Green Card — PERM Project Tracker
Status: In Progress — Experience Letters Pending Last Updated: 2026-04-11 Immigration Manager: Grace Shin — Grace.Shin@twosigma.com / 646-860-4618 Law Firm: Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP — Lauren Stulmaker (lstulmaker@fragomen.com / 212-891-7589)
Overview
Two Sigma Investments, LP is sponsoring an employment-based green card through the PERM Labor Certification process. The sponsored position is Software Engineer at $170,000/year.
The process consists of three sequential steps:
- Prevailing Wage Request — filed with the Department of Labor; takes approximately 3–6 months. Cannot be initiated until all experience letters are in hand.
- PERM Labor Certification — filed with DOL after prevailing wage approval; currently taking approximately 12–13 months to adjudicate.
- I-140 Immigrant Petition — filed with USCIS after PERM approval; premium processing available (~15 business days for ~$2,500).
Current Immigration Status
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current Status | H-1B |
| Petitioner | Two Sigma Investments, LP |
| H-1B Validity (Current) | October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2026 |
| H-1B Extension | In progress (years 4–6, to approximately September 2029) |
| H-1B Hard Cap | September 2029 — 6-year maximum without an approved I-140 |
| LCA Case Number | I-200-23123-987327 (Certified) |
| H-1B Receipt Number | IOE8136621272 |
| Prior Status | TN (August 2022 – October 2023) |
| Passport | AR167354 — expires January 2033 |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
Note: The I-140 must be approved before September 2029 or further H-1B extensions will not be possible. The PERM and I-140 process together take a minimum of 18–24 months. Experience letters are currently the critical path item.
Timeline
Completed
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2022-08-08 | TN petition filed with USCIS (receipt EAC2229451375) — approved via Vermont Service Center (Gmail thread) |
| 2022-08-11 | Leslie Liu confirms original TN approval notice shipped via FedEx (tracking 777700237701) (Gmail) |
| 2022-08-26 | TN status obtained at Peace Bridge border crossing — I-94 issued, valid to passport expiry October 2023 (Gmail) |
| 2022-08-28 | First day in the United States on TN status |
| 2022-08-29 | Leslie Liu advises: renew passport, then request full 3-year TN extension (Gmail) |
| 2023-01-30 | New Canadian passport obtained (AR167354, valid to January 2033) |
| 2023-03-09 | H-1B registration received by USCIS |
| 2023-03-25 | H-1B registration selected for FY2024 cap — Beneficiary Confirmation: 2024-a223-8535-8634 |
| 2023-05-24 | H-1B cap petition filed via premium processing — sent via FedEx to USCIS Texas Service Center |
| 2023-06-06 | H-1B approved — valid 10/01/2023 to 09/30/2026 (Receipt: IOE8136621272) |
| 2023-10-01 | Status changed to H-1B |
| 2024-09-12 | Grace Shin issues Action Required notice — experience letters required to proceed with green card process (Gmail) |
| 2025-01-07 | immigration@twosigma.com requests documents for case preparation (Gmail) |
| 2025-07-08 | Grace Shin’s email and draft experience letters forwarded to personal Gmail (Gmail) |
| 2025-07-08 | Contacted Anthony Abramski (former SAP colleague) regarding SAP HR contact |
| 2025-07-15 | Anthony Abramski provided sap-alumni.com portal link |
| 2026-03-23 | PERM Experience Letter Guidelines v2 forwarded to personal Gmail (Gmail) |
| 2026-03-23 | Initial email sent to americas.hr@sap.com — bounced; inbox blocked to external senders |
| 2026-03-23 | Called SAP Vancouver office (604-647-8888) — obtained correct HR address: hrdirectamericas@sap.com |
| 2026-03-23 | Email sent to hrdirectamericas@sap.com with attorney draft letter attached (Gmail) |
| 2026-03-23 | Auto-acknowledgment received from SAP People & Culture — 1–2 business day response expected (Gmail) |
| 2026-03-23 | LinkedIn message sent to Stephan Wehner (Owner, The Buckmaster Institute) with attorney draft letter attached |
| 2026-03-23 | Stephan responded asking for end date of employment and timeline needed by |
