Pl help!!

S

skusa

Registered Users (C)
Jigesh and experts here, help pl!!!
Hi,

I need advice, pl help me

My EB1-OR is pending since may and with long wait finally this week I applied for I-485, EAD and AP taking the advantage of the concurrent filling and due to the delay of I-140 approval. I am working at univ and came here on J1, got waiver in jan this yr and my univ. insisted me to go for EB1 rather than changing to H1b. Now the problem is that my J1 is valid till April 2003 and with this delay in I-140 approval, am thinking of changing to H1b with premium processing, now my question is

1) is it safe to work on EAD if my I-140 gets approved soon and not switchng to H1b, especially with this premium processing I will save $1000. I mean will it be problem for I-485 delays ect the way things are now
2) I am planning to visit India, next yr by april-may, so is there risk for H1b visa stamping at the consulate in mumbai since I will have 485 pending.
3) Travelling on AP means making H1b void, what should I opt for?

I am just lost, pl give me suggestions

thanks a lot

Shobhana
 
I am no expert as you might have wished me to be. However, here are my personal non-legal points of view:

1. You can work on EAD until I-485 adjudication. However, it is safer also to keep H-1B option. If I were you, I would do both even if H-1B is not necessary once you have EAD.

2. H-1B is a dual-intent non-immigrant visa. So you are allowed to have immigration intention while seeking for H-1B stamp. So no problem if paperwork is in order. (You would face problems if you were applying for F-1, J-1 or B-2 or other non-immigrant visas because you are required to prove that you don't have immigration intention.) Also, you can enter the US on AP even if they happen to deny H-1B (which I see a very low probability).

3. I, in your position, would travel on H-1B. However, keep AP and EAD current.

My views might sound over-safe to some. However, it's better to be safe than sorry especially in current uncertainties with the INS.

By the way, you can also give it a thought to go for consular processing (CP) if by chance I-140 gets approved for CP AND if you and your dependents (if any) always maintained legal stay/status in the US.

Best wishes,

Jigesh

Disclaimer: Personal non-legal point of view only.
 
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thank you

Thank you very much Jigesh! and for the good explaination. I had seen your replies when I was in my J1waiver process, and it helped a lot that time.

Yes, I am planning to have H1b as backup to be safe, I start to feel that spending 1000$ primium processing will be atleast worth rather tha scary thoughts and worries!! but the only confusion I had was about H1b stamping in mumbai, which you clarified.

Pl suggest me the link to go search for CP. Actually I mailed all the AOS documents this week only, is it then ok to pursue for CP then once I-140 is approved. and which one is more faster?

thanks a lot again for your kind suggestions.

Shobhana
 
Here is an additional link for general FAQ and might be somewhat informative: http://ti.3law.net/faq/faq_485pending.htm

As for AOS vs. CP, here is a link: http://www.murthy.com/UDaosvcp.html
You can find many links by google search. Neither CP nor AOS seems to be a clear winner - there are trade-offs. Decide which way to go as per your circumstances.

My I-140 was approved for CP even if I had specified AOS. However, if your I-140 is approved for AOS and if you want to do CP, you will need to submit I-824. It seems that CP in India takes around 6 to 8 months while I-485 takes 12-15 months if no personal interview due to local transfer. For recent successful CP, look at this post: http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?threadid=68041
Contact the poster ("Mainer") if you need more information.

Following is a good question at the US Consulate, Mumbai:
http://usembassy.state.gov/mumbai/wwwhimmi.html#empcases

Hope the pointers above give you enough preliminary information to begin with.

Best wishes,

Jigesh

Disclaimer: Personal non-legal point of view only.
 
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thanx

Thank you again Jigesh.

I am hoping that my EB1 gets approval soon, ND is may, that will sort out main worries. I will go through the CP and then think.

For AOS, I have a question, after you file 485 and once FP is done then how long it takes a yr or so??? or it depends on the geography of where you reside. I read in one of your posts that your NIW is transfered to local INS office and guess its same for EB1 people too, for me its Pitt INS. once the case is transfered to the local office then is it fast or slow?
and also the portability issue is applicable for EB1OR cases- the standard 180days of waiting period for job change?

Shobhana
 
Date of FP has seemingly no conclusive influence on the duration of waiting till approval. Local transfers mostly (except transfers to Maryland and Newark, NJ to some extent, where people have reported relatively prompt interviews/calls) result in extended delays. Many EB-1 and most of the NIW-based I-485 have been observed to follow a recent trend of local transfers. Cases are typically transferred during adjudication stage (that means during the period when a particular RD is being processed for approval/denial/RFE). Mine is a Feb/2002 RD - so my case is yet not transferred. They, highly likely, guessing from the recent trends, will transfer it to NYC local center when they will process Feb/2002 RD cases. NYC local center is one of the slowest (slower than a snail) local centers. However, in general (Baltimore, MD being an exception to some), even if a local center is very very fast, since cases are transferred during adjudication stage, approval is essentially delayed despite completion of review of relevant paper work at the VSC by adjudicating officer there. EB-1 forum on this site have reported several I-140 local transfers of EB-1EA and NIW-based I-140s (not necessarily belonging to the concurrent filings). This kind of I-140 stage local transfer was extremely rare otherwise in pre-09/11 era.

As for the portability issue, I don't know for EB-1OR. EB-1 is basically an employment-based category so they should apply AC21 to these cases, too. But in absence of definitive guidance from the INS, better not to take any risk and stay with the original sponsor. Anyway, you must be with a university - and they typically don't lay off EB-1OR - so anxiety right now is a bit not-so-relevant.

Best wishes for your EB1-OR (these are the smoothest I-140 in EB-1 category in my view).

Jigesh
 
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