Seeking
an Immigration Green Card: Consular Processing vs.
Adjustment of Status
Information to Help You Choose
Between Applying for an Immigration Green Card through
Consular Processing or Adjustment of Status
The decision
of obtaining your immigration green card through consular
processing or adjustment
of status can be a complicated experience which
will impact the green card processing time. Any mistake
you make may lead to a waste of money, time, and even
still, a bar from US immigration benefits. There are
many important choices to make in this confusing process
of ultimately obtaining your immigration green card.
This site was created to give you the information
you need to make the right decisions. However, the
information in this site can in no way replace good
legal advice from an immigration lawyer in the USA.
If you haven’t
already done so, stop right now and
read our homepage. It is full of surprising information
that could save you a great deal of time and money.
Once you have read through the homepage, come back
here to find out more about green card processing
time, consulate processing, and whether it is an option
for you.
Deciding whether
to pursue an immigration green card through consular
processing or adjusting status can be a difficult
choice. The information below is meant to help give
you a better idea of what is required and involved
in each of the two available processes for ultimately
obtaining an immigration green card (lawful permanent
residence status).
CONSULAR PROCESSING
VS. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR AN IMMIGRATION GREEN
CARD
Advantages of
Consular Processing
The chief
advantage of this procedure is speed. Green card processing
time through the consulate is generally much faster
than adjusting status. The typical green card processing
time is six to eight months as opposed to one to three
years in some bureau citizenship and immigration services
(USCIS) offices around the US. Please note, however,
that the expected green card processing time will
depend on the location of the consulate abroad. Some
consulates are much busier than others so it is expected
that their green card processing time will be longer.
Also, though
seeking an immigration green card through the consulate
may proof to be inconvenient, disruptive, and expensive,
as discussed above, it can generally be accomplished
in a relatively shorter period of time. This shorter
green card processing time could be of major significance
in situations in which a child may "age out" (i.e.,
attain the age of 21 years) or owing to other considerations
which require a shortened adjudication time.
Disadvantages of Consular Processing
- Expense of time and money
to travel to the consulate for the interview
The above is more of a minor
inconvenience. However, other disadvantages may result
in long-term difficulties which must be seriously
considered such as the applicant having been unlawfully
present in the U.S. for over 6 months after April
1, 1997. This can trigger 3 or 10 year bars against
return to the US. So, leaving the US to obtain
your green card through the consulate abroad could
subject an affected individual to this potential risk.
Additionally,
it is often viewed as an inconvenience to seek an
immigration green card through the consular process
since the applicant needs to physically travel to
the foreign processing post. For this, he/she must
take additional affirmative steps to obtain certain
required information. For example, the individual
seeking consular processing must do the following
before the consulate appointment/interview:
- Obtain police clearances from
every country the applicant has spent more than
6 months in since the age of 16 (in adjustment,
the security clearance is handled by the FBI after
fingerprints have been taken) and
- Schedule an appointment for
medical examination with the recommended physician
in the home country.
Furthermore,
the applicant’s legal rights are somewhat more
limited while seeking an immigration green card at
the consulate instead of through the bureau citizenship
and immigration services (USCIS.) For example, during
your interview at the consulate, you have no right
to counsel. Hence, you cannot bring an attorney with
you to the green card interview. You must attend the
interview and answer all questions by yourself. Plus,
if the consular officer denies the application at
the consulate or embassy, the applicant cannot appeal
that decision. Finally, if there are any unforeseen
problems through the application of the immigration
green card, there is the possibility that the applicant
will be required to remain in their home country
until the problems are straightened out.
Summary of Consular
Processing Procedure For Obtaining Immigration Green
Card
The
procedure of seeking an immigration green card through
consular processing is essentially as follows:
- Once the applicant fills out
the forms sent to him/her by the USCIS in the
US, the packed of applications and supportive
documentation is then forwarded to the Embassy
or Consulate (for Canadians, it is sent back to
the National Visa Center).
- Then there is a waiting period,
the length of which varies from country to country
depending on green card processing time.
During this
waiting period, the applicant may remain in the
US only if he/she has a basis for stay and work
(for example, H-1B authorization).
Otherwise,
the applicant must return to his/her home country
to await further instructions from the consulate/embassy.
Advantages of
Adjustment of Status
Seeking an
immigration green card through adjustment of status
has several advantages. First, processing can take
place with no traveling abroad. Also, the immigration
green card applicant can work while waiting for processing
to take place. Finally, processing an immigration
green card application in the US means that potential
bars on reentry can be avoided that might prevent
consular processing.
For example,
seeking a green card through adjustment of status
allows the applicant to address any discrepancies
or problems during the processing of the adjustment
application by submitting additional documentation;
that which cannot be done through consular processing.
(During consular processing of immigration green
card application, the applicant must explain any inconsistencies
at the personal interview.)
Also, the
average green card processing time for an adjustment
application is generally between 10-18 months (longer
in some jurisdictions), though the applicant can obtain
the employment and travel authorization within three
months of filing the applications.
Is it possible
to simultaneously do BOTH consular processing AND
adjustment of status?
The question
often arises over whether it is possible to seek an
immigration green card through BOTH consular processing
and adjustment of status simultaneously. The question
is controversial. There is no statutory bar to processing
both ways, but the INS takes the position that if
it learns that one is pursuing an immigration green
card through both consular processing and adjustment
of status at the same time, it will consider an adjustment
application abandoned.
This would
typically arise when someone is in the process of
adjusting status and files a request with the INS
to cable an approval notice to a consulate to initiate
consular processing. However, the issue will typically
not arise in the reverse circumstances – when
one begins with consular processing and then decides
to pursue adjustment of status.
IMPORTANT:
You must NOTE that an applicant may be INELIGIBLE
or uninterested in adjusting status. Ineligibility
to adjust status may stem from various reasons, including:
- being in unlawful immigration
status on the date of filing the adjustment application,
invalid admission to the United States,
- violating the terms of the
nonimmigrant status, or,
- being in unlawful status in
the U.S. for a period of time which, in the aggregate,
exceeds 180 days (though there are some exceptions
to ineligibility to adjust)
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