H1B/Green Card questions

[grifforama]

Hi,
I am currently working in New York on an L1 visa, with my wife also able to work on her L1B visa.
I am half way through my 3 year assignment with my current company, and am becoming disillusioned with them.
I have had an approach from another company who want to hire me, but this is where my situation becomes confusing.
I am in a lucky position where my skills are desired (I work in the IT field, with a particular Financial trading platform skill set)
So, the new company have indicated that they would try and sort my visa out, but I know from talking to people and hunting the web, that the visas available to me would not allow my wife to work.
The only visa I know that they could potentially get is the H1B, but this does not allow my wife to work (she'd get the H4)
Another one could be the O1, but that also means she cannot work.
She cannot get a visa through her current company, as her job is fairly unskilled, it's a small company, and they would not entertain the idea of getting a visa for her.
The only other option would be, I guess, a green card application on employment.
My guess is that this could take a while.
Do I stick with my current company on the L1 until the new company can guarantee me a new visa WITHOUT being out of status ?
I also do not have a degree, which I thought could go against me when applying for the H1B, although I have been working in the financial sector for 15 years, and so could theoretically be classified as an expert in my field.
It's so disheartening. We desperately want to stay here, but the obstacles against us staying seem to be unsurmountable
Anyone with similar experience ? I'd love to hear from you.

[synthia]

I agree that your best option is to start a green card application. That would mean staying with your current employer if they pay all the expenses. I was told by someone going through the process that if you pay for it all yourself, you can change jobs and the application continues, but if the company is paying and you change jobs, you must start the application all over again.

[Bevdeforges]

Those L class visas are one of the few categories where you can initiate a green card application without having to return to your home country. If you're interested in staying on, get that application in now. Thanks to the changes in fees last year, they got backlogged on processing applications, though I heard that recently they put on more processors. It could take a good year or more for your application to go through but under the circumstances, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Cheers,
Bev

[Rachel_Heath]

If I read this correctly, according to the US Department of State the 140,000 available worldwide green-card openings for employment based requests still has availability for someone on your visa type.

However it can take a considerable amount of time to get the card (it was upwards of 2 years for a spousal GC before 9/11).

The following sites might help:

Visa Bulletin April 2008 and Immigration through Employment.

Also, don't forget the maximum life of a L1B visa is just 5 years and it cannot be renewed without returning back your your mother country for 365 days.