Hi, I have little more than a year of expereince working as a Jr. SQL server DBA, mostly SSRS. I am thinking of getting my masters, and everntually green card filing. 

I want to do my MBA, but having an IT background and interested in the field of databases, what MBA program would be benificial to me. are there MBA programs that focuses on database administration or IT management since DBA does involve management. I am kinda confused on how getting an masters degree will help me down my career as a DBA though i know I will need my masters to green card filing.

Also, is there any masters program that focuses on database administration that i can use to file my GC?

My goal is to get my GC, while I am very much interested working in the field of database.

Suggestions please. 

Getting MBA or masters will not directly or easily give you GC. It is a long way.

EB2 - employment based GC for people having masters degree or undergrad + 5 years of experience.

After MBA or masters, you need to get a job, a job that will give you H1B ( directly applying GC while on F1 is risky , F1 is non-immigrant intent) and then they would file your GC.

GC would be filed on your field of expertise, so if you do MBA of any type and then you get job of a DBA, No you cant get GC from that employer for your masters degree being in MBA and not related to DBA. It is very rare chance that you somehow can prove that your MBA is actually required for doing that job for which your GC will be filed.

"My goal is to get my GC" it is everyone's goal :P

"is there any masters program that focuses on database administration" any computer science Masters would qualify , but if you are looking for database specific, you may want to take courses that are mainly concentrated in Databases.

 birey, first of all thanks for your post.

Yes, I am aware that getting masters wont automatically qualify for GC. thats why i was asking for suggestions on what would be a good masters program for me to take, considering my interest of database. 

what is a good program for me, to get a 'masters degree required' job so i can file my GC. I dont think masters degree is required to be a DBA. If I am just a DBA without a masters degree, can i still file my GC ( i am on H1 right now), or do i NEED to have masters degree and get a masters degree required job.

What are some good options for me to work my way upto the GC? with masters/without masters.


Thank you for your suggestion.

You have bachelors degree, you are in h1, you can file GC on EB3 , not on Eb2 .

So you CAN file GC on EB3 from your current situation , without doing masters.   EB3 for Nepal is running on Aug 2005 date, which means it will be 6 years to start processing if you file now.  On the contrary, if you can get a masters degree even by doing part time school ( which lot of workiing people do ) you could then get GC filed on Eb2 which has no waiting time.

"do i NEED to have masters degree and get a masters degree required job." -- most of the software jobs say they require only bachelors degree qualification , it is difficult to find jobs that require masters degree esp in IT field. But since GC is not for current job but rather a job in future, good companies do help their Int'l employess to file GC in Eb2. You may not see those job requirements very easily.

Without masters - your employer should be ready to file your GC - it will be Eb3 - wait time more than 5-6 yrs.

With masters - part time while u work full time in h1B , get a degree - you may land into a job where they would do GC in EB2 and there is no wait time in processing.  

MBA would be hardest way to do GC, not advisable unless all you wanted is MBA degree.

 thank birey again,
Yes i plan to do my masters part time but I need some suggestions on what degree to get to qualify for EB2  category. i understand it is difficult to find job in IT that require masters degree, hence qualify for EB2. How are other people getting their GC in IT? what path do they take? I know lots of people have gotten GC and are IT professionals. are they all Eb3?

again thanks for taking your time on responding. 

Masters in computer science, any specialization like software engineering, database or even networking.

Mostly people do GC in EB2 only and those who do in EB3 keep looking for job that does EB2, or those EB3 guys are quite laid back and relaxed that they can wait for 6 years.

EB2 - GC is not for your current position of the position they are looking for, it is for future position. your current position and salary even might not be that much required for the position the EB2 is asking for, but since it is a future position it does not matter.

Many good employers do EB2, good desi consultancies also do EB2. You need to find an employer that does EB2. You could ask the employer if they do EB2.

Generally for Eb2, they put an advertisement of a job position that need masters degree or high skills ( bachelors +  5 yrs ex ), then they collect resume and interview US citizens and everyone, when they cannot find any suitable candidate for the job, they will take their own employee and file labor certification that this employee meets the criteria for this position while they could not find anyone ( US citizens ) to fulfil that positioin, hence a foreign national has to be employed and has to be apply for permanent residency based on employment. Once labor is filed , the process will start, I140, I485 etc.
This is general path. Some people actually go through this process strictly while some do above process just for sake of it so that their employee can get GC. That's how people get GC in EB2

 you mentioned EB2 is for future position, so my salary and job requirement doesnt need to meet the salary required by masters graduate to file the Eb2, correct?

So, if i already have the qualification from masters degree for that 'future position' to file under EB2, why shouldnt my job requirement and salary also match the requirement. Is my employer taking a guarantee then that they will promote me once i get my GC?

little confused here

your current salary and job requirement may not meet a future job requirement and salary but your qualifications must, so that they can prove you are qualified for job.

Again, for eb2 it needs either masters degree with some experience or bachelors degree + 5 years experience in that field prior to joining that employer.

yes it is kind of guarantee that when you get your GC ( which may take years ) , you will get that much salary , but since "just for sake for it" they are doing lot of things, you may not actually get that much in reality after u get GC also. It is just at the time of application that when you finally get GC on that position you would get that much salary. If your salary is nowhere near the salary required for GC, and your employer is doing GC for you then they are doing you a favor and you should not ask that much salary immediately just to be thankful.

. you can see companies and their salaries for perm applications here http://www.flcdatacenter.com/CasePerm.aspx
There is access file (.mdb ) , filter out your state, and you can find out the range of salary /positions / employers/ employee countries.

there are other sources also to find those public informations.

 thanks birey. i appreciate your inputs and time