Transferring old priority date to new 1-140

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I read at the Hammond website that we can have an earlier priority date of a previously approved 1-140 transferred to a new petition. Has anyone tried/availed of this? How long does it take to have the old priority date transferred?

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I read at the Hammond website that we can have an earlier priority date of a previously approved 1-140 transferred to a new petition. Has anyone tried/availed of this? How long does it take to have the old priority date transferred?

A friend of mine told me that it's possible if you have a same petitioner, but if it's different then you will still go to the usual process which is 12-18months or in other words "back to zero" May I know the reason why ? :confused:

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A friend of mine told me that it's possible if you have a same petitioner, but if it's different then you will still go to the usual process which is 12-18months or in other words "back to zero" May I know the reason why ? :confused:

Sorry, but that is not completely correct any more. The State Dept has made some changes, but it deals more with nurses that have had family petitions submitted several years ago, they are permitting those dates to be used and applied to the date of meeting the requirements for the green card. Best suggestion is to speak with your immigration attorney, they have the infomation on this.

If the nurse is just changing employers, then they will start the process over again. The above deals more with nurses that had other types of petitions pending.

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Sorry, but that is not completely correct any more. The State Dept has made some changes, but it deals more with nurses that have had family petitions submitted several years ago, they are permitting those dates to be used and applied to the date of meeting the requirements for the green card. Best suggestion is to speak with your immigration attorney, they have the infomation on this.

If the nurse is just changing employers, then they will start the process over again. The above deals more with nurses that had other types of petitions pending.

Ahhh...okay!!! Thank you Suzanne for sharing your ideas:balloons: You're a great help. By the way, is it possible for a nurse to change his/her employer if they are not really working out with the nurse's papers? Is there any law that prohibits a nurse from being petitioned by more than one employer? Hope you could share your ideas about this;)

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Ahhh...okay!!! Thank you Suzanne for sharing your ideas:balloons: You're a great help. By the way, is it possible for a nurse to change his/her employer if they are not really working out with the nurse's papers? Is there any law that prohibits a nurse from being petitioned by more than one employer? Hope you could share your ideas about this;)

Yes, it is illegal to have two petitions pending.........it will cause both to get cancelled out. You cannot have two petitions pending for the same job classification for a green card. If you were not a nurse, you could have a petition submitted for a temporary work visa, and for a permanent residency, but not two for the green card as an RN.

When you change employers, you start the procedure all over again, the priority date does not carry over to the new employer.

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Yes, it is illegal to have two petitions pending.........it will cause both to get cancelled out. You cannot have two petitions pending for the same job classification for a green card. If you were not a nurse, you could have a petition submitted for a temporary work visa, and for a permanent residency, but not two for the green card as an RN.

When you change employers, you start the procedure all over again, the priority date does not carry over to the new employer.

Thanks for your reply Suzanne!:kiss I know a lot of agencies in the Philippines that are not properly working out the papers of their nurses, some were just asked to sign the contract but after a couple of months or years nothing was heard about the existence of the petitioner, they don't even give the receipt number of the petition, in this case what should a nurse do in order to get out of this kind of agency, can she look for another petitioner without cancelling the first approved petition? How can a nurse change her employer?

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Hi Suzanne4,

Suzanne4 I trust your advise however I have been told differently by an immigration attorney.

He said there is the AC21 -(american competitiveness in the 21st centruy) which allows a priority date to be ported once the I-140 has been approved and the I-485 remains unadjudicated (has been pending )for in excess of 180 days and the new job is in a same/similar position.

I have also read online -( USIS website) where "once the visa number becomes unavailable after the filing of I-485 application it doesnt stop the number of days required for the I-140 portability eligibility from accruing ."

In other words it doesnt matter if visa numbers are unavailable once the filing occurred prior to the visa numbers beoming unavailable.

Could you check into this please ?

As I am sure there are quite a few individuals like myself who are confused.

Thanks in advance

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Specializes in Critical Care Nursing.
Hi Suzanne4,

Suzanne4 I trust your advise however I have been told differently by an immigration attorney.

He said there is the AC21 -(american competitiveness in the 21st centruy) which allows a priority date to be ported once the I-140 has been approved and the I-485 remains unadjudicated (has been pending )for in excess of 180 days and the new job is in a same/similar position.

I have also read online -( USIS website) where "once the visa number becomes unavailable after the filing of I-485 application it doesnt stop the number of days required for the I-140 portability eligibility from accruing ."

In other words it doesnt matter if visa numbers are unavailable once the filing occurred prior to the visa numbers beoming unavailable.

Could you check into this please ?

As I am sure there are quite a few individuals like myself who are confused.

Thanks in advance

YOU ARE RIGHT, THAT IS WHAT MY LAWYER TOLD ME ALSO.. WHEN I INQUIRED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF TRANSFERING TO OTHER FACILITY.... THE NEW FACILITY CAN CONTINUE THE PETITION PROVIDED IT IS THE SAME PROFESSION THEY ARE PETITIONING YOU..... I MEAN AS A NURSE ALSO....

THAT IS ONLY APPLICABLOE THOUGH IF THE THE I140 HAS BEEN APPROVED ALREADY FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS OR 180 BEFOREYOU DECEIDE TO TRANSFER... SAME PRIORITYDATE WILL ALSO BE USED...

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Thanks for your reply Suzanne!:kiss I know a lot of agencies in the Philippines that are not properly working out the papers of their nurses, some were just asked to sign the contract but after a couple of months or years nothing was heard about the existence of the petitioner, they don't even give the receipt number of the petition, in this case what should a nurse do in order to get out of this kind of agency, can she look for another petitioner without cancelling the first approved petition? How can a nurse change her employer?

In that case, the PD date cannot be forwarded to the new employer. It is the responsibility of the nurse to check out the agency before they sign the contract to begin with. They should never be in a hurry, nothing is going to happen overnight.

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Hi Suzanne4,

Suzanne4 I trust your advise however I have been told differently by an immigration attorney.

He said there is the AC21 -(american competitiveness in the 21st centruy) which allows a priority date to be ported once the I-140 has been approved and the I-485 remains unadjudicated (has been pending )for in excess of 180 days and the new job is in a same/similar position.

I have also read online -( USIS website) where "once the visa number becomes unavailable after the filing of I-485 application it doesnt stop the number of days required for the I-140 portability eligibility from accruing ."

In other words it doesnt matter if visa numbers are unavailable once the filing occurred prior to the visa numbers beoming unavailable.

Could you check into this please ?

As I am sure there are quite a few individuals like myself who are confused.

Thanks in advance

First, this only pertains to those that are in the US and going the AOS route, not if they are going thru Consular Processing as the above nurses are doing.

What you have posted above is correct, but only for the AOS route and only if the I-485 is still pending. Very rarely do you ever see the I-485 extending for more than 180 days unless there was an issue with the petition in the first place.

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The response that I made above was for nurses that are still overseas. The I-140 portability does not work for them to change petitioners overseas without having to start over as there is no I-485 there.

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Thanks for your quick reply.I am sorry You are correct these nurses are actually going thru CP.That is an entirely different ball game.:smokin:

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Thanks for understanding where I was coming from.

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