A I

Hello again. Here's the situation I need some help with,

My Brother is currently on H1-B visa. His employer is willing to file EB-3 Petition for him. He has been employed for almost 2 years on H1-B (and 1 year on OPT before that. Same company). He is 23 years old.

Our parents are currently Permanent Residents (since March). As he was peeking at the Visa Bulletin yesterday, he realized current EB-3 and Family 2B times are very similar...

I am wondering if it is worth the trouble to for my parents to file a I-130 petitioning him.

In case the Employment petition goes sour, we could count on this family petition.

My concern is that if my parents file i-130, we are somewhat acknowledging, or at least opening to door, for his immigrant intent. Could he possibly transfer to F-1 or E-2 even while having pending I-130 ???


The fee is not much of a concern (although it is a drawback)
I also understand that if he marries the wait will increase significantly.
(We are not counting on possible marriage to US Citizen as a solution, as he currently does not have marriage plans.)

Thanks for reading, and for your opinion.

ian-mstm

From where I sit... yes - it's definitely worth the trouble. It is always an advantage to have multiple option streams open.


Largely, his intent is irrelevant, since the H-1B specifically allows dual intent.

Ian

A I

Thank you Ian for your answer.

The reason I brought up intent was to possibly keep an option open to transfer to F-1 or other non-immigrant status he might be eligible for, if the employment did not pan out.

Would such a COS be denied due to immigrant intent with a pending i-130 ?

Thanks again for your feedback.

JCraigFong

Ian is correct on all counts.

I hear your concern about intent if your brother were to change to F-1. COULD such a COS be denied? Yes. A LOT depends on how one approaches this COS. If one is upfront, stating clearly one's understanding about NOT immigrating until the priority date arrives, etc., USCIS could take your word for it. But sure, the risk is always there.

Best of luck,

--J