How can I pause an EB-2 petition during EB-5 conditional residence? - EB5Investors.com

How can I pause an EB-2 petition during EB-5 conditional residence?

I am a Chinese citizen and will be filing both EB-5 and EB-2 petitions concurrently. Since the waiting period for the EB-5 petition is shorter than EB-2 for Chinese, is there a way to “pause” my EB-2 petition when I receive the conditional green card from EB-5? Because it is “conditional,” in case the I-829 does not get approved in the end, can I go back and continue my old EB-2 petition without filing a new one?

Answers

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Fredrick W Voigtmann

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

There likely is no reason to "pause" the EB-2 petition before you become a permanent resident and there is no way to keep it pending after you become one. The USCIS or the National Visa Center will hold your petition until the priority date is current. Therefore, you can have both an I-140 immigrant petition pending for EB-2 and an I-526 immigrant petition pending for EB-5 and "have a race" to see which priority date becomes current first. If you receive a conditional green card first under EB-5, the I-140 petition no longer is valid. Should your I-829 petition to remove the condition be denied, your employer would have to re-file your I-140 immigrant petition and could "recapture" the earlier priority date. Of course, the job offer would still have to be valid.

Jinhee Wilde

Jinhee Wilde

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

As long as you have an approved I-140, you have a priority date that you could use even if you start a new EB-2 case with another employer. If your employer could and would sign an employer letter to file the I-485 later, then even better as you do not have to start from the beginning with a new LC process with another employer. However, if you will do the EB-5 case, you should do a really careful due diligence so that you will only invest in a project that has very high chance of success with the I-526 as well as the I-829. There are several regional centers with a 100 percent approval track record on both. Doing both routes concurrently seems a little wasteful of time and money for you.

John J Downey

John J Downey

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

Never heard of a "pause." You either continue or, if not, they consider the petition abandoned.

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

There is no issue. You can pick and choose whichever you prefer.

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

A Olusanjo Omoniyi

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

There is no such thing as pausing an immigration petition once it is initiated. If you concurrently start the two petitions, each one will proceed according to its associated processing time, but you cannot pause either petition. Advisably, consult an attorney before you proceed further on your plan(s).

Salvatore Picataggio

Salvatore Picataggio

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

There are timelines to consider for the EB-2 as well regarding when you would actually report for the position for which you would be hired, so putting that off for two years may be tough.

Raymond Lahoud

Raymond Lahoud

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

There is no way to "pause" an application. You can possibly request that USCIS hold the application in "abeyance," but that is not realistic.

Ally Bolour

Ally Bolour

Immigration Attorneys
Answered on

I am assuming you do have an immigration attorney. If so, you should ask this question directly to him/her - they may have a more direct answer for you since they have your immigration facts. In general, one may have more than one application to legalize - one does not necessarily negate the other.

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