If you want to leave the U.S. while the government is processing an I-485, you must be given “advance parole” before you leave. If you have H1B, H-4, L-1, or L-2 status, you may choose to come back to the U.S. in one of these statuses rather than using the advance parole. Not everyone who files the I-485 should apply for advance parole or use it to travel outside the U.S., even if the government gave them permission to travel (advance parole). If you have been unlawfully present for 180 days or more before you filed the I-485, you should not travel outside the U.S. while the government processes your I-485 or will not be able to enter the U.S. for 3 - 10 years.

Category: Adjustment of Status

Anyone who wants to get a green card can do that by filing an I-485 to adjust status to “lawful permanent resident” or by going to a consular processing interview to get an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate outside the U.S. People generally choose to do consular processing at the I-130 or I-140 stage and go through the National Visa Center (NVC) once the I-130 or I-140 petition is approved. If you ask for an I-485 process at the beginning, but later you want to do the consular processing, you have to file an I-824 to tell the NVC. If you want to do consular processing at the beginning, but later want to do the I-485, you can do that inside the United States, but there could be a wait in obtaining the I-485 approval if your application has to be sent from the consulate or NVC to the USCIS Service Center.

Category: Adjustment of Status

You can take it at any time, but the medical exam is submitted with the I-485 application or a consular interview. For the I-485, you should enter the medical exam information on Form I-693. Generally, this information must be less than 1 year old when you file the I-485. In consular processing cases, the medical exam must be completed in the country where the consular interview will take place within a time-period provided by the consulate.

Category: Adjustment of Status

If you want to work legally in the United States, you must have official work authorization. Generally, if you file an I-485 you can get an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which gives you the permission to work. You have to keep the valid EAD with you to use it to work legally. If you have an H1B or L-1, you may choose to use the H1B or L-1 to work in the U.S. instead of the EAD, even if you have a pending I-485.

Category: Adjustment of Status

Someone who wants to file an I-485 application for adjustment of status must be in the United States when they apply. In a family-based preference case, the person applying must wait until the priority date (the date the I-130 was filed) is current. In an immediate-relative case, the I-130 petition and I-485 application may be filed together. In an employment-based case, the applicant must wait until the priority date is current. The priority date in an employment-based case is the date you filed the labor certification, or the date the I-140 petition was filed, if you did not need to file a labor certification. If the employment-based priority date is current, an I-485 application may be filed at the same time as an I-140.

Category: Adjustment of Status

The USCIS provides processing times online. These processing times are not guaranteed and are only estimates of how long processing might take for I-485s and other cases. Even if it seems USCIS should be making a decision on your case based on the posted processing times, it cannot approve an I-485 unless the priority date is current.

Category: Adjustment of Status

A child born in the United States is automatically a United States citizen and does not have to apply. A United States citizen child must be listed as a dependent but does not need to file an application or petition with the USCIS to get an immigration benefit. We do advise permanent resident or green card applicants to take copies of their children's birth certificates, if not the children themselves, to USCIS interviews.

Category: Adjustment of Status