Issues with converting TN to GC

A

ark00ark

New Member
My facts:
- I am a Canadian citizen on TN in the US since 1997
- Wife is a Canadian citizen too. We married just before moving to the US.
- Wife had a GC since before our marriage, and has been a US citizen since 2008.
- Kids are both Canadian and US citizens.

My understanding:
- I can get a greencard within a year if my wife sponsors me.

My dilemma:
- My employer's [external] immigration attorneys have advised my employer that employees should not file directly from a TN to a GC. Since the TN is given on the basis of non-permanent intent, and if I apply directly to a GC I could be charged with lying about my intent when I applied for my TN.
- They recommend I first switch to a H1B and then apply for a GC. Is this true, or is the immigration firm out to fleece my employer and run me through unnecessary process?

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.
 
You can apply for your GC, instead of adjustment of status in US if you go for CP it will cover the legal issues concerning intent.
 
Please see: http://www.americanlaw.com/dintent.html

Dual intent is not recognized for TN workers. INA 214(e)(2) provides that the TN category is to be treated as a regular admission class under §101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"). It is therefore subject to INA §214(b). However, it is arguable that dual intent should be recognized for the TN category in light of the fact that the INA does not specifically require a TN worker to maintain a foreign residence abroad. Further, a 1996 letter from Yvonne LaFleur, Chief of the Business and Trade Branch at the INS’ Benefits Division, suggested that a TN worker who was the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition could still have nonimmigrant intent, if the alien intended to consular process his or her immigrant case rather than adjust status. Although this letter was not intended to be binding on INS officers, it is followed by several ports-of-entry.
 
As has been shown countless times, nothing is "cancelled" when one applies for GC (eithr I-485 or IV). What happens is one cannt enter on TN or renew TN.

However, as the curious george post explains, one simply has to stay put in US between the time one files for I-485 and the time they get EAD/AP which is at most 3-4 months.
 
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