Can I switch from an EB-5 green card to an EB-3 green card? - EB5Investors.com

Can I switch from an EB-5 green card to an EB-3 green card?

I have an EB-3 I-485 petition and an EB-5 I-526 application pending now. If my EB-5 I-526 gets approved first, I will only get a two-year conditional green card. In such a case, will my pending EB-3 I-485 still be valid? If the EB-3 I-485 gets approved, can I transfer the EB-5-based two-year conditional green card to the EB-3-based 10-year permanent green card?

Answers

Marko Issever

Marko Issever

EB-5 Broker Dealers
Answered on

I am afraid you will need to make a decision once your I-526 is approved. If you decide to go ahead and adjust status on the basis of your I-526 approval, then you will need to drop your EB-3 application once you get your conditional green card approved. I do not think that you could have your EB-3 still pending if you already obtained your green card through the EB-5 process. Even though you are allowed to have more than one immigrant petition pending, once one of them is approved the other one can no longer be valid. That said, these are quite complicated issues and you would be well-advised to seek the advice of a competent immigration counsel. Best of luck.

Daniel A Zeft

Daniel A Zeft

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You can proceed with several permanent residency cases at the same time. However, if you are granted permanent residency from one of the cases, then the other permanent residency case cannot proceed further.

Julia Roussinova

Julia Roussinova

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You may have both cases pending, but when USCIS is ready to approve one of them for your adjustment of status, it will ask you to withdraw the other. You may not transfer two-year green card to the 10-year green card. If you get two-year green card based on an approved I-526 petition, you must file I-829 to remove conditions on the two-year green card within the 90 days window of the expiration of the two-year green card.

Charles Foster

Charles Foster

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Yes, you can switch from an approved EB-3 with a pending I-45 petition, but you can only apply to use it for the purposes of adjusting your EB-5 petition. You can only use your EB-5 petition once it&#39s approved and a visa number is available under the quota. If in fact you get a two-year conditional green card, you would still have a pending application for adjustment of status based upon your EB-3 petition, but it would be irrelevant since you&#39re already a permanent resident. If, in theory, your EB-3 application for adjustment of status is approved based upon your EB-3 approved petition, arguably, yes, you could say you&#39re a permanent resident. You do not need to remove your conditions on your card and would get a 10-year permanent resident card.

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

If your EB-5 green card is approved first, you could seek to transfer to the EB-3 green card, provided the job offer remains, but you cannot do it in the U.S. You would have to surrender the EB-5 while out of the U.S., then process the EB-3 application via consular processing.

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

The two programs are different. It does not appear they are interchangeable.

Lynne Feldman

Lynne Feldman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You may have both concurrently and decide just before the permanent residency is approved which one you want to withdraw.

BoBi Ahn

BoBi Ahn

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

No. The EB-3 based I-485 is completely separate and won#39t be affected by your I-526 petition approval. Upon becoming a lawful permanent resident through the EB-3 processing, you also won&#39t be subject to two-year conditional permanent residence.

Salvatore Picataggio

Salvatore Picataggio

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

I think you need to bring your various receipt notices to an attorney to determine exactly what is pending with USCIS. Generally, multiple immigrant petitions can be filed (I-140, I-526), and whichever has an immigrant visa number available can be used to file an I-485. I-485 applications can also be transferred.

Hassan Elkhalil

Hassan Elkhalil

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

No. They go in parallel. I will go with whatever approval I get first.

Stephen Berman

Stephen Berman

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

You cannot adjust status if you are already a permanent resident. So if you get an EB-5-based conditional residency, you cannot switch to an EB-3.

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