consular processing can be quick alternative to I-485 waiting

A

atsokbg

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone,

After waiting in the I-485 queue for more than six months and no hopes for quick adjudication I lost patience and decided to try consular processing.

This post probably belongs to the consular processing forum, but I want to share my experience with all the NSC I-485 waiters and encourage you to check the rules of the consulate in your home country and see if consular processing is available.

I did the so called "attorney-certified consular processing," i.e. when there is a I-485 pending.
Some consulates will accept copies of the I-140 application documents and approval directly from the applicant instead of through NVC. I was lucky that the US consulate in Bulgaria accepts this procedure.

Two weeks after I sent the documents to the consulate I received the interview date for two months later. In total the whole process took less than 3 months.

The inverview was very easy. The officer was overwhelmed by the amount of documents that I had submitted for the national interest waiver and by the fact that we had lived in the US for 12 years. She attempted to track down our status for these 12 years, but gave up and asked some detailed questions only for the last few years. Generally, it was clear from the start that she had a favorable impression of us and was only following the protocol pro forma.

Now I have to withdraw the I-485 petition and thats it.

Good luck to everyone in this forum. The forum was very informative for me and I want to thank all the people sharing their experiences as well as the moderators and organizers. My best wishes for quick adjudication of your cases!
 
Thanks for coming back and sharing your experience.

In my opinion, it is a slam dunk. CP should be regarded as the first choice, especially where attorney certified consular processing is allowed, by all rational individuals for several reasons:

- it is quicker
- many documents like medical records and birth certificates are easier to obtain
- you know your interview date and can plan accordingly
- it is cheaper even after including the travel expense when we consider the amounts we spend here on EADs, APs, and H-1 renewals etc.
- The consular posts are more responsive and are better resourced because the dept. of state is not an orphan child like the INS.

Yet most lawyers advise us to opt for adjustment of status by invoking this irrational fear that if a hitch arises at a consular post outside the country for whatever reason, the applicant is not entitled to the same due process and services of an attorney as would be available if s/he is already in the US. This may be true in some special cases with dubious history, but in the vast majority of cases that go smoothly through consular processing, the logic is just baloney. In fact, most AOS applicants that are denied approvals by the INS hardly find their lawyers helpful. They are left to the vicissitudes of opinion on forums like these.

I believe the real reason for this slant in favor of AOS is the fact that this route offers a much larger fee potential for the lawyers. They have learnt to very effectively prey on the latent fears and diffidence of the immigrant mindset.

We have no one to blame but ourselves.
 
What about wife starting employement, lay off fear, etc... I think those factor should also be taken into account.
 
Atleast i know about Mumbai consulate

They accept AC 140 .below is the detail from their website. You may check US Consulate at Chennai and Delhi also . Calcutta US consulate doesnt do it .

*******************************
FOR MUMBAI CONSULATE
****************************
How do I request consular processing of a pending employment-based case?

On a case-by-case basis, the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai is accepting employment-based immigrant visa cases for processing when all the following conditions are met:

Department of Homeland Security has already approved an E1 or E2 category immigrant visa petition and the applicant has an original I-797 form,
the applicant is a resident of the Mumbai or Calcutta consular districts,
the priority date of the case is current or could reasonably be expected to be current within 60 days (we will not warehouse non-current cases),
waiting for the Department of Homeland Security to process the change-of-status application would cause the applicant hardship,
the applicant has copies of all pages that made up the original immigrant visa petition,
there does not appear to be any indication that the case is fraudulent,
I-824 Fee Receipt required.

If you believe that your case meets these conditions, forward copies of your I-140 paperwork to the Immigrant Visa Unit, U.S. Consulate General, 78 Bhulabhai Desai Rd., Mumbai 400026 India with:

the original I-797 Notice of Approval Form
complete forms OF-169 and OF-230, part 1
an e-mail address where we can contact the attorney with confirmation that we have accepted the case
DO NOT send any submissions to any officer or employee by name. Doing so mixes business with personal mail and results in lost paperwork when officers transfer.

We are accepting E3 cases that meet the above conditions on a more limited basis, where it is clear that the applicant is highly skilled. We would accord precedence to applicants who have already received H1-b visas in the same profession or for the same employer.

NOTE: This procedure only applies in change-of-status cases. If Department of Homeland Security has approved an employment-based petition and you had asked from the beginning to apply for the visa in Mumbai, then we must wait for the case to arrive from the National Visa Center.
 
Is there anyone from Delhi who has gone in for certified consular processing post details abt his experience please....
 
Hi atsokbg,
why did you choose Bulgaria. Are you from Bulgaria. Can you only do Councellar processing from your country of origion.
 
