Why would ur Lawyer do that? I and my family did self-petition (my wife is the primary), all dependents were added to i140 and proceed to i485. Pls do your own research. These infos are available everywhere. We (myself and family) are Greened already. I don't know if it possible to update the information on your i140 form. Maybe the Lawyer advice based on your petition & your situation.

If your priority date was current at the time of filing then the lawyer can file your i485 along with your dependents otherwise all i485 including yours would have to wait. The i140 can be filed even if your priority date is not current as this is related to the job offer.

You should sue him/her for not adding your dependents! that's a very wicked and stupid thing to do. why would your lawyer do such thing?

If he hasn't submitted the I-485, he should add everyone on there

What you described does seem unusual, but I’m not surprised. I’ve seen many mistakes made by lawyers. You should speak with an experienced immigration lawyer you trust, someone who will take real action on your case. I feel like this is something that can be fixed.

Thank you all so much.

@Mae Awo he already submitted the i-485 a year ago.

@ade O I really don't know. I just got to know that he didn't add my family members to the application

@Jermein Reynolds I've always been current

No! what he did was pure wickedness solely for his own gain which doesn't make sense and it's not a mistake. You should question him for doing that to you. I'm not sure if you can resubmit just I485 but if you can, you can add your family. No, what this lawyer did is so not fair with the crazy wait time we now face.

why are you not activating premium? once you get approved and your dependent is on your visa, they become out of status! ICE can pick them up anytime

@Mae Awo I intend calling him tomorrow by God's grace.

@Alyssa Keys, you know i never thought about them being out of status when approved until @kk m mentioned it. I suggested doing PP but he said we shouldn't that it might lead to an RFE which we would need to respond to within a month as we're the one that requested for it. A part of me wants to do it at least let me know my fate, but I am just scared. I mean why would he say no if not that something is fishy. Or do lawyers always advice that?

A good lawyer shouldn't be scared of RFE. Just stay with him til the end so that he doesn't mess up every other thing. And change him if you need to honestly. You don't need a lawyer for i485. Every information is online. I just don't understand why he excluded your family. Even for my I-140, I added my spouse's information. Although not needed but I added the information since there was a space for it on the form

@S S People can't adjust on an employment-based green card if they're out of status. Your family need to be in status to file the I-485 You don't need to resubmit your I-485, because you file one (and pay the fees) for each dependent. Just get them filed ASAP

@S S my candid suggestions is for you to send a request to USCIS to update the forms before a decision is reached. I once read someone sent in an to the form submitted. I can't tell if it will work but what do you have to loose.

@ade O and @Aaron O Thank you so much. I will do that ASAP. I really appreciate you all.

Just check the validity of Visa so they are in status. I -140 alone won't render them out of status, but I-485 needs to mention them as derivative beneficiaries for AOS.

@S S something is really off with your lawyer. like really off. 1) what they told you about premium processing serves thier benefit only (like the lawyer doesn’t want to deal with potential RFE too soon). if you had initially filed PP, your cases would have been processed before Trump. Now without PP, your 140 can be stuck. Although, since you’ve waited for a long time, now it doesn’t make sense to upgrade to PP I’d say. Becouse it speeds up only 140. 2) if your family members doesn’t appear anywhere on 140 or 485, it might be perceived as misrepresentation, like as you hid important information 3) yes, it’s a very important thing other people mentioned that your family has to have status when submitting 485. idk if you can just randomly submit thier 485 at this point (but could be as the case has been pending for over a year, but only a lawyer would know those nuances). 4) in terms of “adding them”. it’s 2 separate things: info on your family members on your 140 and 485 (that’s already should have been there). And then thier own 485 forms. 5) just a quick idea: if a lawyer really messed up, probably it’s possible to withdrew your 485 and file the correct one and together with 485s of your family member 6) overall, id advise you to pay for a consultation with a proper lawyer to see what can be done. you can then do it all yourself as self-petition. but please consult someone proper 🙏

@S S just in case you need some recommendation on attorney, he’s great and trustworthy: SLeech@woh.com (Seth Leech)

thank you @Alice h, I will contact him today unfailingly. Are you saying that I shouldn't look into PP because I've waited for a year now? I mean if it speeds up 140, it's even better so I know the decision instead of just waiting and then the wait can continue for i485. Or what do you all think?

@Mae Awo when I spoke with him yesterday, he said because the i140 usually gets a decision first before the i485, we can quickly add them to the application before the decision.

@S S paying for PP a year ago would have made sense but if you think you can afford it and you want to pay now, you can go ahead as well. If you are still very well in-status, my suggestion would be to let your I-140 go through the normal Processing. It won't take that much time anymore before you hear back. And as per suggestion, see if you can submit your family's i485 right now so that it would be reviewed together with yours. Just carefully weigh your options and verify all information. Ask questions if you don't understand the simplest word, there's no crime in that. This whole journey is too expensive and exhausting for one random lawyer to be solely after his own pocket. You can use @Alice h. There are also free consultations too if you like on Lawfully. You did good by asking questions👍

@S S great, glad Seth was able to advise you! I’d say follow follow his advise, you can probably fill in and sumbit all the 485 yourself, just make sure to ask Seth how exactly you “add others”, like whether you need to write some extra explanation with your submission, etc. Make sure to submit medicals as well for everyone, now it’s a must with 485. Ask if you can add your medicals as well at this point (if you haven’t submitted them before), it will help to avoid medical RFE and safe time. as to PP, I agree with @Mae Awo it was worth it with initial filing, now not that much. I’d say first do all the 485s and medicals (I-693), it’ll take you a few weeks, and after you submit, think about PP again if there were no news by then. if there were no news by then, I’d recommend first enquire with Emma/phone call on the 140 status / whether an officer is assigned to your case etc to make them look as your file, it sometimes can give you some useful information on timeline. feel free to tag me and ask questions if you have any, I’ll try to help

@Alice h Thank you very much

@Mae Awo Thank you so much. Yes I'm still in status. I just started my OPT, and I still have 2 more years for my STEM OPT too.

@Alice h thank you so much once again. I spoke with the attorney like I said and he requested to see all my application before he can advise on what to do next. But unfortunately, my present lawyer is not releasing my information ☹️

@S S great, best if luck! 1) there is a way to request your petition from uscis via form G-639 or online USCIS FOIA request. they will send you exactly what was submitted. I’ve never done this process myself. it can take a while, but it seems the second way (online foia) is faster 2) how does your current lawyer explain it? do they say why they won’t release it? 3) if it’s not a secret, who is your current lawyer? so that I know whom not to trust 4) the fact that they are denying your access to your own data is wrong and not ethical. if by any chance you’re a resident of California, it’d be amazing as data privacy law is superb there, and directly says that you as a data subject have a right to request and access your own data. Federal data legislation / other states legislation is not as detailed, but it’s somewhat possible to find something to stand your ground depending on where you live. 5) you can also call the bar association of the state your lawyer is admitted at and ask them if the lawyer is acting in accordance with state law and professional ethics of advocates. and based on what they tell you, you can email your attorney and repeat your request of your file copy. they’d hate for you to submit a complaint against them with the bar

@S S 6) you signed your filled I-140 and I-485 forms upon checking them, right? those 2 forms are the most important, and they show whether the info on your spouse and children was filled. form 140: part 7 (pages 4-5 in the new edition of the form) form 485: part 6 (marital history, page 10 in the new edition); part 7 (info on children, page 12). search your correspondence with the lawyer for those 2 forms and check if those sections were filled accordingly (whether your spouse and children data was filled in). this is the most important thing. do this first. feel free to tag me when you find it out and I’ll try to help further