Advice on concurrent NIW and I485 filing

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venkat72

New Member
Help!!! Please advice on concurrent NIW and I485 filing

Dear Members
I joined this forum recently and have found your views and opinions extremely useful and informative. Thank you very much. I am in an dilemma over the concurrent filing of my NIW/I485 petition. I have detailed my case below. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have been working with my lawyers in building up my case over the past several months . I have come to a stage where my NIW petition is almost complete. My original intention (and my lawyers advice) was to submit the NIW petition and wait for its approval before filing for I485. I just got a call yesterday from my lawyer about the retrogression and oct 1 deadline. Under these circumstances he explained that it might be better for me to file both the NIW and I485 together. He also mentioned that since there was very little time to put together a complete I485 application that we can file a kind of a basic application with available stuff and wait for an RFE.

1)I am a little concerned at this stage towards concurrent filing because it is double the risk, in the sense I lose the laywers fees and filing fees for both the NIW and I485 if the NIW is not approved. On the other hand the retrogression does look bad and even in case my NIW is approved after say 6 months or so I may not be able to file for I485 till my PD.

2)Also I am a little nervous submitting an incomplete or a basic application (according to my lawyer!!!) and waiting for an RFE. Is this normal?? or is my lawyer playing games??

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
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venkat72 said:
Dear Members

1)I am a little concerned at this stage towards concurrent filing because it is double the risk, in the sense I lose the laywers fees and filing fees for both the NIW and I485 if the NIW is not approved. On the other hand the retrogression does look bad and even in case my NIW is approved after say 6 months or so I may not be able to file for I485 till my PD.

--> You should file concurrent. The most you will loose is some money. Atleast, with 485 pending, you can get unlimited EAD/AP. Thats a big deal for many.

2)Also I am a little nervous submitting an incomplete or a basic application (according to my lawyer!!!) and waiting for an RFE. Is this normal?? or is my lawyer playing games??

--> I don't know about that. What exactly is incomplete? Like medicals?
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Thanks much for your reply. I was actually worried about an incomplete I485 (I am not familiar with all the documents necessary for filing I485, but by incomplete I meant without all the reqd documents). Anyway, when I spoke to my lawyer he mentioned that he was not worried about I485 but he said he was a little concerned about putting together a comprehensive I140/NIW. I mean given the time constraints for the oct1 deadline and and his other constraints he was honest enough to mention that the I140/NIW petition that he was going to put together may not be as comprehensive as we would like it, but he also mentioned that we can take care of it if an RFE comes up. My file has all the reference letters and other related info, but I dont know how much more info/details we need to put in for a more comprehensive application. Coming back to my question....is it worth risking putting up a quick NIW/140 petition and waiting for an RFE to elaborate on my case further?? My lawyer is somewhat confidant that the TSC will come back and ask for an RFE and we can elaborate my case at that point of time if needed. Is this a good assumption or is it a great risk??
Please advice...
 
about I-485

venkat!
I-485 materials if you concentrate can be accumulated in 2-4 days.
Few things which if not avaliable such as
birth certificate...you can afford that s RFE.
Medicals can be done in 2-3 days...
rest pictures, and otehr forms are one day job.
Just do it!!
time is less!
 
Thats always a risk with NIW. USCIS can always deny it without giving you an oppurtunity to send additional evidence. Of course, you can appeal it or file another NIW brand new after that. If you think your case is shaky, you need to maintain independent status like H1/H4 while your petition is pending. Your lawyer is right, NIW needs careful preparation, not a shotgun approach. If you think waiting some time to prepare 140 will make your case solid, and you have independent status like H1 with a steady job (with ability to entend status until you can file 485), than maybe you should wait.
 
Venkat....

I-485 is nothing - I guess just 1-2 days stuff.. You can work hard to get birth certificates, marriage certs, 4 page I-485, medicals, etc. done.. that should not be a big deal. In some cases i have read that if you dont send the medicals they come back with an RFE. So its better to file concurrently otherwise you need to wait for a long time even to file (atleast you can get benefits like EAD/AP etc. or the derivatices)

I140-NIW - you need to concentrate more. Make sure you do the hard work yourself. Arranging all the documents properly. DONT just send everything UNARRANGED. Make sure you arrange it chapter wise putting TABS in between. For example: you can have one chapter for your publications, other for all citations, other for reference letters, other for your projects or your company, other for things which show national interest, other for awards.. .etc. These classifications are all flexible, but arranging things properly if YOUR JOB and you should do it well.. If you have the recommendation letters that you can make the whole I-140 packet in less than a week - as everything else is in your hand. Give your attorney a detailed RESUME/CV including all awards and all the stuff.. and he can make the cover letter. Most of the times, attorney makes the cover letter (few pages) and sends them with this big packet of supporting documents.

Good Luck and keep us posted.
 
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