:
-9 journal articles
-2 book chapters
-2 refereed conference proceedings
-25 other conference proceedings

Im not sure about the times I was cited from others.

I also reviewed 2-3 papers and 1 research proposal.

I have been working since the last 5 years ( 3 of phd and 2 of APS) in the same high visibility project funded by the Department of Transportation (DOT-FRA); the project is about the development of a system to increase safety of US personal and freight transportation. I was co-PI for last 3 amendments of project grants (about 500,000$ total).

For this, I can have strong recommendation letters from government DOT managers (2).

I also collaborated with another project involving security/maintenance of aircrafts, in collaboration with a National Lab, and I could have other recommendation letters (2) from Prof/Researcher working at the N Lab.

My current employer is willing to write a strong recommendation letter as well, but the position (renewed it last june 09) is not permanent, but dependent on funding.

I do not have a permanent job offer, and I dont want to remain tight to my actual job (nor to the academic career) so the only 2 ways are EB1-EA or NIW.

My 8 questions:

1) which one is the best for me? (since member of profession I would think NIW)
2) I think i need to file I-140 and I-485 in both cases; better filing them together or the I-140 first and upon approval, then I-485?
3) what is the average timing of approval/denial of both/ or together ? Better use premium filing but Ive heard it gives you less chances ?
4) while filing, can i still keep my current employment under J-1 academic training (expiring sept. 2010) ?
My purpose would be keeping the actual job til approval of NIW, so..
5) should I also file for EAD or should I wait?
6) if I switch job in the meantime (still using my Academic Training) would that affect the application ? I read about somebody getting RFEs right before the approval, and they changed job so it didnt work (maybe its not my case since i dont need labor certification ?)

7) Also i dont have really clear the stages of the all application: first NIW, then adjust status to permanent (which means receiving the GC ?) and sometime down the line having an EAD for accepting job offers ?
8) I believe the AP form needs to be filed as well, to allow for traveling outside the US while in pending status?

By the way, my home country is Italy.

thanks a million for whoever can clarify these or part of these

Are you from a retrogressed country such as India or China? I was going to answer your questions but knowing this would be more helpful for me to answer.

Sorry I did not mention it; my home country is Italy.

Thanks for reviewing my post.

1) which one is the best for me? (since member of profession I would think NIW)
Both are equally good but NIW is easier to get approval.

2) I think i need to file I-140 and I-485 in both cases; better filing them together or the I-140 first and upon approval, then I-485?
Better apply together because you can save some time. The only thing is you will lose some application money if 1-140 is denied, which is very rare.

3) what is the average timing of approval/denial of both/ or together ? Better use premium filing but Ive heard it gives you less chances ?
Premium processing has nothing to do with lesser chances. So, if you go PP, it takes 15 working days. If you can afford it, I would recommend PP.

4) while filing, can i still keep my current employment under J-1 academic training (expiring sept. 2010) ?
Okay, now you cannot apply for a green card with a J1 visa. You need to get a waiver from your home country. Please read up on this one.

My purpose would be keeping the actual job til approval of NIW, so..

Understood. But you need a waiver. You can keep the job even after you get the waiver. Only that you cannot extend it for one more year. Doing so would negate the waiver and you need a fresh waiver.

5) should I also file for EAD or should I wait?
I assume filing for EAD is part of the I-485, which you will file anyway when filing together with I-140.

6) if I switch job in the meantime (still using my Academic Training) would that affect the application ? I read about somebody getting RFEs right before the approval, and they changed job so it didnt work (maybe its not my case since i dont need labor certification ?)
Job has nothing to do with EB1 and NIW self-petitions. Remember, both these do not require a job for you to be able to apply.

7) Also i dont have really clear the stages of the all application: first NIW, then adjust status to permanent (which means receiving the GC ?) and sometime down the line having an EAD for accepting job offers ?
First approval of I-140. Then getting the EAD, which is part of the I-485 et al. If you apply these together, sometimes you may get the EAD before the I-140 even gets a decision.

8) I believe the AP form needs to be filed as well, to allow for traveling outside the US while in pending status?
AP is also part of the I-485 etc. If you are filing everything together, this will be done with that as well.


Hope these help.