came to bay area in 93 with f1, finished bsee in 99, been working for current telecom company from jan 2000 till today. just filed h1b 7th yr extension.
eb3 rir was filed in 01, returned for more info due to massive lay off in it industry at 02~03. company hold the lc pertition and filed regular eb3 again in 05. endless waiting ahead.
from 00~05, i went back china 4 times and travel to japan, europe, yes a lot money and time spend to get all kinds visa, went to vancouver, mexico for visa is not always fun.
got married in 04, wife is also on h1b and she was stucked in china for 5 months for background clearance couple years ago when she went back for college reunion. after she is back in states we got engaged and married.
bought a house end of 04, our baby girl is 6 months old now, there are tears and laugh along every step, we are happy at where we are.
for brothers sisters here who is in similar boat waiting for green card,i like to say life goes on, you don't always get everything smooth as others, but you need to go forward anyway and adjust things in your life, treasure what you have now but also don't give up your dream.
best luck.
i