I140 approve & not eligible for adjustment of status

[egon562 0]

Hello,

My I-140 as a skilled worker was approve on July 2009 and my priority date is on April 2003. My I-797 informing me of approve I-140 also states that I am not eligible to file an adjustment of status application at this time. Since 2009 I haven't heard anything else from my lawyer.

What are the next steps? Am I suppose to just wait, for a available of visa as my lawyer has told me for the past 3 years. I was reading online, and I think that I wont be able to receive my visa until I file an adjustment of status, but my form says that i can not apply right now. What should I do?

Second topic: I have been married to a U.S.A. born citizen for four years now & we have a 3 year old child. Would it be beneficial (faster) is my spouse were to petition for me to receive the green card. Would it help that my I-140 has been approve? Would I have to leave the country?

[inqztve 42]

Hello,

My I-140 as a skilled worker was approve on July 2009 and my priority date is on April 2003. My I-797 informing me of approve I-140 also states that I am not eligible to file an adjustment of status application at this time. Since 2009 I haven't heard anything else from my lawyer.

What are the next steps? Am I suppose to just wait, for a available of visa as my lawyer has told me for the past 3 years. I was reading online, and I think that I wont be able to receive my visa until I file an adjustment of status, but my form says that i can not apply right now. What should I do?

You need to figure out when a VISA number will be available for you to complete your AOS. It depends on the country you are from and under the category I-140 was filed. My guess is it was EB-3.

Second topic: I have been married to a U.S.A. born citizen for four years now & we have a 3 year old child. Would it be beneficial (faster) is my spouse were to petition for me to receive the green card. Would it help that my I-140 has been approve? Would I have to leave the country?

Yes in most cases it will be faster. As a spouse of an USC there is no VISA cap and you will be able immediately file AOS. Mine took less than 6 months from the date of application.

I-140 is irrelevant for this process. I had the I-140 pending when we filed for family based AOS and soon after that I withdrew my I-140. But, it does make the point that you didn't marry for a green card. So, I would definitely mention it during the interview when time comes but it doesn't make the process any faster. They are independent routes to a green card and one process doesn't depend on the other.

No, you don't have to leave the country while waiting for AOS to be approved. You actually cannot leave the country without first obtaining advanced parole (AP). If you do, they will consider you abandoned you application and will deny your AOS.

Edited January 14, 2013 by inqztve

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello,

My I-140 as a skilled worker was approve on July 2009 and my priority date is on April 2003. My I-797 informing me of approve I-140 also states that I am not eligible to file an adjustment of status application at this time. Since 2009 I haven't heard anything else from my lawyer.

What are the next steps? Am I suppose to just wait, for a available of visa as my lawyer has told me for the past 3 years. I was reading online, and I think that I wont be able to receive my visa until I file an adjustment of status, but my form says that i can not apply right now. What should I do?

What visa category are you in? From the looks of the Visa Bulletin, your I-140 should be current. Tell us more.

Second topic: I have been married to a U.S.A. born citizen for four years now & we have a 3 year old child. Would it be beneficial (faster) is my spouse were to petition for me to receive the green card. Would it help that my I-140 has been approve? Would I have to leave the country?

The I-140 would have nothing to do with your spouse sponsoring you. It would take a year for your US citizen spouse to sponsor for you.

Now for the elephant in the room - you state that "would I have to leave the country?" This means you are currently here, what is your legal status? Did you enter with inspection or did you illegally enter the US?

If you are a visa overstay, then your unlawful presence will generally be ignored during when you get your green card.

If you enter the US illegally, then you got big problems. You may benefit from Obama's new directive allowing you to remain in the US while your petitioning is being processed. However, you would need to return to Mexico to get your visa. This could mean being stuck in Mexico for a few days to a few months.

Edited January 14, 2013 by aaron2020

[egon562 0]

My category is of a skilled worker. I try looking at the visa website to try to find out when a visa will be available but i dont really understand it. Help? and the country is Mexico.

My category is of a skilled worker. I try looking at the visa website to try to find out when a visa will be available but i dont really understand it. Help? and the country is Mexico.

[vbbv8118 4]

what's your EB (employment-based) category? from there, you can determine when your priority date (April 2003) will be current.

based on the January Visa Bulletin, EB-2 and EB-3 is at current and Feb 01, 2007 respectively for Mexico.

i think you better get a hold of your lawyer because if you say that your PD is April 2003, then it has been awhile since it has been current (based on the visa bulletin) and you should have already filed your I-485.

here's the January 2013 Visa Bulletin: http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5834.html

edit: you mentioned you're a skilled worker, so it'll most probably be EB-3. you can check your approved I-140 so you can see what your category is, but nonetheless, get a hold of your lawyer asap because it seems that based on what your telling us, your PD is already current for quite sometime now.

edit #2: USCIS won't tell you when your PD is current. it is up to you, in this case your lawyer to check everytime the new visa bulletin to see if your PD is current that is why you really need to get a hold of your lawyer asap.

hope this helps!

Edited January 15, 2013 by vbbv8118