What is I-485 Pre-adjudicate/Pre-adjudication?
How soon must I join my future green card employer?
Situation -
I have my EB2 India PD as March, 2008. I applied for I-485 in Oct 2014 (Future based GC application). My PD is not current as of yet but I have got an RFE for expired medical form I-693 ONLY in Oct, 2015.
Question: What is I-485 Pre-adjudicate/Pre-adjudication?
You are at the last step of the green card process. Your priority dates became current, you filed the I-485, then the priority dates slipped back two years, at this time USCIS has two choices. They can either put your file in their filing cabinet and forget about the case, until the priority dates become current again. Or they can sit down and can say look we have time, let’s go over the case, adjudicate all the details, decide that the case is completely qualified to receive a green card, so we pre-adjudicate, decide that the person is entitled to get the green card. Make a note on the file. If you need some documents, we send an RFE get the documents so when the priority dates become current again all we have to do is issue the green card. That’s pre-adjudicate.
Question: How soon must I join my future green card employer?
There is really no rule of thumb. But within a commercially reasonable period of time. Three to four months maybe, after approval of the green card, you should join the future green card employer. In your particular case that appears to be a requirement sometimes it may not be a requirement because of AC21 and remember AC21 portability is available even in future employer green card cases.
My I-485 was pending for 9 months (concurrent filing), and I worked all these years (4 years) with my sponsoring employer. My I-140 was approved 4 months ago, and I received EAD and AP as well. At the end of 8 months, I resigned from my employer to take advantage of AC21 (moving to a similar position) and was on notice period. My new employer was ready to file I-485J when asked by USCIS. During my last working week with my sponsoring employer, my 485 got approved, and I received my GC. Can you please advise on what kind of documentation I need to get from my new employer to help with any future naturalization process since I can't file I-485J as my case has been approved?
To ensure compliance and maintain proper documentation, I recommend gathering your proof of employment with the sponsoring employer when your green card was approved. It's important to request written confirmation from your new employer showing they were prepared to file Supplement J before your transition. Keep any prepared Form I-485 Supplement J documentation, even if it wasn't filed due to the timing of your green card approval. Additionally, maintain detailed job descriptions from both positions to demonstrate they were "same or similar" positions as required by immigration law. Store all these documents securely for the long term, as you may need them during the naturalization process to verify compliance. This documentation will help protect you and demonstrate that you followed proper procedures during your employment transition, even though the green card approval occurred before Form I-485 Supplement J could be filed.