Disadvantages of not doing concurrent filing

S

sirinme

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I'm sorry if these concerns of mine are already discussed on this forum, but I really need some pep talk today to lift my spirits!

Well, I just got my Federal Labor approved, and am moving to the next phase in my GC processing at VSC. However, for reasons not relevant to this post, my employer is saying that he would NOT do concurrent filing of my 140 and 485. He is saying he wants to file 140 first, then give it a gap of 6-8 months, and then file the 485.

I'm a little disappointed with all this, needless to say, but I'm also trying to figure out how bad it really is to not take advantage of concurrent filing. I would appreciate if you could answer the following questions for me:

1. Is it true that my 140 will take longer to be approved, compared to the concurrently filed cases at Vermont?

2. What would be the effect of this on how soon I could get my EAD & AP?

3. Anything else I'm missing out here...

My case will be filed in EB2 category, BTW.

Thanks.
 
I don’t think there is any problem except loosing time. Due to my personal issues, I too filed my I-140 & I-485 separately with a gap of 4 months at Vermont under E21. While filing I-485 layer enclosed I-140 acknowledgement.

I am waiting for my EAD

I dont think there is a problem. If i am wrong please correct me.....
 
Different people have different experience about processing times...I think the time lost by filing I485 later makes a lot of difference. Without I485, you would not be able to take advantage of the portability law. I think it is better to go concurrent if possible.
 
same boat

YOur employer is not the only one, mine is the same too - company policy is to only apply for 485 after 140 is approved.

Little aggravating ...
 
I think it has little to do with processing time and more to do with the fact that the company wants you to stay more with them.
 
1. No reliable data on whehter it makes I-140 approval to take longer.
2. AFAIK no impact on EAD & AP.
3. I do not think you are missing anything.

I am in the same situation - my company filed my (I-140) & (I-485 / EAD /AP) three months apart. I've got EAD & AP two months after filing.
So the only real setback is that you have to wait longer before you can enjoy the portability. Without portability rule applicable to you the EAD is not very useful.
And believe me, you do not want to travel with AP. I just returned from vacation, and getting through immigration control with AP has been living hell.

Good luck!
 
Travel with AP

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And believe me, you do not want to travel with AP. I just returned from vacation, and getting through immigration control with AP has been living hell.

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Could you please elaborate that. I am planning to use AP for my trip next month.

Thanks.
 
Re: Travel with AP

Originally posted by js8309
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And believe me, you do not want to travel with AP. I just returned from vacation, and getting through immigration control with AP has been living hell.

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Could you please elaborate that. I am planning to use AP for my trip next month.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
When you have an AOS status ( i.e. H1 revoked, you are working on EAD) from an immigration officer's point of view you are the person without a visa - your H1 cancelled, and GC is not issued yet. AP is the document which allows you to enter US, but nevertheless, you are treated like a someone who are trying to break in without a visa.
How does it look in practice:
An officer at the immigration control at JFK looked through out passports and AP's and took us to the special room, which looked pretty much like a police station - very dirty, with bunch of people sitting around, some with their legs cuffed (I am not kidding), under supervision of armed officers. People were called one by one in the random order - officers simply pulled documents from a pile of papers without any visible system. Some people were relieved, some asked to wait again.
We were ordered to leave our bags outside. When our 18-months old son started crying because he was hungry, my wife had to ask twice before she were allowed to go out off the room and get something to eat for him from our hand luggage. I tried to call my friends who were waiting for us at the terminal, but an officer stopped me: "no cell phones."
After a 10-hours flight and 2 hours of waiting there my son got so tired that he started crying inconsolable. Only after that a miracle happened - the immigration officers expressed some humaneness. They asked us to approach, found our documents and quickly release us. There was nothing special or suspicious about us - we are europeans from a small country which was never associated with any kind of troublemaking regimes or organizations. Maybe we were unfortunate and got there in very busy moment, maybe I am exaggerating because I saw my family suffering and wasn't able to do anything... But AFAIK all AP travelers have to go through more or less the same routine. So be ready to wait and be treated like a presumable criminal.
 
