Adjustment of status is the process of a person legally inspected and admitted into the US adjusting their status to conditional or permanent lawful resident status (Green Card Holder). To be eligible to adjust status, a visa number must be immediately available. In cases of Immediate Relative Petitions such as Marriage Green Cards, there is always a visa available and consequently, spouses of US Citizens are eligible to adjust status immediately. Similarly, certain Employment Based Green Cards generally have an immediately available visa such as EB1 Extraordinary Ability Petitions.
Unfortunately, many petitions that will eventually lead to permanent resident status do not have immediately available visas causing a long gap of time between the date the underlying petition was approved and the ability to apply for adjustment of status. This is very common for preference relative petitions and second and third preference Employment Based Petitions (EB2 & EB3). Consequently, it is very important in these situations to maintain nonimmigrant status while waiting for an available permanent visa, making it extremely important to fully understand your case and map out the most efficient and effective strategy with an experienced Immigration Law Firm such as Cipolla Law Group.
To map out your Immigration Strategy and understand when you will likely be able to adjust your status contact the Law Offices of Ashley Dworsky for a consultation.