My spouse and I are Indian citizens, currently in the United States on H-1B visas, and we each just started the EB-2 green card process through our respective employers. Can I apply for the EB-5 visa while continuing my EB-2 application? Are there any advantages to not including my spouse on the EB-5 application? If so, once my I-829 is approved, could I sponsor her while she continues her EB-2 green card process with her employer?
You may pursue concurrently. EB-2 provides for a permanent green card, while EB-5 provides for a conditional (two year) green card and you will need to have the condition removed by filing I-829. I would certainly include your spouse in the I-526 petition as a derivative beneficiary. Your attorney should be able to help you with this or if you do not have one, you should definitely hire an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney.
You and your spouse can pursue different immigration routes, and you can choose to sponsor her at a later time.
You can certainly have multiple applications being processed concurrently. I certainly would include your wife in the I-829 application.
Yes, you can apply for EB-5 while continuing your EB-2 process. As for including your spouse, there is no advantage or disadvantage. If she does not immigrate with you on the conditional green card, then you may wish to proceed on different immigration routes. If she is not included in your case when you receive your conditional green card, she can follow to join you at a later date; you do not need to separately petition for her in the F-2A category. Also, as a side note, you may petition for any qualifying family members after you get your conditional green card; you do not need to wait until your I-829 is approved. Finally, keep in mind that an EB-2 approval will result in a permanent green card immediately, while an EB-5 approval results in a conditional two-year green card.
Yes, you may concurrently apply for an EB-5 visa while the EB-2 is processing. There is nothing lost by including your spouse in the EB-5 processing as a dependent derivative. No need to separately petition for her if she is included in the EB-5 immigrant investor petition and subsequent immigrant visa processing.
The U.S. immigration rules allow concurrent filing of the investors petitions. You, as the investor, can maintain your current status while filing an immigrant investor petition.
You can apply for both visas. The main advantage for including your spouse on the EB-5 application is that she can secure her own green card under EB-5 just like you, even though her EB-2 may be pending. If the EB-5 is granted earlier than the EB-2, which is more likely than not, then the EB-2 application can be withdrawn.
You may apply for both, but once one is approved, definitely withdraw the other. You do not have to include anyone as a derivative beneficiary, so if your wife wishes to continue with the EB-2, she may indeed do so. That way, she can get a lawful permanent residency without conditions.
There is no prohibition on doing both processes simultaneously.
You are very fortunate to have multiple options. Because India''s EB-2 priority date is at September 1, 2008, it would be good to have one of you do the EB-5 route to be able to get your green card faster. Your spouse should be listed in your petition so that she could get the conditional green card also. Because there is no prohibition in having multiple immigrant petitions approved, both of you should continue with the EB-2 process and obtain the I-140 approvals and keep them as a back-up in case you may have problem with I-829 approval in about 4-5 years. However, if you choose a project with a regional center that has had excellent track record in multiple EB-5 projects, you should not have too much problems with I-829, as these regional centers lock up the job creation at I-526 stage. I do have to note that each project and each regional center needs to stand on its own merit because just because a regional center has done well in one project, does not necessarily mean that they will get approvals on other projects if their job creation methodology or project formulation has changed.
You can file for EB-5 even though you have an EB-2 as long as the information you provide is consistent with both filings. There is no advantage in not including your spouse in the application. In fact, I would recommend that you include your wife''s name otherwise you are not providing complete information.
You can actually pursue both at the same time because the priority dates for EB-2 India are still far away. You can both become conditional permanent residents in the EB-5 process, which will be faster, but can keep the EB-2 process going (at least with a PERM and I-140) as a backup option.
There are no restrictions for you to apply for an EB5 visa - you can have petitions in two different categories filed at the same time.
You can apply for as many things as you want to, all at the same time.
It is not a problem, you would simply file the applications together.
