US Immigration I-485/AOS FAQ

For employment-based cases (or any case filed with service centers), yes. For cases filed at the local/district office (most family-based cases), it depends on the policy at the particular office.

This is a common source of confusion. No, you do not have a choice. Employment based I-485s must always be filed at the Nebraska Service Center. Family-based I-485s are filed at the Missouri Service Center. And if your I-485 is asylum based, you must always file at the Nebraska Service Center, no matter where you live.

Sadly, no, unless you move to a different city - and that, of course, can be problematic in particular for employment-based cases. You must always use the office or service center (depending on your case type) that has jurisdiction over where you live.

For employment-based cases, interviews are usually waived. Only about 5% of all cases will be interviewed. About 3% of all cases are considered "suspicious" for some reason, or need some kind of clarification. Another 2% are pulled at random for quality control purposes. If you are selected for the interview, you will receive a notification that your case has been forwarded to the local office. (this also sometimes happens if the service center is overloaded, so don't panic just because you get this notification).

It can mean several things. At times, INS forwarded cases to different offices simply because they are overloaded. In that case, it can actually mean that your case will be processed faster. The other possibility is that your case has been selected for an interview for some reason or another.

First, get the approval notice from the US. Have somebody send it. Then use the approval notice in place of the H-1B or Advance Parole document (you should still show the H-1B petition or Advance Parole document). You should in this case be granted deferred inspection. Go to the local USCIS office with your approval notice for final processing.

This question can become important when you apply for citizenship. The answer to this question is actually not quite clear. I believe that you are a permanent resident effective the date you returned to the US, but have heard other people suggest that you might be a permanent resident as of the approval date.

Maybe. According to a recent law change (known as AC21), you are supposed to be able to change employers within the same field if the I-485 takes at least six months to process. The exact meaning of this clause, though, has not been defined because neither INS nor USCIS issued regulations yet.

The letter of the law allows this because it says if the I-485 takes at least six months to process rather than after the I-485 has been pending for six months. However, because of the lack of regulations and INS/USCIS history of tightening regulations beyond what the letter of the law allows, many attorneys will recommend that their client try and actually stay with the employer for six months.

Maybe. Ask an experienced attorney for advice.

One condition for using the AC21-provision is that the I-140 must have been approved. So if your employer revoked it before approval, you are out of luck.

• Your new job must be in the same field as the old one. Unfortunately, the lack of regulations also means that same field is not well defined.
• Your salary should be the same as specified in the LC. Once again, because of the lack of regulations, it is not clear if this requirement actually exists.
• Your new job needs to be full-time.
• Your I-140 must have been approved.

As part of the I-485 package, you should have form I-693. Take this form to a USCIS-approved civil surgeon. He will conduct the examination and return the form to you in a sealed envelope. Keep the envelope sealed. If you file your I-485 at a USCIS service center, include it with the I-485. If filing at the local office, procedures vary. Some offices expect the I-693 together with the I-485, while most expect it at the time of the interview.

The I-693 expires after one year, if you have not filed it with USCIS. It does not expire any more after filing, regardless of how long USCIS takes to process your case.