I-485 and J1 Visa - very worried

[fifoboy]

I filed I-130 and I-485 concurrently for my wife who is currently here in the US on a valid J1 visa. Everything seemed to be going ok, until she told her international center advisor (she works at a university) that we had filed the I485. At that point he told her that we were in big trouble because as soon as we filed the 485 we had invalidated her J1 and that she had been working illegally ever since! Needless to say we are very much in panic mode now because we have our interview scheduled next month! If anybody out there has any advice on this, I'd really appreciate I'm terribly worried that I really messed everything up this is going to derail the greencard process for my wife.

Thanks so much!

[wavedom]

According to some sources it seems like it’s possible to work in J1 status even if AOS has been filed.

[fifoboy]

Thanks, now worried about the EAD.

Ok, so from reading that post, it seems like my wife should be ok, but that rules seem a little hazy around the J1. However, from reading through that post it seems as though we should have applied for the EAD when we did our concurrent filing... somehow I missed that (I really think now I should have just used a lawyer for all of this). So should we try to submit the 765 as soon as possible? And what exactly is the EAD needed for, is it to cover her during the time between when we file for the AOS and when she actually gets the green card?


Thanks again so much!

[wavedom]

I don’t know exactly how the rules work in terms of working on a J1 and filing for AOS, but I can’t see how applying for an EAD would hurt your situation. It will probably take two or three months to process the I-765 so she might get her green card before the EAD, in which case the EAD is no longer needed. The point with the EAD is, as you write, to allow the AOS applicant to work before the I-485 goes through, since the I-765 most often goes faster than the I-485.

[fifoboy]

Update

I spoke with an immigration attorney about this morning, and he assured me that her J1 is all she needs and that the EAD is only for the case where she didn't any any other valid way to work here until the greencard is issued. So in our case, if her J1 was going to expire before she gets the greencard, then we should plan ahead for the EAD, but otherwise we're fine.

Thanks for all the input on this thread, and if anyone needs a good immigration lawyer in SE Michigan, pm me and I can send you contact information for the lawyer I spoke with, he was really helpful and really knew his stuff!

[zoom123]

She is fine to work if her J1 is still valid. (The university advisor's not much know about immigration)
Be prepare for the interview, Collect all required documents.

Good Luck