140 approved and wife on F1 -completing MS

[vijaydsaradhi]

Hello JoeF, pontevecchio

Need your expert advice. I've filed for my GC when I was single on Aug 10 2007, had my 140 approved in 2008 and then got married. October month's visa bulletin gave a sigh of relief as I'm 25 days behind. I have few questions now

1. My wife is currently on F1 visa and planning to graduate in December. She needs to apply for OPT by this month end or early next month in order for her to be in status after December and I heard that this process could take upto 3 months. During November time if the GC date moves, can I add her to 485 application even though her OPT application is pending?

2. If I cannot have both 485 & OPT applications at the same time, which one should we opt for (apply for 485 vs apply for opt)?

Thanks,

Vijay

[Belle]

Since you wife has independent status, she is not impacted by your approval in any way. She should be able to file I-485 once 90 days since her OPT approval pass. Once she files I-485, she is presumed to maintain F1 status, but she can no longer extend it or enter on F1. If the dates become current and then suddenly retrogress, she may still file I-485 without waiting for 90 days, and claim a change in circumstances that changed her intent. I see no problem whatsoever with her filing for OPT now.