Comment by robbiematthews
15 hours ago
Hi Peter, nice to meet you. I am currently on STEM OPT with expiration being July 2026. What is the best backup path if I don't get the H-1B lottery in the next two years, O-1A or EB-2 or other? Priority date is 1.5 years for EB-2 so would it be advisable to have the company I work for to sponsor this? Thank you!
There's no downside to having your company kick off the green card process now; the process could move fast enough to allow you to stay past July 2026 (although this isn't likely). The standard options are the O-1 (which should be evaluated soon because you have time to build up your O-1 profile now if you need to) and full-time F-1 CPT through a graduate program.