I-140/485 Concurrent Filing and EAD/AP Adjudication Procedure
Updated 10/03/2002: I-140/485 Concurrent Filing and EAD/AP Adjudication Procedure
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The INS HQ confirms that the Service Centers will not process adjudication of EAD and Advance Parole in the I-140/485 concurrent filing cases unless the Service Centers first complete the prima facie review of eligibility of I-140 petition or thorough adjudication of I-140 petition. The result of such review or adjudication of I-140 will be as follows:
Denial of I-140 petition without even issuing RFE if the applicant is statutorily ineligible. If this happens, the Service Centers will also deny I-1485, I-765 EAD application and I-131 Advance Parole.
RFE is issued if the prima facie evidence of eligibility is not included at the time of concurrent filing. This is a situation where insufficient evidence is submitted and the Service Centers are unable to determine eligibility of I-140 petition. Once RFE is issued such, processing of I-765 EAD and I-131 Advance Parole will remain on hold until the requested evidence is received. Additionally, the 90-day EAD adjudication requirement under the INS regulation will also stop running and it will run again as soon as the requested evidence is received. It means that once RFE is issued for I-140 petition in the concurrent filing case, the alien will not be able to obtain employment authorization card and advance parole quite a long time and will not even be able to obtain "interim EAD" card at the local district office because of the toll of 90-day running. In the opinion of this reporter, the INS interpretation of tolling of 90-day for the purpose of EAD adjudication requirement is very controversial and somewhat arbitrary.
Any way, if the Service Centers determine that the I-140 petition is statutorily eligible and the proper evidence for determination of eligibility are found in the filing, the Service Centers will issue EAD and Advance Parole. Currently, the Service Centers are targetting at making I-140 statutory eligibility review or adjudication within 60 days from the date of receipt. In the concurrent filing situation, people should be prepared for delay of getting EAD and Advance Parole.
The foregoing procedure is currently followed by the Service Centers, but it appears that the local district office practices vary depending on each district's practice.