Prepare to file I485

[BBear123]

I have a quick question regarding 485 filing. I am current and will be filing 485 in Feb. I have everything set - except for one issue. I am currently on a Leave-of-Absence for one year that will finish in Sept 2012 (this is quite common in academic jobs, I am essentially not teaching but working on my research). My employer has no problem issuing me an EVL (I got my H1B visa stamped in Nov using one), however, since I am on leave, I do not have any pay-stubs. I have noticed that some filers are attaching pay-stubs while others are not. Do you think this is a problem? Should I just file with an EVL and no pay-stubs?? Thanks.

imdeng, my immigration attorney asked for my taxes but not for pay stubs. I think this has to be one of those optional things that some application packets may have?

This is just my personal experience but several other people in my company have gone through the same law firm and the procedure has been the same.

[Desperate8]

I have a quick question regarding 485 filing. I am current and will be filing 485 in Feb. I have everything set - except for one issue. I am currently on a Leave-of-Absence for one year that will finish in Sept 2012 (this is quite common in academic jobs, I am essentially not teaching but working on my research). My employer has no problem issuing me an EVL (I got my H1B visa stamped in Nov using one), however, since I am on leave, I do not have any pay-stubs. I have noticed that some filers are attaching pay-stubs while others are not. Do you think this is a problem? Should I just file with an EVL and no pay-stubs?? Thanks.

Well, this is my 2 cents on this.

1.You can very well enclose a company letter which would establish the fact that the "Future employment" is still valid.

2.The reason for paysutbs been submitted is to prove your legal status.You could well send supporting documents that would add value to your case.

[bieber]

Paystubs are not required per 485 instructions. Section 11B.

vizcard

can you please provide the link to the document that you are referrring?

thanks

[enigma]

I posted the below question in the 485 thread but I am posting it here as well since this thread seems to be lot more active and has better visibility.

I will be current in February and am preparing to file for AOS (a lot sooner than expected like most other 2009ers)

I have a question regarding my situation -

Back in 2009 I applied for and got my Australian Permanent residency approved - I had been in US for 9 years by then and lost hope with US GC and decided to try my luck elsewhere. Please note that even though I have my Australian PR I have lived and worked in the US all along.

Now that I am current and eligible to apply for AOS, I am curious to know if my Austrlaian PR could anyway be an impediment to my US GC process. Has anyone been through a similar situation before or have any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

[vishnu]

consult your attorney on this or browse online for people in similar situations (more with canadian pr approved). my feeling is that there is no problem so long as u intend to make the US your home... in doing so, i guess your aussie PR would lapse at some point anway.

[SIII140]

Hi,

I need to know urgently if this is a normal way of doing business:
My lawyer says I need to pay him the USCIS fees and then he will cut checks to USCIS when he sends my application. This is not my company lawyer and my company is paying nothing.

Is it better to give him certified checks addressed to US DHS instead? But unlike normal checks, I wont come to know through my online account about the certified check being cashed, so that benefit is lost.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[gc0907]

From my general understaning, the GC process itself shouldn't affect your Australian PR. What you might want to consider is the rules that might affect your A-PR and GC once you have multiple PRs.
e.g. US GC has some rules that define if you are maintaining the PR status:

So check if there's something similar for A-PR. Also you might want to post this question on some australian PR forum as well.

Folks,

I will be current in February and am preparing to file for AOS (a lot sooner than expected like most other 2009ers)

I have a question regarding my situation -

Back in 2009 I applied for and got my Australian Permanent residency approved - I had been in US for 9 years by then and lost hope with US GC and decided to try my luck elsewhere. Please note that even though I have my Australian PR I have lived and worked in the US all along.

Now that I am current and eligible to apply for AOS, I am curious to know if my Austrlaian PR could anyway be an impediment to my US GC process. Has anyone been through a similar situation before or have any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

[imdeng]

Thanks everyone. Your responses are much appreciated. My conclusion is that Pay Stubs are not mandatory and an EVL should do the trick. Thanks.

Well, this is my 2 cents on this.

