Should I file i-130 alone or together with i-485? Help please!

[tony3000 0]

Hi,

I would really appreciate if you have similar experience or can give me some suggestions. My wife now is a green card holder and she will file a petition for me. My question is should we file i-130 alone or together with i-485? Is there any difference between them? I should mention I now have a H-1B visa and is working in the United states. Based on my situation (in US not abroad), is it OK that I only file i-130 alone first? Is it true that after a visa number is available, the USCIS will inform me and after that I can start to file i-485 with any other required documents such as i-864 and i-693 etc.? Thank you very much.

Tony

[Darnell 8,479]

If yer wife was a USC, I'd recommend to file both together, have an 'adjustment of status case' in the USA.

As is, she qualifies for an I-130 petition, culminating in IR-1 visa for you, but the interview will be done in yer 'home country', not USA.

Hopefully someone else can chime in ?

Edited August 18, 2010 by Darnell

[aleful 1,905]

  On 8/18/2010 at 7:52 PM, tony3000 said:

Hi,

I would really appreciate if you have similar experience or can give me some suggestions. My wife now is a green card holder and she will file a petition for me. My question is should we file i-130 alone or together with i-485? Is there any difference between them? I should mention I now have a H-1B visa and is working in the United states. Based on my situation (in US not abroad), is it OK that I only file i-130 alone first? Is it true that after a visa number is available, the USCIS will inform me and after that I can start to file i-485 with any other required documents such as i-864 and i-693 etc.? Thank you very much.

Tony

uscis won't inform you, a spouse of a USC has no waiting period, or you file the i130 and wait until it is approved to file the adjustment packet, or you file everything together.

the NVC only informs you if a person will go through consular processing.

[aleful 1,905]

  On 8/18/2010 at 8:43 PM, aleful said:

uscis won't inform you, a spouse of a USC has no waiting period, or you file the i130 and wait until it is approved to file the adjustment packet, or you file everything together.

the NVC only informs you if a person will go through consular processing.

sorry I didn't read the OP correctly. Since she is only a LPR she can only file an i130, if she were a USC then she could file the whole thing. you will have to prove that you are legally in the country to adjust here, since married to LPR usually cannot adjust in country. depending from what country you are from it can take 2-3 years, I'm not sure if maybe more.

How long does your spouse have to wait until naturalization?

[tony3000 0]

Thanks for your reply, Darnell. I understand that the petitioner can file i-130 and i-485 together for the spouse who is currently in the United states. But my wife insisted that it is OK that she files the i-130 alone and once the visa number is availabe, we can then file 1-485. I could not convince her we should file i-130 and i-485 together. I just want to know for a person like me who is now working in US with H-1B visa, is it totally OK to file only i-130 first and then file i-485 after received USCIS approval notice. Thank you very much.

Tony

[tony3000 0]

  On 8/18/2010 at 8:47 PM, aleful said:

sorry I didn't read the OP correctly. Since she is only a LPR she can only file an i130, if she were a USC then she could file the whole thing. you will have to prove that you are legally in the country to adjust here, since married to LPR usually cannot adjust in country. depending from what country you are from it can take 2-3 years, I'm not sure if maybe more.

How long does your spouse have to wait until naturalization?

Hi, Aleful,

Thanks for your kind reply. My wife got green card on August 2007 so it is just three years passed. The reason we want to file a petition now is because we found the waiting time from visa bulletin changed so fast and in September it has moved to 10Jan2010. So you think it is totally fine to fine only i-130 at this time? Maybe you think I should provide evidence that I am legally working in USA by showing my i-94 and H-1B visa information? I have seen some examples that the spouse is in US but did not provide related evidence and later the application was sent abroad for immgrant processing. thank you very much.