I seem to remember a near disaster that Chongyip had, in 2003 or so
I think it went like this:
- He filed his I-140 and I-485 concurrently.
- There were some issues with his I-140, so since he had also filed the I-485 concurrently, USCIS therefor put the I-485 on hold.
- By putting his I-485 on hold, this also meant that his EAD and AP applications were put on hold as well.
- As his TN drew closer to expiration, he was getting very nervous, since he had already filed for an I-485, he was no longer eligible for a TN extension. Without a pending I-485, he would be out of status when his TN expired, since the I-485 was not pending, but rather on hold. Without an approved EAD he would not be able to work legally.
The story had a happy (yet stressful) ending. His attorney contacted a congressman, and somehow the issue with the I-140 was resolved, which in turn got his EAD approved.
In retrostpect, he could have renewed his TN, prior to applying for the I-140 and I-485, which would ave given him a 1 year buffer to resolve issues like this.
At the time Chongyip was spreading anti-TN-to-GC sentiments, but in reality, if he was on an H1b, the same thing could have happened if he was on the last few months of his H1b extension. That was also around the same time when I decided to start writing my 21 step program for TN to GC success, since I realized that so many people are not aware of the many risks to be aware of.
As you long as you are aware of the special attention you need to take at specific points in your case, you will be fine.