Many of our sponsors have reported to BDV that they are seeing an increase in clients asking for time off during their year-long commitment to their sponsor.

Please know that in US work culture, it is very rare for employers to grant vacation time during the 1st year of work in an unskilled job.

The EB-3 program is built around the fact that your sponsor has a chronic labor shortage and needs you to fill a spot that is otherwise very difficult to fill. And they need you to fill that spot for 12 consecutive months, full-time, which you have agreed to do, per the BDV contract.

Your sponsor is expecting you to start work as soon as you receive EAD/GC - whichever comes first (and get settled with the help of the Client Services Department). Since your sponsor is expecting you to work a full 12 consecutive months, you should plan your international travel for after your 1-year EB3 commitment.

If you do wish or need to travel for personal reasons, please let us know before you start working so we can tell your sponsor and you can make a quick trip before your hire date.

Otherwise, if you request time off after hire, your sponsor has the right to refuse your vacation request during the one year commitment they are expecting you to fulfill. Plus, your sponsor could terminate you from the job for a long absence, which could jeopardize your immigration case.

As for traveling before you start work, we can approve a trip of 3 weeks or less, but you should not delay starting work more than 2 months from the date of your work authorization. (Make sure you have your I-131 AP first.)

We would rather you delay work by a few weeks before starting work than leave your sponsor for several weeks after starting work.

No, the Sponsor will not be happy for a newly hired candidate to take a leave of absence beyond 1-2 days. And since it is almost never feasible to visit another country and visit with family in just a few days’ time, this is strongly discouraged.

Further, it could be grounds for termination dependent upon the employer's attendance policy. And termination from your sponsor position could jeopardize your immigration processes. You could plan the visit after your work is complete or possibly invite family members here to the US to visit you.

If your Green Card (or travel parole) arrives after you start working, you should not leave the sponsor for an overseas trip because you could lose your job, and this could jeopardize your immigration case. Leaving your sponsor for weeks at a time will also negatively affect their staffing needs, and they may not allow you to return to work after being gone for so long.

Instead, we suggest you could plan the visit after your work is complete or possibly invite family members here to the US to visit you.

See this article for more info on a family emergency.

Finally, check out this article about traveling internationally both before and after starting work.