TN to GC (concurrent)

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Saneman

New Member
Fellow Canadian

I’m on TN since 2015 issued for 3 years. Updated my TN after company’s name change till 07/2020 (family members I94s) however my I94 is valid till my passport expiry of 04/2019. I was out of country for 15 days and back yesterday. Company lawyer updated that my PERM is approved a week ago. He is asking me to discuss concurrent filing (I140/485) because I’m chargeable to ROW.

Corporate HR is telling me that I can’t file if I have traveled within the last 4 months. True? I don’t know.

Before leaving US, attorney paralegal said that I need to wait for 100 days after my return before I file I-140. Nelson has answered that question in this same forum.

On a side note I’m a licensed engineer (BC) and always work for same industry and have more than 20 years of experience, out of which 16 years is in North America and employed to a huge medical company of 65000 employees. Apart from admin mistakes I don’t foresee any RFE.

I have read curiousgeorge posts and wonder what questions I should ask to my attorney. Is this enough time on my TN to go through the process, provided I94 needs to be updated to reflect 2020 expiry? Is concurrent filing the right way to go?

Thanks in advance
 
This is my take, but the reason why your lawyer suggested not to file was due to the 90 day misrepresentation rule (TN status is not dual intent).

Other senior members can comment here, but I believe you can file I-140 without having to worry about the 90 day rule, but you should wait for at least 91 days after your last entry before you can file I-485 to adjust your status.
 
CuriousGeorge mentioned that it is better to file your I-140 and I-485 separately, due to the (albeit slight) possibility of having your I-140 denied

If you file the I-485 and the I-140 concurrently, and the I-140 is DENIED for any reason, then once your TN has expired, you are out of status, and you are no longer eligible for a new TN because you've shown immigrant intent. You can call it game over, and pack up and go back to Canada. Although a good lawyer should help to ensure that an I-140 does not get denied, unforeseen issues such as lost mail, disorganized USCIS procedures and practices, and unskilled adjudication officers are just a few reasons that are out of your control as to why your I-140 may inadvertently get denied.
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Saneman said:
Before leaving US, attorney paralegal said that I need to wait for 100 days after my return before I file I-140.
Click to expand...
You are adjusting from TN to GC. Generally, filing immediately with H1/L1 is not an issue but with TN, you are risking denial as immigrant intent can be alleged. It is best to wait and file after some time. Also, it is preferable not to do concurrent filing (see other posts on this)
 
Concurrent is fine
But since you can’t file I 485 until you wait 100 days simce last entry by all means file I140 now and I485 after the waiting period.
At some point in this process you are going to be sruck in US for a few months, so bite the bullet
 
Thanks all for your suggestions. I just spoke to the attorney and he is restating the same as you have suggested, to file I140 first and wait till October to file 485. As nelsona suggested he asked me to have a blank period of 6 months to travel outside US.
 
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