I am a mainland China-born EB-5 investor on my fourth year of an H-1B visa. My I-526 petition has been approved. However, I am planning to marry a man from Hong Kong, who is also on H-1B. What applications should we submit and how long will it take us to get the EAD, as I never applied for PERM?
If you marry a Hong Kong-born individual, you can cross-charge to his country of birth and both of you should be able to apply for AOS in the U.S. Consult an immigration attorney to guide you.
The H1-B program and the EB-5 programs are governed by two different set of rules and are not transferable. With the approval of your I-526, you are now eligible to file your adjustment or visa application package if your priority date is current. Your spouse would also be eligible to file his application for permanent residency at this time.
Once you get married, based on your future husband's Hong Kong nationality (assuming he was actually born there), you will be able to file for adjustment of status immediately, as you will no longer be subject to China retrogression.
Great news! Once you are the spouse of one born in Hong Kong or any country with no EB-5 backlog, your turn will immediately be "current," which means you can file for adjustment if status right away along with your new spouse. Right now EADs are taking about four to six months. Double congrats to you!
You should be able to file for AoS after marriage based on cross chargeability.
As a mainland PRC EB-5 investor with an approved petition, should you marry a man born in Hong Kong, you can cross-charge, and both of you can qualify and immediately apply for adjustment of status based upon your approved I-526 petition. Once you have filed your application for adjustment of status on Form I-45, you can contemporaneously file an application for an employment authorization document and advance parole. Same could be issued within as little as four months. You would not have to apply for PERM given the fact that you have an approved I-526 petition.
The I-526 is the premise to qualify one's investment as a basis for someone to immigrate. However, the application to adjust status, I-485, is the necessary application to complete the immigration process for oneself and one's spouse and children under 21, assuming the priority date for the I-526 is current. See a Visa Bulletin to find that out. Through Form I-485, grounds of inadmissibility are shown not to prevent one from immigrating, or if they do, a waiver of inadmissibility can possibly be applied for. While only one I-526 qualifies the investor to immigrate, each immediate family member related to the investor prior to him becoming a permanent resident can also apply to immigrate through Form I-485.
There are options for you, but since this involves so many different aspects of immigration, you really need to discuss this in a consultation with an immigration attorney.
Your fiance may be included as well if you marry before you become a permanent resident.
After you marry, you are immediately cross-chargeable and can file to adjust status.
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