Yes, I am from Bulgaria. Typically you can do the consular processing only in your home country and even then, if there is more than one consulate, at the consulate holding jurisdiction over your place of residence.
I think that exceptions are possible only if you've resided at a third country before coming to the US.

Since many people fear that if the consular interview is negative they'll be stuck outside of the US, I should add that we had advance parole on hand pursuant to the pending I-485. Thus had something gone wrong we would have entered the US with the advance parole.
This is one big advantage of doing the AC-140: no risk to get stranded abroad. The other one is that you get employment authorization via the I-485 filing. Doing regular consular processing doesn't offer these advantages.

Speaking of lawyers using only I-485 I think that the best lawyers always act in the best interest of their clients as a matter of principle. However, since there are 190+ countries and US consulates even the best lawyers can't know the procedures in each one. Plus they can not control the outcome. So a lot of them opt for adjustment of status because they do not know better (especially true for the foggy AC-140 route)

In fact before I tried the AC-140 in Bulgaria I had a consulatation with one of the best immigration lawyers in the US, Steve Yale-Loehr, coauthor of the most authoritative reference book on US immigration law and he advised me that AC-140 is impossible. After I found out that it is possible in Bulgaria I was angry with him for a short time, but then I realized that he can't know the policies of each consulate in the world individually, and its probably true that most consulates will not do AC-140.
 
Originally posted by atsokbg
Yes, I am from Bulgaria. Typically you can do the consular processing only in your home country and even then, if there is more than one consulate, at the consulate holding jurisdiction over your place of residence.
I think that exceptions are possible only if you've resided at a third country before coming to the US. ....
Click to expand...

I know folks from the sub-continent that took an appointment for attorney certified consular processing at Ciudad Juarez (a Mexican border post near El Paso? that processes visitors and immigrants) and got approved by way of a simple day trip across the border.

The whole process took less than 6 months from the time the I-140 was approved.
 
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the question is , can we do this simultaneously with our I-485 petition

I had started a thread several weeks ago about the same. I was led to believe that it's not a good idea trying to file the Attorney Certified Counsular Processing with my I-485 appln. pending.

Even my attorney adviced me against it , infact he told me that his firm doesn't even file the I-824 because , it would rescind my existing I-485 appln.

If anyone is planning to take this route , please confirm with your attorney first.
 
Kjkool,

I don't know about Islamadabad. Due to the sheer number of Indians the procedures at Mumbai etc are relatively well known. But for most countries its best to write or call the consulate directly and ask if they do it and what are the requirements.

They appear to vary widely from consulate to consulate. For example in Mumbai you have to prove "hardship", others require receipt notice for I-824 which is a form requesting transfer to consular processing from INS (and can be tricky). The consulate in Bulgaria required neither.

Given that the procedures vary I wouldn't be surprised if there is a consulate that would accept third country nationals for AC-140. Yet I believe that doing this at Ciudad Juarez is a thing of the past. And at least by the rules it has to be done at the country of residence.
 
Ciudad Juarez does not any more accept third country national cases

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR EMPLOYMENT BASED THIRD COUNTRY NATIONAL CASES

Due to the V visa caseload and immigrant visa caseload anticipated for the new fiscal year, American Consulate General Ciudad Juarez will no longer accept Employment based Third Country National Immigrant Visas cases based on long pending I-485 adjustment applications as of October 01, 2001.

Third Country National applicants who have already been accepted for processing in Ciudad Juarez and plan to attend their interview are advised to check with the Mexican Consulate in the U.S. about Mexican visa clearance changes before coming to Mexico.
 
faq contents about AOS to CP from Chennai consulate website.

On a case-by-case basis, the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai is accepting employment-based immigrant visa cases for processing when all the following conditions are met:

1. INS has already approved an E1 or E2 category immigrant visa petition and the applicant has an original I-797 form.
2. The applicant is a resident of the Chennai consular district
3. The priority date of the case is current or could reasonably be expected to be current within 60 days (we will not warehouse non-current cases).
4. Waiting for the INS to process the change-of-status application would cause the applicant hardship.
5. The applicant has attorney-certified copies of all pages that made up the original immigrant visa petition .
6. There does not appear to be any indication that the case is fraudulent
7. And our workload permits us to take the case

If you believe that your case meets these conditions,

1. Have your attorney send certified copies of your I-140 paperwork to the Immigrant Visa Unit, U.S. Consulate General, 220 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 006 India with the original I-797 Notice of Approval Form complete forms OF-169 and OF-230, part 1.
An e-mail address where we can contact the attorney with confirmation that we have accepted the case.

