Convert employment-based petition to marriage-based petition?

A

abishagenaden

New Member
I initiated my employer-based petition back in 2006, and have since gone through biometrics and the medical check up. I believe I am now just stuck at the last stage of the petition, i.e. waiting for the backlog to clear.

I recently got married to a US citizen -- I understand that I am free to file a separate marriage-based petition, but at the same time I have heard that it might be possible to 'transfer' my current employment-based petition into a marriage-based petition (so that I do not have to go through certain steps again, such as the medical check-up, etc.). Is this true, and if so, what are the steps involved?

Thanks in advance!
 
It is called interfiling, where you get one pending I-485 and transfer it to a different petition.

However, when interfiling is done, it is usually for one employment-based to another; interfiling from EB to family-based is a hit-and-miss situation. Sometimes USCIS accepts it, sometimes they reject it and tell you to file a fresh I-485 for the family-based. So if you want things to be straightforward and reliable, file a new I-485 based on marriage.
 
Thanks -- any other opinions on this? I have read elsewhere that it is possible to interfile from EB to FB (some applicants even doing it themselves without any lawyers), though recommendations differ greatly.
 
I already said it is possible. It is just risky, as it may get rejected, or they might continue to treat the I-485 as a retrogressed case for a long time because it was originally filed as an EB case, instead of prioritizing it as a current FB case that needs to be processed ASAP.
 
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I don't know what their decision making is when it comes to that. But EB->FB is unusual, and when you do something unusual with USCIS it often results in delays and hassles or wrong decisions.

Ultimately it's up to you if want to take the risk of attempting the EB->FB interfiling.
 
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