My husband is of Indian Citizenship and living in the United States. I am of Canadian Citizenship and living in Canada. He has an H-1B and has an approved I-140 petition. He is currently waiting for approval on his I-485 application. We married May 11, 1999 in the United States. I then returned to Canada while my husband's immigration lawyer filed an I-824 petition to notify the the U.S. Consulate in Canada of our (my child and I) eligibility for permanent residence. His lawyer is hoping that the U.S. Consulate will approve the petition to "tag" us so that, once my husband becomes a permanent resident, so do we. I have been told the waiting list is much shorter if my husband were to sponsor us while he is a temporary resident, but since he has a pending I-485 he is "in limbo". What are the chances of the U.S. consulate approving the I-824 petition? Is his lawyer taking a "shot-in-the-dark" to have us tagged? Is it more reasonable to assume we will have to wait until the I-485 is approved?

There are a lot of issues here. I will try to address them briefly.

First, I cannot understand why you returned to Canada if you were already in the United States and he had filed for adjustment of status. You and your child could have filed for adjustment of status at the same time and remained in the United States until your husband's adjustment interview. You would all have your interviews at the same time and (hopefully) all obtain your permanent resident status at the same time. However, since you did not do that, the issue is moot.

Second, I am assuming that your husband has not obtained an employment authorization as a pending adjustment applicant and has not departed the United States and returned using advance parole. If he has done neither, he still holds H-1B status. In other words, he is not actually in limbo. If this is the case, you and your child could still enter under H-4 status and then seek adjustment of status at the same time as your husband.

Third, I generally do not like to mix adjustment of status for the principal beneficiary and consular processing for the dependents, although there is nothing legally wrong with it. The main problem with this strategy is that the dependents are only entitled to derivative status if the principal applicant is actually granted lawful permanent residence. Therefore, I do not believe that the U.S. Consulate will interview you until your husband has actually been granted permanent residence. In other words, the U.S. Consulate will not "tag" your case since you are not even entitled to an immigrant interview until your husband receives his permanent residence. This will take much longer than it would have taken if you simply adjusted status with your husband.

Fourth, an I-824 is simply a request that the U.S. Consulate be notified of the principal beneficiary's I-140 petition approval, nothing more. The U.S. Consulate does not approve it, the INS Service Center does. Also, it is pretty much guaranteed, since there are no eligibility requirements for an I-824, other than an approved petition and the filing fee.

I am a Canadian citizen in F-1 status attending school in the US.  I want to file an Adjustment of Status to permanent residence based on my marriage to a US citizen.  I have been offered a full-time job in the US.  The problem is that I would like to be able to return to Canada to pack my and my wife's belongings so that they can be moved to the US.  Also I am thinking that I might like to go on a vacation outside of the US within the next year.  I hear that advance parole is needed for me to leave the US.  Do you know what the criteria are for granting advance parole?

Previously, advance parole was only granted to aliens could prove that the business or personal reason for leaving the United States was urgent. However, an INS Memorandum dated July 6, 1992 revealed a new policy. It indicated that the advance parole authority in adjustment of status situations was intended to accommodate legitimate travel, that a requirement of emergent or extreme need is inappropriate, and that "travel for a bona fide business or personal reason should be considered as travel for any reason which is not contrary to law or public policy."

In other words, advance parole may be granted to pending adjustment applicants for basic reasons such as business travel, visits with relatives, and do forth. It is fairly routine for pending adjustment applicants to seek and obtain advance parole.