I-140 approved. What's next?

[vicow]

Dear All,

Need some of your advice on my situation:

1. I've been reading about I-140 portability and wonder from which date should I start the calculation from?

2. I was born in Macau which was not part of Mainland China when I was born (Macau has become part of China since 1999). Should I use the priority date under "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed" or "CHINA-mainland born"?

3. "All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed" EB3 priority date: 5/1/05
"CHINA-mainland born" EB3 priority date: 10/1/02
My priority date: 3/8/07
Does it mean I will need to wait at least 2 more years before USCIS begins reviewing my file?

4. My H1B status (6th year) will expire 10/1/2010. Is my status looking good that I can get green card before I am out of status?

5. A friend of mine said he chose to go back to his home country (Indonesia) for interview and this expedites the process rather than waiting in US. Have you heard about this?


Thanks,
Vicki

Priority date: 3/8/07
I-140 receipt date: 7/27/07
I-485 receipt date: 7/27/07
Fingerprint date: 7/25/08
I-140 (EB3) approval notice date: 1/23/08

 

[Jackolantern]

1. You can't port the I-140 itself. But you can port the priority date of your old I-140 to a new I-140. However, with more than 180 days having passed since filing your I-485, you can change to a "same or similar" job under AC21 without a new I-140 or new I-485. Filing a new I-140 would be useful only if you wanted to change to a very different kind of job* (i.e. a job that would not meet the AC21 "same or similar" criteria), or you wanted to change to a higher category like EB2 or EB1.

2. Don't know

3. The visa bulletin dates can jump forward or backward by large amounts, so nobody knows when they will reach your file. However, you could use the 2 years as a very rough estimate. That's assuming they don't count you as China, which would give you an estimated 5-year wait. However, they don't wait for those dates to review your file, they wait for those dates to move to approve your case.

4. I don't think you will get your green card before your H1B expires. However, because your priority date is more than a year before your H1B expires, they will allow renewing the H1B in one-year increments (and 3 year increments, in some cases) until your green card is approved or rejected. And you can continue working with an EAD after your H1B expires, even if you don't renew the H1B. I hope you have an EAD or at least applied for one.

5. It may be a little faster to do it that way in some countries, but even when it is faster it's only a few months difference. The bigger problem is that your priority date must be current in order to be interviewed at the consulate, so you're still going to wait a long time anyway. The other problem is that if you request consular processing, they'll withdraw your I-485, which would invalidate any EAD you have.


*the "same or similar" criteria does not matter for side jobs that you obtain with an EAD. It is your main full time job that must adhere to the AC21 criteria if you change jobs.

 

[vicow]

Thank you very much for your reply! Very useful information! I'm so glad there's this forum to help. =)