FB1 - Can I-485 be filed from an M1 (student) Visa?

[dancerobot 0]

I am from canada, unmarried, and over 21, my father filed an i-130 for me that is still pending (pd: 29 Aug 2014). I am planning on attending school in the US next Jan or Sept, and was hoping that by Sept I would have a green card. Looking at the processing times, it seems I was sadly mistaken: it looks like about 2 years to get my I-130 approved (last approved file was Jan 2013) and there is a 7-year backlog on getting a visa (if I have understood the Visa Bulletin correctly: May 2007 cutoff date).

I want to do things legally. If I find my whole life has shifted to the US and I want to stay permanently, can I file for AOS (I-485) from within the US while on my M1 visa? A representative of USCIS actually recommended that on the phone today (he said I could even do it from a B2 tourist visa). Searching these forums makes it sound like doing it from a B2 is illegal (entering with the intention to reside). Does it make a difference if it is on an M1?

Thanks!

Edited September 19, 2014 by dancerobot

[aleful 1,905]

hi,

no, you cannot adjust status until your priority date becomes current, and if you are legally here in the country with some sort of visa, if not you will have to go back home and wait for consular processing, you cannot be illegally here even for 1 day, the wait is over 7 years for now, so you would need to have some sort of student visa, and then keep being legal here with another visas or keep studying. the person who spoke to you has no clue about immigration process.. Sometimes phone reps give you bad information that could be possible if you were under 21 being an immediate child of a USC, but you are over 21, immediate relatives have no wait, but you have over 7 years. You are supposed to wait in your country.

[Boiler 46,156]

You intend to spend that long on a M1?

[dancerobot 0]

aleful: thanks for the response, that makes sense regarding visa quotas. I understand now, people that would file the 485 in a case are people who have gotten married and therefore don't need to worry about visa quotas.

Boiler: not 7 years! The USCIS agent said that I could file my AOS from my M1, say this year, and it would speed up the process. Obviously he was misinformed.

So, regarding visa quotas, right now they are accepting people who filed 7 years ago, but if you look at the number of visas issued per year, and the number people on the waiting list, it looks more like 12 years until they get through to the present. Does that sound right? Or do they increase quotas to prevent that from happening?

[Boiler 46,156]

The quota is fixed, the number of applicants vary.

So you want to come to the US on a M1 for a few years and then return and wait your interview?

PS I think I have seen someone here on a F1 for 10 years plus, there was one theother day who had done 6 years with Family in tow. M's are unusual.

[dancerobot 0]

Yes, while waiting for what looks like could be 10+ years, unelss something happens in the visa offices, I will probably spend some time on a M1 or F1 student visa. We'll see how things go and what makes sense legally but my plans to move to the US permanently in the relatively near future (<4 years) seem like they need to be abandoned. I understand marriage is important but it is a bit annoying that the difference between having a parent in the US or marrying a US citizen is over 10 years of waiting! (Looking at the increasing backlog of visa issuances is disheartening, if it continues like this it will be appx 12 years for my F1 to be within the cutoff date.)