I''ve been a conditional permanent resident for over a decade because my family''s I-829 has been pending since. My employer has filed EB-3 for me and I am at the stage of waiting for interview to be scheduled at a consulate. At that point I will abandon my current conditional permanent residency and re-enter US with a new immigrant visa. Will the residency I accumulated with my current status become void for naturalization? Because I already meet requirements for naturalization in terms of residency requirements, it would help a ton if I do not need to start over.
The residency you accrued previously will not count because the requirement for naturalization is five years of continuous residence. Therefore, you will need to wait another five years after receiving your LPR status based on EB-3.
Unfortunately, I do not believe that time will count toward naturalization as the USCIS will look at the Resident Since date on your new PR card.
If you obtain a new green card, it is likely the USCIS may require you to have at least 57 months of residence based on that green card. You could certainly apply and see if the USCIS honors your current 10 years of residency. There is a good argument to support it but generally immigration tends to be restrictive when adjudicating benefits. You would need to surrender your old green card and have proof before the issuance of the new card. We have handled several similar cases and the time has to be perfect or it can cause big delays.