1.You can very well enclose a company letter which would establish the fact that the "Future employment" is still valid.

2.The reason for paysutbs been submitted is to prove your legal status.You could well send supporting documents that would add value to your case.

imdeng, my immigration attorney asked for my taxes but not for pay stubs. I think this has to be one of those optional things that some application packets may have?

This is just my personal experience but several other people in my company have gone through the same law firm and the procedure has been the same.

Paystubs are not required per 485 instructions. Section 11B.

[fudge-it]

this is not a thread about predictions/calculations anymore..?

[vizcard]

vizcard

can you please provide the link to the document that you are referrring?

thanks

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-485instr.pdf

Section 11B (page 4)

[SIII140]

Hi,

I need to know urgently if this is a normal way of doing business:
My lawyer says I need to pay him the USCIS fees and then he will cut checks to USCIS when he sends my application. This is not my company lawyer and my company is paying nothing.

Is it better to give him certified checks addressed to US DHS instead? But unlike normal checks, I wont come to know through my online account about the certified check being cashed, so that benefit is lost.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[qesehmk]

Point well taken.

I guess we encourage but don't restrict people to post only relevant posts. We try to clean up the thread offline. But honestly that's a very time consuming effort. And I do it once in a while.

this is not a thread about predictions/calculations anymore..?

[dexter2010]

Greetings,

I'm posting this question on behalf of my friend who is desperately seeking some advise as his lawyer has not been very clear.

His situation is as follows:

His PD is Nov 2009 and he will be current as of Feb 1st 2012. He is here on H1 and his spouse is on H4. VISA has been stamped on their passport. They have two kids and they are american citizens.

He has to travel to India in the month of February to attend to a personal matter that cannot be easily postponed. His lawyer has suggested that he should file for AOS/EAD/AP on the first day of February, wait for the receipts to come (he indicated that it usually takes about a week to get the receipts) and then travel to India. The appointment for FP usually takes 6 to 8 weeks and he can be back in time for that. In case the FP appointment comes up early then he can reschedule that for a later date.

Would this be a good route to adopt? Would they have any problems considering that the FP process is not yet done and they leave the country?

The other option is that he prepones his visit to india and returns by 3rd week of February and then files for AOS. He will finish his medical tests etc before he leaves for India.

Please advise on what you would recommend.

[randomax]

thanks Veni, and how long does it usually take to get a receipt from the time I send my application for I-485? Also, would my wife need to be in the country as well? She will be added to my GC application. thanks.

randomax,

You would know in about 4-5 weeks if you are going to be current!

1) You need to be physically present in US when your AOS applications reach USCIS, i would not recommend leaving US without receipt notice(electronic or hard copy).

2) Since dates are moving in controlled manner i would not worry much for a two week delay in submitting AOS forms.

In any event, for a June-2010 PD i don't expect GC in hand before end of 2012, unless something is really wrong with the data we have on hand.

[veni001]

thanks Veni, and how long does it usually take to get a receipt from the time I send my application for I-485? Also, would my wife need to be in the country as well? She will be added to my GC application. thanks.

randomax,
Receipts will take couple of weeks, Yes your spouse need to be physically in US to be able to apply for AOS(485).

[gc0907]

My lawyer asked for two separate checks. You can ask the lawyer that you would like to give separate checks. I am not sure why he should deny.
One thing I can think of why someone could ask this is - they can use your money for a week or two.

Hi,

I need to know urgently if this is a normal way of doing business:
My lawyer says I need to pay him the USCIS fees and then he will cut checks to USCIS when he sends my application. This is not my company lawyer and my company is paying nothing.

Is it better to give him certified checks addressed to US DHS instead? But unlike normal checks, I wont come to know through my online account about the certified check being cashed, so that benefit is lost.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[zenmaster]

I found this EVL format on **'s some page. Hope this might help someone :

<DATE>

US Department of Homeland Security
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service
<your Service Center address>

Re: Permanent Residence of <primary applicant's name>

Dear Sir or Madam:

This letter is to confirm that <primary applicant's name> will be employed with us on full time, permanent basis upon receiving approval of his permanent residence application. He will receive an annual salary of no less than <annual salary as per your labor cert, could be more, not less>. His job title will be <job title as per labor cert.>, and he will be performing the following duties:

<As per job description of your labor cert Develop Java, J2EE, Web development, database dev, ETL, C++, and whatever the duties are there list in your labor cert>

Please feel free to contact us if your office should require any further information.


