> That becomes tricky for sponsoring such a process if you recently laid people off. There are also more job applicants and it becomes harder to lawfully filter them out to justify your case.

All correct. General recommendation is to wait at least six months. A friend got his case delayed for two years, due to constant layoffs in our area.

> for example, USCIS randomly audits some percentage (estimated to be ~30%) of applications, ostensibly to stop people figuring out how to game the system

Yeap. Got unlucky with that too. And apparently the audit did nothing, because not only very simple and irrelevant things were asked (like org charts for a non-managerial position). Then, when I got to the I-140 process they issued a NOIR (Notice of Intent to Revoke), asking for a document that was filed in the PERM. One would think that, if there was an issue, it would have been flagged back then.

What it did do was to delay the process by a lot. On top of the usual delays – plus delays until your company gets around to filing for your green card. Which they have zero incentive to do.

Most immigrants don't know all the details and all the rules that exist before they sign up. It's not due to lack of research, it's because some things are really obscure and don't come into play until you care about them. For example, H1B is restricted to _one income source_ (spouse can't work). However, there's an exception for purely "passive" income. Examples would be investments – as long as you don't trade frequently. What's "frequently"? Noone knows. Day trading is obviously out but you still can't be "too active".

You can also be a landlord. But you are not allowed to be involved in the day to day activities. For example, a faucet broke. You could go to Home Depot, grab a new one and install it, right? No, that would be a violation. You would have to pay someone else to do it. But wouldn't hiring a plumber be something that demands time, and thus you are "working"? No, apparently not.

Even _expectation of future income_ can run afoul of the rules (and you don't receive a booklet explaining that). For example: you spouse cannot work, but can they start working on a game, or iOS application, but not sell until they are authorized to work? No, they can't. They are considered to be "working" even if they are not getting any income right now.

So, if you are on H1B and your spouse has a career(but not in a field that's in high demand), they essentially have to kiss their career goodbye. There will be a massive gap in their resume in the best case.

Also, if you are from India (not my case, and it still took 7 years), given the current wait times, even if you bring your newborn to the US, there's a chance you won't get a green card by the time they turn 21. Which means they will have to leave as they are no longer considered to be your dependent. It doesn't matter that they have not known any other country and may not even speak the language.

Much more can be said about the whole thing. I would advise any wanna-be immigrants to talk to someone that's been through the process. Don't ask US citizens (unless they have naturalized and used the work visa path) because they will have no idea what the process is like.