Caro

You need to file an I-130/I-485 together at your local INS office if you file while you are in the States.

I-129F is a petition for a fiance(e) visa or a K3 visa that is filed at the service center while the foreign fiance(e)/spouse is outside of the U.S.

The "K" route (petition I-129F that yields K-1/2/3/4 visas) would not apply to your case as you are in the US already. Also, if the foreign SPOUSE is outside of the US, an I-130 will be filed first at a service center which is why some people are filing the I-130 alone at a service center.



What follows is an opinion, not something that I know for sure. The H1-B visa ties you to the employer who applied for your visa. I think that you can keep working on your H1-B while applying for AOS. If you stop working for your employer that provided you with an H1-B, I believe you loose your H1-B status, and hence have to wait for the EAD (Employment Authorization Document, related to your AOS application) to start a job with a new employer. To apply for your EAD, you need to file form I-765 along with your I-130/I-485.

Caroline

Andy Platt

"csf" wrote in message
news:450350.1035219529@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Hi,
    > Apologies if this has been covered in other posts (complete newbie
    > here), but I am looking for some much needed help when it comes to
    > filing for a green card.
    > My wife is a US citizen and I am currently here from the UK on a H1-B.
    > We got married in the US 6 months ago.
    > I understand that we need to file the I-130 and I-485 forms. My first
    > question is, can these be filed at the same time? or do I need to file
    > the I-130 first?

It's your choice really. You could decide to just file the I-130 and then
return to your home country to get an immigrant visa when that's approved.
It has some minor advantages in terms of retaining your H-1B status but most
people would pick to file them at the same time at the local INS office and
adjust status. (Note you could file the I-130 and later the I-485 but that
would be silly).

    > Also, what is the 'K' route? Is this an alternative way to file for a
    > green card?

Ignore it - it's not for you.

    > My next question is, can I take new jobs whilst waiting for the forms to
    > be filed, or do I need to file a separate form for this?

I-765 is the form for employment authorization - to get an EAD. When you
"use" said authorization (by working for someone besides your H-1B sponsor)
you will no longer be in H-1B status. In practice if you want to travel
abroad the safest thing before you become a permanent resident the safest
thing is to obtain advance parole; when you enter on that you would not be
in H-1B status anyway and you would need the EAD anyway. So, for most
H-1Bers (and I was one myself) the standard practice is to file the I-130,
I-485 and I-765 concurrently, filing the I-131 (for advance parole) at the
same time if the local INS office permits it or soon after if they don't.

Here's a general site that might be useful:

http://www.geocities.-
com/immigration_helpsite/index.htm

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

csf

Thanks for all the feedback!

Things certainly look a little clearer now. However, there are a couple of other things I am a little concerned about.

I will be leaving New York to move to Nebraska, yes Nebraska! in Jan 2003. I was advised by a friend that filing in New York now, and moving to Nebraska may cause a few wrinkles. Do you think it would be better to just wait until I move to Nebraksa to file for a Green Card?

If I waited, then I could just get my H1-B visa transferred to my new job. Is this an easy/expensive task to do?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks, Chris

Andy Platt

"csf" wrote in message
news:540971.1035508402@britishexpats-
.com...
    > Thanks for all the feedback!
    > Things certainly look a little clearer now. However, there are a couple
    > of other things I am a little concerned about.
    > I will be leaving New York to move to Nebraska, yes Nebraska! in Jan
    > 2003. I was advised by a friend that filing in New York now, and moving
    > to Nebraska may cause a few wrinkles. Do you think it would be better to
    > just wait until I move to Nebraksa to file for a Green Card?

Well, INS do have a habit of missing change of addresses - though ironically
it seems they are better when it requires a change of office than when it
doesn't. In practice it's not so hard; write to New York, write to Omaha and
the file should get transferred. However, by Jan, New York (city?) probably
won't have done much with your application so it might be worth waiting.

    > If I waited, then I could just get my H1-B visa transferred to my new
    > job. Is this an easy/expensive task to do?

It's something the employer would do. They would have to go through the
whole process they went through for the first H-1B; there is a way you can
start work without all of this being done but I'm not that familiar with it.
Really that question is better for alt.visa.us.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.