Changing current GC in process from Employment based to Family based

[sksahaius]

Hi,
Recently I have become US citizen but my son's green card is still pending. I filed the employment based GC (EB3) together for entire family but somehow my son's case got stuck. Now I am waiting for the priority date to come for his case to get reopen.
My question is since now I have become citizen, is there a way to expedite my son's GC by transferring his case to family based from employment based. My son is a fulltime student under 21 years old right now but he will be over 21 years in six months.
Any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jackolantern]

HURRY UP and file the GC paperwork for him!!!

Your son lost eligibility for a derivative GC when you became a US citizen. Sounds strange, but there have been a couple of cases like that on this forum (see http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?297334), where USCIS denied the child's derivative I-485 for this reason. So you can expect his pending I-485 to be denied within the next few months or weeks.

There has been some speculation on the ability to interfile from EB to FB, but don't bother with that, considering that his EB case is shaky already. Just file I-130 and a new I-485 for him before he turns 21.

 

[sksahaius]

Thanks for your quick reponse. I found one case in your forum (http:/forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?309251-I-485-transfer-from-Employment-based-to-family-based) where the pending EB case got transfer to FB case. How that case is defferent from my case?

 

[Jackolantern]

It is different because your son's pending EB case is on shaky ground due to your naturalization. If you attempt interfiling and it fails, it may be too late for your son to qualify for a family-based case as an immediate relative, because of his upcoming 21st birthday.

And interfiling probably won't speed it up. I-485's for spouses and under-21 children of USC have become so fast (3-5 months), that asking for something unusual like EB to FB interfiling could be slower than just going the straightforward route with a new I-485.

Note that regardless of whether you interfile, you still have to file an I-130 anyway, along with other associated documents such as the affidavit of support. Interfiling only allows you to avoid filing a new I-485.