| 2026-03-23 | Confirmed end date (August 31, 2021) and requested letter within 2 weeks given attorney is moving things along |
| 2026-03-28 | Stephan confirmed he will send the letter — asked if email is okay; confirmed yes, directed to amanschhina@gmail.com |
| 2026-03-26 | SAP HR (Earvin, GlobalHRdirect@sap.com) responded — requested i-number, date of birth, and most recent manager for verification (Ticket: 7006039059) (Gmail) |
| 2026-03-26 | Replied with verification details — i-number: 01897234, DOB: August 24, 1992, Manager: Ryan Wong |
| 2026-03-27 | SAP HR (Earvin) responded — manager approval required before duties/responsibilities can be included in letter (Gmail) |
| 2026-03-28 | Emailed Ryan Wong (r.wong@sap.com) with draft letter attached — requested manager approval of duties |
| 2026-03-28 | Replied to Earvin confirming Ryan has been contacted and approval is pending |
| 2026-03-29 | Received experience letter from Stephan Wehner via email — dated March 30, 2026, covers ML Engineer role 05/01/2021 to 08/31/2021 |
| 2026-03-29 | Thanked Stephan on LinkedIn — letter confirmed received |
| 2026-03-29 | Emailed Grace Shin with Buckmaster letter attached — flagged skills section phrasing difference, noted holding off pending job description confirmation from March 13th conversation, provided SAP ticket update |
| 2026-04-02 | Ryan Wong responded with completed experience letter draft (not on official SAP letterhead) (Gmail) |
| 2026-04-11 | Reviewed Ryan Wong’s letter — two issues flagged: (1) not on official SAP letterhead, (2) skills section lists frontend/web development skills rather than DevOps skills. Holding pending Grace Shin guidance. |
| 2026-04-11 | Thanked Ryan Wong for providing the letter |
| 2026-04-11 | Grace Shin responded — will confirm on “demonstrated knowledge of” language; asked to hold off on SAP letter until new manager confirms any changes to job description/skills requirements |
| 2026-04-11 | Emailed Grace Shin confirming Ryan Wong’s letter received; clarified outreach was initiated before her hold request; attached Ryan’s signed letter for her reference |
Experience Letters Required
1. SAP — DevOps Engineer
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | DevOps Engineer |
| Dates of Employment | 09/07/2021 – 04/29/2022 |
| Status | In Progress — Ryan Wong letter received 2026-04-02; two issues: (1) not on official SAP letterhead, (2) skills section inaccurate. Holding pending Grace Shin guidance before further SAP contact. |
| Primary Contact | GlobalHRdirect@sap.com (Earvin) — Ticket: 7006039059 |
| Manager Contact | Ryan Wong — r.wong@sap.com (responded 2026-04-02) |
| Backup Contact | Anthony Abramski (current SAP employee) — via LinkedIn |
| Attorney Draft | draft-exp-letter - SAP.doc (Grace’s email) |
| Received Letter (not on letterhead) | AmanChhina-exp-letter - SAP.doc (Gmail) |
| Notes | Ryan Wong filled in the attorney draft template and signed it but it is not on official SAP letterhead. The skills section lists frontend/web skills (JavaScript, React, UI/UX) which do not match the DevOps duties described. Both issues need Grace Shin’s assessment before proceeding with SAP HR. |
2. The Buckmaster Institute — Machine Learning Engineer
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Machine Learning Engineer |
| Dates of Employment | 05/01/2021 – 08/31/2021 |
| Status | Complete — letter received 2026-03-29, sent to Grace Shin for review |
| Primary Contact | Stephan Wehner (Owner) — via LinkedIn |
| Attorney Draft | draft-exp-letter - Buckmaster Institute.doc (Grace’s email) |
| Received Letter | Amandeep-Chhina-Machine-Learning-Engineer.docx (Gmail) |
| Notes | Stephan is now a full-time employee elsewhere; Buckmaster operates as a side project. Letter may need to be on his current employer’s letterhead, or notarized on plain paper. This was a 4-month engagement — if unobtainable, notify Grace Shin immediately to assess impact on PERM requirements. |
Projected Timeline
All estimates are based on current DOL and USCIS published processing times as of March 2026. Both agencies update their figures regularly — see the tracking sources below.
