EB3 Pending, Now Married to US Citizen

[Niccono]

Hi Gurus,
I need some help in making a decision. My I-485 was filed in July 2005 (concurrent filing, I-140 approved) and my EB3 PD is 11/28/01 (India).
As you know, India EB3 has moved mostly no where in the last 1 year and given the dysfunction and unpredictability of the USCIS and Service Centers, there is little use in trying to guess when will dates move forward and appication approved.
However, I got married in April this year and my wife is a US citizen.
Is it possible that I apply for GC based on marriage to US Citizen (filing I130 & I485) but keep my EB3 I-485 pending. So that in case the EB3 I-485 gets approved before the marriage based I-485 gets approved, then I can simply abandon the marriage based application. And, conversely, I guess if the marriage based I-485 gets approved first and the EB3 application is still stuck in limbo then I just withdraw that application.
In a nutshell, can I have 2 I-485 based applications (one based on approved EB3 I-140 and one based on marriage to US citizen) pending for approval with the USCIS?

I understand that the marriage based GC will be conditinal for 2 years and I will have to re-validate it after 2 years and I will have to go through the hassle of filing it (I believe it takes 6 months to 1 years to get GC through marriage), but still its worth a try I think if EB3 is going to remain stuck for who-knows-how-long.

Any advice gurus?

Thanks!

 

[mmed]

Hi Gurus,
I need some help in making a decision. My I-485 was filed in July 2005 (concurrent filing, I-140 approved) and my EB3 PD is 11/28/01 (India).
As you know, India EB3 has moved mostly no where in the last 1 year and given the dysfunction and unpredictability of the USCIS and Service Centers, there is little use in trying to guess when will dates move forward and appication approved.
However, I got married in April this year and my wife is a US citizen.
Is it possible that I apply for GC based on marriage to US Citizen (filing I130 & I485) but keep my EB3 I-485 pending. So that in case the EB3 I-485 gets approved before the marriage based I-485 gets approved, then I can simply abandon the marriage based application. And, conversely, I guess if the marriage based I-485 gets approved first and the EB3 application is still stuck in limbo then I just withdraw that application.
In a nutshell, can I have 2 I-485 based applications (one based on approved EB3 I-140 and one based on marriage to US citizen) pending for approval with the USCIS?

I understand that the marriage based GC will be conditinal for 2 years and I will have to re-validate it after 2 years and I will have to go through the hassle of filing it (I believe it takes 6 months to 1 years to get GC through marriage), but still its worth a try I think if EB3 is going to remain stuck for who-knows-how-long.

Any advice gurus?

Thanks!

Any one married to USC can file family based petition. It is up to you if you want to keep your pending EB3 active or withdraw it. No effect of one application on the other.

 

[number30]

Hi Gurus,
I need some help in making a decision. My I-485 was filed in July 2005 (concurrent filing, I-140 approved) and my EB3 PD is 11/28/01 (India).
As you know, India EB3 has moved mostly no where in the last 1 year and given the dysfunction and unpredictability of the USCIS and Service Centers, there is little use in trying to guess when will dates move forward and appication approved.
However, I got married in April this year and my wife is a US citizen.
Is it possible that I apply for GC based on marriage to US Citizen (filing I130 & I485) but keep my EB3 I-485 pending. So that in case the EB3 I-485 gets approved before the marriage based I-485 gets approved, then I can simply abandon the marriage based application. And, conversely, I guess if the marriage based I-485 gets approved first and the EB3 application is still stuck in limbo then I just withdraw that application.
In a nutshell, can I have 2 I-485 based applications (one based on approved EB3 I-140 and one based on marriage to US citizen) pending for approval with the USCIS?

I understand that the marriage based GC will be conditinal for 2 years and I will have to re-validate it after 2 years and I will have to go through the hassle of filing it (I believe it takes 6 months to 1 years to get GC through marriage), but still its worth a try I think if EB3 is going to remain stuck for who-knows-how-long.

Any advice gurus?

Thanks!

That is good idea.
For the faster processing you can do Consular processing also.

 

[Jackolantern]

You can't have two active I-485's at once. Once USCIS notices both they'll either send an RFE to ask which one to cancel, or they'll directly choose one to cancel.

But you can go ahead and file the I-130. Then wait until I-130 approval and consider filing the marriage I-485 if the existing one still isn't approved (it may even be possible to tie the I-130 to the existing I-485 by interfiling, but I'm not sure if that is allowed across EB->marriage).

You should avoid the marriage-based GC interview if possible, as it is not a trivial thing for recently married couples. Not to mention the 2-year conditional rule, which is another hassle. So keep the existing EB I-485 alive for some time to give it a chance to get approved, before going the marriage-based route.