Does USCIS stop processing your I-485 when u leave US ?

D

desi929

Registered Users (C)
Hello --

I have been a little concerned lately because a friend of mine told me that USCIS will stop processing your I-485 application when you leave the US. So for example, I am currently in my home country visiting, India, so USCIS will ignore my file until I enter back into US. Is this true ?

Also how do I find out my priority date ? My I-140 was approved about a 1 1/2 yrs ago and the I-140 notice does not have the priority date on it.

Thanks much for all your help !!
 
Not that I have ever heard of.
Your priority date is when the state received your labor certification. The priority date only shows up on your approved I-140.
 
Processing doesn't stop

This is absolutely not true. The processing doesn't stop. If it was true, how come people report approvals while in India. In my case too, the I-485 was approved when I was in India.

But important thing is get your AP approved before you leave USA. There is a possibility that the processing will be stopped if the person going out of USA didn't have the AP approved. It is mentioned in the home page of USCIS.
 
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Another reason to get AP is a possible problem if GC is approved while you are away. I-485 approval notice will be mailed to your US address, but you are away. If you try to enter US using valid H1, you will be admissed but entering US on non-imigrant visa abandons your GC (at least in theory, in reality they probably don't have ways to track everything... yet). So if you are in such situation, your safest bet is to ask someone to pass I-485 approval to you.
 
m.e. said:
Another reason to get AP is a possible problem if GC is approved while you are away. I-485 approval notice will be mailed to your US address, but you are away. If you try to enter US using valid H1, you will be admissed but entering US on non-imigrant visa abandons your GC (at least in theory, in reality they probably don't have ways to track everything... yet). So if you are in such situation, your safest bet is to ask someone to pass I-485 approval to you.
Click to expand...

H1 is dual-intent visa and it's OK to enter using H/L visas after approval. I-485 approval notice is not a document that can allow someone to enter USA.
 
krips99 said:
This is absolutely not true. The processing doesn't stop. If it was true, how come people report approvals while in India. In my case too, the I-485 was approved when I was in India.
Click to expand...

I heard the same from my attorney. So I guess it's true. When someone leaves USA with AP (or with valid dual intent visa), his/her AOS processing gets stopped until the person re-enter and continue his/her AOS. On the other hand, if someone leaves without AP or dual-intent visa, his/her case is considered abandoned.
However, those are all theory. In practicial world, I think, it's not possible (or practical) to implement this process. Hence, we see people getting approved while they are abroad.
 
I have also heard that BCIS puts a case on back seat when one leave the country. But the flip side is that when one exit US then I94 is taken by the airline personnel. It then goes to BCIS for manual entry, and I have heard that it is a very slow process. So in theory when one leaves US the information of the exit may not reach BCIS for sometime and the good news is that when one is back from vacation the I94 details are entered online by the officer. So the suspension time (if any) should be very minimal, if the timing is perfect then both exit and entry information might reach BCIS at the same time so no suspension.

Just keep cool and contended, things will fall in place automatically. I'll not lose my sleep or change any plans worrying about such issues.

FYI - This is personal opinion only - I'm not a immigration professional or a lawyer, consider speaking to a lawyer.

Thanks
 
Call it a coincidence but my LUD was changing everyday when i submitted response to my I-485 RFE in dec '04, it got updated everyday till 12/28 and then i left country for a vacation on 12/29 and it never got updated after that. I got affected by EB-3 retrogression that started in January.
 
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