| Milestone | Estimated Date | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Experience letters received | April–May 2026 | Dependent on SAP HR and Buckmaster responses |
| Prevailing Wage Request filed | May 2026 | Requires experience letters first |
| Prevailing Wage approved | August–September 2026 | ~3–4 months (DOL, March 2026 data) |
| Recruitment period & PERM prep | September–October 2026 | Minimum 60-day recruitment window required by DOL |
| PERM filed | November 2026 | After recruitment period closes |
| PERM approved | March–April 2028 | ~16.5 months average (DOL reports 503 days as of March 2026) |
| I-140 filed with premium processing | April 2028 | Must be filed within 180 days of PERM certification |
| I-140 approved (premium) | May 2028 | ~15 business days with premium processing ($2,965 fee as of March 2026) |
| H-1B hard cap | September 2029 | 6-year maximum |
| Estimated buffer | ~16 months | Based on above estimates |
Note on PERM audit risk: Approximately 1 in 3 PERM applications is selected for audit. If audited, the case moves to a separate queue — DOL is currently reviewing audited cases filed in June 2025, adding an estimated 3–6 months to the timeline. An audit-proof filing is critical.
Processing Time Tracking Sources
These are the authoritative sources for current processing times. Both are updated regularly and should be checked periodically.
| Source | URL | Update Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| DOL — Prevailing Wage & PERM processing times | https://flag.dol.gov/processingtimes | Monthly |
| USCIS — I-140 and all form processing times | https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times | Weekly |
| USCIS — Case status | https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus | Real-time |
Priority Date — Canadian Chargeability
Key Concept
Canada is not subject to a per-country backlog. Canadians are charged under the “All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed” column in the Visa Bulletin — commonly called Rest of World (ROW). The countries with their own oversubscribed columns are China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines. Canada is not one of them.
This means the priority date situation for Canadians is fundamentally different from Indian or Chinese nationals, who face decade-long waits. For ROW applicants, the wait between I-140 approval and green card issuance is typically measured in months, not years — and can sometimes be immediate.
Your Priority Date
The priority date is established at the PERM filing date — estimated November 2026 based on the current projected timeline. Once established, it does not change.
April 2026 Visa Bulletin — Current Status (ROW)
| Category | Final Action Date (Chart A) | Dates for Filing (Chart B) |
|---|---|---|
| EB-1 ROW | Current | Current |
| EB-2 ROW | Current (jumped from Oct 2024) | Current |
| EB-3 ROW | June 1, 2024 | Current |
For April 2026, USCIS has confirmed applicants should use the Dates for Filing chart for adjustment of status filings.
What This Means for You
EB-2 ROW is current on Final Action Dates as of April 2026 — meaning anyone with an approved I-140 and a ROW priority date from any point in the past can immediately file for adjustment of status. By the time your estimated I-140 approval lands in May 2028, a November 2026 priority date will be well behind the current cutoff under virtually any realistic scenario, meaning the priority date should not be a meaningful bottleneck for your case.
However, this requires an important caveat.
Retrogression Risk
The current favorable state of EB-2 ROW is not driven by reduced demand — it is an artifact of the Trump administration’s immigration restrictions under Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998, which have paused or reduced immigrant visa issuance for nationals of approximately 75 countries. With fewer consular visas being issued abroad, unused numbers have been redirected domestically, artificially advancing priority dates.
The Department of State has explicitly warned in the April 2026 bulletin that retrogression may be necessary later in the fiscal year if demand materializes or if court orders modify the current restrictions. Immigration analysts flag July–August 2026 as the most likely retrogression window for EB-2 and EB-3 ROW.
For planning purposes, the safe assumption is that EB-2/EB-3 ROW will have some backlog by the time your priority date matters in 2028 — but given Canada’s chargeability status, any wait is likely to be measured in months, not years. The scenario where ROW falls behind by 2+ years (comparable to India) is considered unlikely by most analysts absent a major structural change to immigration law.