DO NOT send any submissions to any officer or employee by name. Doing so mixes business with personal mail and results in lost paperwork when officers transfer.
We are accepting E3 cases that meet the above conditions on a more limited basis, where it is clear that the applicant is highly skilled. We would accord precedence to applicants who have already received H1-B visas in the same profession or for the same employer.
NOTE: This procedure only applies in change-of-status cases. If INS has approved an employment-based petition and you had asked from the beginning to apply for the visa in Chennai, then we must wait for the case to arrive from the National Visa Center.
Click to expand...

I'm more interested in topics 3 and 4. How do I know that I satisfy 3 and How do I prove that I satisfy 4.

Any body
 
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If you have filed for your I-485, you satisfy 3. With respect to 4, there are any number of ways one can establish hardship. How about career advancement, or the need to obtain APs and EADs, or the need for the proferred position to continue to be available for an unreasonable period of time in uncertain economic times. I am sure your lawyer can come up with a few more.
 
Congrats atsokbg,
Ofcourse Consular Processing is a quick alternative, But it seems all the lawyers here are discouraging us.

Check this link...
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=116
and read the Note from Rajiv below the "Consular Processing Issues-Immigrant Visas (Green Card)"

It was scary and so I didn't take a chance and apply for AOS.

Still, if I can get kind of law that states that after filing I-824 , I-485 is not considered as abandoned, I will go for CP since we need just Receipt of I-824 (not approval).
And if they(Consulate) deny us for any reason,we can come back and withdraw I-824 (since it is not approved) and wait on I-485.

atsokbg , Do you have any more detail on this.
 
Achal,

The US consulate in Bulgaria didn't require I-824 at all, not even filing it, so I don't have personal experience with it.

However, from all my readings, I felt reasonably comfortable to file I-824 if the consulate required it.

There are two schools thought: one is that filing of the I-824 is in itself considered withdrawal of the I-485. The other one is that the withdrawal comes only when the I-824 is adjudicated.

I don't have 100% certainty, but I believe the second one is right. Actually there is one lawyer Ron Gotcher that appears to have extensive experience with this. Check out the articles on his web site. According to him, the I-824 withdrawal is not final until INS explicitly sends a letter asking if this is indeed the intent of the I-824 filing and the applicant responds to that letter with yes.

Contrary to this, Rajiv Khanna and some other lawyers believe that the withdrawal is automatic just by filing the I-824. I can't imagine how this can be true, it doesn't make sense for the withdrawal to be effective based on a piece of paper that no one at INS has read and acted on. Nobody would know to revoke work authorization or to deny requests to extend work authorization for example. I think the "note from Rajiv" is not accurate about this.

In any event, if your consular interview is successful, the I-824 doesn't matter, you get back with a immigrant visa period. And for the interview not to be successful basically means that you will have problems with your AOS. I read somewhere that the denial rate at consulates is much smaller that with AOS.

There is also a small trick which perhaps could be used. The I-824 is used for several things and one of them is to request a copy of certain documents. So one could file a I-824 for somesuch document and then bring the receipt notice, which doesn't indicate the reason for the I-824 filing, to the consulate. It should work.

Anyway, take the lawyers opinions with a grain of salt. As someone noted the I-485 is more profitable for them. Even the honest and professional ones prefer to deal with one I-485 procedure than with 200 potential consulates with different rules that they can't control.
 
Originally posted by achal
Congrats atsokbg,
Ofcourse Consular Processing is a quick alternative, But it seems all the lawyers here are discouraging us.

Check this link...
http://boards.immigrationportal.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=116
and read the Note from Rajiv below the "Consular Processing Issues-Immigrant Visas (Green Card)"

It was scary and so I didn't take a chance and apply for AOS.

Still, if I can get kind of law that states that after filing I-824 , I-485 is not considered as abandoned, I will go for CP since we need just Receipt of I-824 (not approval).
And if they(Consulate) deny us for any reason,we can come back and withdraw I-824 (since it is not approved) and wait on I-485.

atsokbg , Do you have any more detail on this.
Click to expand...

I-824 is to initiate consular processing (as opposed to adjusting your status from within the US) and this may (or may not) result in the abandonment of your I-485. However, if you are from India, as I think you are from a previous exchange, the above posts from the US consulate websites in India suggest that they are willing to process AC-140 cases (you do not need I-824 for this) for applicants whose change of status applications are pending with the INS if you are able to show hardship. I believe this is just bureaucrat-speak for provide-me-cover-so-I-can-step-on-the-toes-of-another-government-department.

So if you are a recent I-485 filer and your wait time on your I-485 is long, you may benefit from trying the AC-140 route. Just make sure you get an attorney who is not compromised.

Good-luck.
 
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