I think there is a big loss for not filing concurrent, first thing is that you don't get the back-up of EAD and AP, on other hand I think one might loose susbtantial amout of time which might be anywhere between 9-18 months.

If you are really lucky you never know if you get your 140 approved in 1-2 months.
 
karaya not universally true

Have used AP once on recent trip(aug) back from india with wife and brother did the same with his wife. His experience was fairly straightforward. Mine was extremely pleasurable. Sorry that yours was so bad, but the officer walked me over personally to the other desk (boston) and said someone will be with you in a second. The other officer(s) came by and asked me a total of 3 times how my flight was, really seemed to care about what I had to say and not just in the typical "how are u doing" way, how the duty free in connecting airport was, joked about the big dig and said "you're applying for perm residence right, ok everythings in order"...and stamped our ap papers and that was it.....i couldnt have been more pleased.

i had a rougher time coming back from mexico on an acquired H1-Multiple entry visa...
 
Hello PremChopra & GC_GoneCase,

Can you guys explain in detail in what way I-485 approval will delay by 18 months more for the people didn't filed concurrently? Hope you guys pretty aware of all these are different processes. I-485 can be filed with I-140 receipt acknowledgement. Only time difference is the difference between I-140 filing & I-485 filing. Am I right?

I really appreciate your valuable comments on this in detail.
 
biggest threat is employers leverage over u

The biggest threat in your case is that for the entire duration of the 140 approval ( say a year) and then subsequent 485 approval and the duration (you said 6-8 mos..) you have absolutely 0 leverage in your employment situation. AC21 is applicable in concurrent filings (this means both 140 and 485 filed at the same time, or 485 filed shortly after with 140 EAC #) only. so you have no way of changing employers if the going gets tough with your current employer, which from deducing from your description may very well get so. At any point he can revoke or withdraw your 140 (god forbid) or use the threat of doing so to gain most output out of you.

Also god forbid, if theres a layoff or something you are totally vulnerable, since you will be working on an H1, and you have to find a job in < 30-45 days to avoid loss of status and start your process all over again. If you have an ead (from the 485 process) at least you can sustain urself with another job.

Not telling you what to do, but you are locking yourself in for another 3 years with current employer with 0 leverage so be prepared. Labor does typically 1-2 years so not an easy decision at all. Try to convince employer that its in his best interest ( its not, its in yours) to file concurrently.

Good luck - not an easy situation but do try to convince them. Was in similar situation myself.
 
hope it goes smooth with me

Karaya, sorry to hear that you had to go thru this ordeal. I guess it depends on the POE and the immigration officer. I will be flying back to Washington Dulles. Hopefully, it will be better there.
 
I don't know about calculation for 18 months, I never said that.
By filing concurrent, your 6 months time window for portability starts at same time you filed 140. If you wait till 140 is approved and then file for 485, atleast 1 month time to file and 6 months wait....so, minimum 7 months are lost.
Another advantage is that by applying concurrent, you can get EAD and start using it. Not going into good or bad of using EAD but it can save you time on H1. Till time you use EAD, H1 time goes on a kind of freeze. If due to any reason, one runs into issues with 140 approval or GC approval, one can go back to H1...even with the same company that one is working with and restart the process of GC again...
So, Concurrent filing gives you more flexibility...which, I think is very important in current market situation.
 
Thanks for the responses, folks. But there's one thing still not clear to me regarding AC21 portability:

- Karaya says, "the only real setback is that you have to wait longer before you can enjoy the portability"

BUT,

- octeac2002 says, "AC21 is applicable in concurrent filings (this means both 140 and 485 filed at the same time, or 485 filed shortly after with 140 EAC #) only"

So does anyone know exactly how much gap (between filing for 140 and 485) is okay in terms of taking advantage of AC21?
 
140 approved + 180 days in to 485

It's a simple formula

portability = I140 approved + 180 days in to I485

Now it is up to you on when to file 485. Whenever you file, you need to be 180+ days in 485 and 140 approved to get AC21

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Kohinoor
 
I am not sure on what basis file for 485 adjudication is picked up, if it's adjudicated on the basis on the date when you filed 485 then definitely you lost all the time between the day you file 485 to the day if you would have filed it with 140 (Concurrent).
 
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