Where to Monitor Priority Dates
| Source | URL | Update Frequency | What It Provides |
|---|---|---|---|
| DOS Visa Bulletin (official) | https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html | Monthly (released ~2nd week of prior month) | Definitive source for all cut-off dates |
| USCIS AOS Filing Charts | https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-priority-dates/adjustment-of-status-filing-charts-from-the-visa-bulletin | Monthly | Confirms which chart (Final Action vs. Dates for Filing) USCIS will honor that month |
| Boundless Visa Bulletin tracker | https://www.boundless.com/blog/visa-bulletin | Monthly | Plain-language summary of changes with historical context |
| Charlie Oppenheimer (Reddy Neumann) | https://www.rnlawgroup.com | Monthly | Practitioner analysis of DOL and USCIS processing times alongside Visa Bulletin |
Pending Actions
- SAP letter — on hold per Grace Shin — waiting for Grace to confirm job description/skills requirements with new manager before proceeding. Do not contact SAP or Ryan Wong further until Grace gives the green light.
- Thank Ryan Wong — send a brief thank you for providing the letter.
- Stephan Wehner (Buckmaster) letter — received 2026-03-29, forwarded to Grace Shin.
- H-1B extension — being processed by Grace Shin / Fragomen. Confirm filing receipt.
- Buckmaster “demonstrated knowledge of” language — Grace is reviewing whether Stephan’s letter needs to match this phrasing from the attorney draft. Awaiting her confirmation.
- Enquire about NIW (National Interest Waiver) — ask Fragomen whether this is a viable parallel path given ML/quantitative systems background. Does not require employer sponsorship or PERM.
Risk Register
| Risk | Likelihood | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Wong email bounces or no response | Medium | Ask Anthony Abramski to locate Ryan internally at SAP |
| SAP HR provides basic letter only (dates and title) | Medium | Anthony Abramski provides supplementary co-worker letter on current employer letterhead |
| SAP HR does not respond | Low–Medium | Escalate to Anthony Abramski; notify Grace Shin to assess alternatives |
| Stephan Wehner unable or unwilling to provide Buckmaster letter | Low | Notify Grace Shin immediately — 4-month tenure may be excludable depending on PERM minimum requirements |
| Layoff from Two Sigma | Low | 60-day grace period; TN visa available as Canadian citizen; NIW as parallel path |
| PERM audit by DOL | Low–Medium | Fragomen manages response; all documentation must be consistent and complete |
| I-140 RFE due to experience letter mismatch | Low | Ensure letter language matches PERM job description (ETA Form 9089) word-for-word |
Key Documents
| Document | Location |
|---|---|
| PERM Experience Letter Guidelines v2 | Gmail attachment |
| Draft — SAP Experience Letter | Gmail attachment |
| Draft — Buckmaster Experience Letter | Gmail attachment |
| SAP Offer Letter | Google Drive — SAP folder |
| SAP Pay Stub (Personnel No. 01897234) | Google Drive — SAP-PayStubs folder |
| Certified LCA (Form ETA-9035) | Fragomen Tracker / uploaded to vault |
| H-1B Approval Notice (Form I-797A) | Fragomen Tracker / uploaded to vault |
| H-1B CAP Petition Filing Copy | Fragomen Tracker / uploaded to vault |
| York University Degree and Transcript | Fragomen Tracker / uploaded to vault |
Key Contacts
| Name | Role | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Grace Shin | Immigration Manager, Two Sigma | Grace.Shin@twosigma.com / 646-860-4618 |
| Lauren Stulmaker | Partner, Fragomen | lstulmaker@fragomen.com / 212-891-7589 |
| Earvin | SAP HR Global Direct (active ticket) | GlobalHRdirect@sap.com — Ticket: 7006039059 |
| Ryan Wong | Former SAP Manager | r.wong@sap.com |
| Anthony Abramski | Former SAP colleague (backup contact) | |
| Stephan Wehner | Owner, The Buckmaster Institute |
Notes
- Experience letters must align with the PERM job description on ETA Form 9089 word-for-word. USCIS cross-references these at the I-140 stage and will issue an RFE if there are discrepancies.
- Co-worker letters are not sufficient as a standalone submission when the former employer is still in business. They must accompany at least a basic confirmation letter from the employer.
- Canadian citizenship provides a meaningful fallback. TN visa status is obtainable at the border for qualifying professional roles including software engineering and does not consume the H-1B clock.
- The NIW (National Interest Waiver) is worth discussing with Fragomen as a parallel path — it does not require employer sponsorship or PERM certification, and may be viable given the ML and quantitative systems background.
- The prevailing wage request cannot be filed until both experience letters are confirmed. This is the current bottleneck.
- SAP employee details: i-number 01897234, manager Ryan Wong, personnel number confirmed via pay stub.