Re: to TheRealCanadian
Originally posted by whatagc
you mean all the cases those are under 245(i) going to be denied ? What if candidate already mentioned while submission of i-485 it self(assume that took care of whatever the things needed !)
Not at all. Let me elaborate.
Section 245 of the INA states that if you've ever been out of status since your last admission to the US, you are ineligible to adjust status and must do CP to get your Green Card. However, there are two significant exceptions to this.
First, if you are an EB-485 filer, as most of us are, you are covered under Section 245k which allows you to adjust status without penalty if you were out of status for 180 days or less. This covers minor, "technical" violations. Section 245i allows you to adjust status no matter how long you were out of status for, provided that your priority date (in most cases the LC filing date) was April 30/2001 or earlier, and you were physically present in the US on December 22/2000. In order to get relief under 245i you must pay a $1000 penalty fee.
In practice, if USCIS suspects you were out of status, if it's less than 180 days then they do nothing since you were covered by 245K. If they believe that there is a status violation greater than 180 days, they will send you a Notice of Intent to Deny which usually suggests that you file the I-485A form with the $1000 penalty.
Please note that this isn't a denial. It's just a "we are going to deny you unless you do this." The only tricky thing about an NOID is that you only get 30 days to respond, not 90 like an RFE.
If you already claim relief under 245i by filing the I-485A and the $1000 fee, you'll be fine, although in most cases if there's any doubt at all I would suggest you not pay the money and let USCIS send you the NOID first. You may save $1000.