Sincerely,


<signature, name and title of authorized person>
<employer name>

[zenmaster]

In my case, law firm sent full invoice to employer inclusive of filing fees. So i guess lawyer will write his own check/create money order etc...
I wont be able to track check cashing... but i guess its ok
Why bother about cashed checks when i know i am not gonna get GC before 2014
My pd is May2009.

[funnysummer2005]

Hi guys- so far i have the following supporting documents that i will be sending to the lawyer. can someone see if i have missed anything:

1) Birth certificate
2) OLD EAD cards
3) Passport copies
4) Visa copies
5) College degree
6) All I-797 notices from prior visas and I-140 approval
7) Pay stubs
8) W2 stubs
9) Tax returns
10) Bank statements
11) Bank letter
12) Employer letter
13) I-94
14) Photos

These are the forms that i think i need to fill out.

1) I-485
2) Biographical form G-325A
3) EAD form
4) Advance parole form
5) Attorney rep form
6) Internet notification form
7) Medical form

Pls tell me if i have missed anything here.

thanks and good luck all.

[EB2-03252009]

I am ONE among them

20k H1's are for MS guys, assume 50% them applied for GC's every year . ie 10k. 50% chances are there 5k are unmarried in that pool or in dilemma to file or rushing for finding girl, this definetely take atleast 6 months to 1 year for them to file.most of them finishes MS by 23 years + 2.5 years OPT + 2 years H1 they start apply for GC=28 years

so since Jan 1st 2008 to Jan 1st 2010 there must be atleast 8k . i.e 17% huge....what do you guys think?

[gkjppp]

I am ONE among them

I wish you will definetely find a girl before retro...you got more 79 days to file...

[EB2-03252009]

I guess I wont apply this time, as I might get married during later part of the year. so I will wait. Don't know when again my dates will be current. Its disappointing that you wait all these years and suddenly u r at a point tht u cannot apply.. thts okay.. there is always next time!

I wish you will definetely find a girl before retro...you got more 79 days to file...

[free2talk]

I guess I wont apply this time, as I might get married during later part of the year. so I will wait. Don't know when again my dates will be current. Its disappointing that you wait all these years and suddenly u r at a point tht u cannot apply.. thts okay.. there is always next time!

I think you should apply for EAD right now and also maintain your H1 status.
Your wife can then come with you on H4.If the date retrogresses, which it will, you can file for her 485 and GC when it opens again.I have a friend who got EAD in the July EB2 fiasco,got married in 2010 and now when his date got current in July 2011 he applied for 485 for his wife and they both have their GC's now.Its important to stay on your H1 for this to work.If you plan to move to EAD then of course this wont work.

[ragx08]

I think you should apply for EAD right now and also maintain your H1 status.
Your wife can then come with you on H4.If the date retrogresses, which it will, you can file for her 485 and GC when it opens again.I have a friend who got EAD in the July EB2 fiasco,got married in 2010 and now when his date got current in July 2011 he applied for 485 for his wife and they both have their GC's now.Its important to stay on your H1 for this to work.If you plan to move to EAD then of course this wont work.

If spouse can change his/her status to H1B, then moving over to EAD should be OK - I guess?!

[enigma]

Thanks Vishnu and gc0907 for your insight. I did some googling as well and it looks like the majority of them indicate that holding a PR of another country should not have any impact on US GC process.

From my general understaning, the GC process itself shouldn't affect your Australian PR. What you might want to consider is the rules that might affect your A-PR and GC once you have multiple PRs.
e.g. US GC has some rules that define if you are maintaining the PR status:

So check if there's something similar for A-PR. Also you might want to post this question on some australian PR forum as well.