change from asylum status to ?H4

desi123

Registered Users (C)
Hello. I am here on asylum status...have been receiving work permits each year. Applied for adjustment of status in oct 1999.
My wife is here on H1 B status. Can that help me in any way to change my status . Can I be on asylum staus and H4 at same time. Becoz being only on H4 I wont be able to work. Your reply will be greatly appreciated.
 
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In short, he wants to get his green card faster. Under the current law asylum based green cards can take 5 to 6 years minimum. It is worse for this year because the Congress has not released the annual refugee/asylee adjustment quotas yet. EB green cards and their spouse/dependents take only 3 yrs at maximum. And to my knowledge September 11 attacks have little or no impact at all on EB green card processing times.
But before the green card asylee status is better than H4 status in terms of the benefits one receives.
Desi,

 Is your wife\'s employer going to sponsor her for EB green card? If the answer is yes, why don\'t you ask the lawyer if you can also apply for green card as her dependent. Be sure to tell the lawyer that your current immigration status is an asylee and you applied your asylum based I-485 in 1999.
 
Agree with JackArcherNew

If indeed your wife\'s employer is willing to sponsor her greencard,
consult your lawyer about your case (that you have applied asylum base I-495 in 1999).
My friend has almost similar case (but she hasn\'t applied asylum based I-485), she is now applying I-485 as dependent of EB Greencard.
In fact the I-140 processing only took 2 months.
If you change your status to H4, when something happens to your wife, you will be out of status.
 
It is not necessary to obtain H4 status

If you are the principal asylee, there is NO need to change your status at this time. When your wife becomes eligible to file an employment-based I-485, you can submit one yourself as her derivative.
 
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I talked to my lawyer recently about possibilities - H1B1, I live in US for 10 years now, my citizen family member and so on... She was adamant, that I should wait. exact quote - "you are not allowed to choose, by what reason you will recive green card, you already have application pending"...
 
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When I asked this question to my lawyer friend he answered "it can be done." But I think he wants to charge me the consulting fee if I wanted more details. To be frank I have no immediate plans to apply for another I-485 under different status. I looked into the EB Green card and found out that I have to begin everything from scratch (like job advertisement, labor certification, plus the actual I-485 processing time).

 Download and read the I-485 form from INS web site. I think one of the questions in the I-485 form asks if the applicant has ever applied for I-485 before. That is where the lawyer comes in I believe. The lawyer will be able to help the applicant answer questions like that.
 
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