It's an interesting situation. In my opinion, I would plan with what you already have (approved EB2), which would be current in April. I understand the higher prize but the only thing you stand to loose is more money and time to approval. On the other hand, how confident are you of the approval of EB1? If you are certain, then you may do a concurrent filling based on EB1. Overall, the question you should ask yourself is what are you willing to sacrfice? Higher payment for EB2 GC or risk of approval of EB1 petition. A third option may be to wait for the EB1 and then apply depending on the outcome. Your EB2 Should continue to be current as I don't anticipate a retrogression in FAD. I wish you the best in your decision

@T Y, thank you very much. It is really an interesting situation with some many uncertainties. About going with EB2, yes, it is just the higher cost from April that is the challenge. We don't really have the money to throw away - which I believe USCIS don't need. When it comes to EB1, I am confident it would be approved given it was filed by DOE National Laboratory. But anything can still happen - USCIS can be unpredictable. Overall, your statement about what I am willing to sacrifice summarizes it all. Thank you once again.

yes ,It is an interesting story and I am almost in the same situation,you know better your financial situation but you can reduce the fee of 1-485 after April. 01 which will cost you 1440 per head instead of paying 2330 for all Including EAD and Travel documents if you don't need it the detail s given here https://eb2niw.info/2024/01/31/uscis-increases-all-fees-the-effect-on-eb2-niw/

when you will be current file for it.

@ali khan, true! We are considering this option too. One concern we have is the possibility of USCIS retrogressing EB2 RoW (maybe in May or June VB) as it is certainly possible. If this happens, then it is even worse! What do you think about this scenario? Also you mentioned that you are in a similar situation, do you want to share a bit?

@Mr Doe, sorry, I didn't understand your post. Can you please rephrase. Thank you!

@Rijo Rijo, thank you for sharing your perspective on the possibility of retrogression in May and June for the Visa Bulletin. I believe for the rest of the world, the chances of retrogression are very rare. However, it may still occur. There's a good chance the date will advance in September 2024. So, if you're not in urgent need, you can still consider NIW. Otherwise, explore other options. Personally, I have NIW approved and an offer of fund refund for EB1, but I'm still waiting for EB2 to become current; my priority date is April 2023

@ali khan, thanks for your thoughts and sharing your situation. I am not really in a hurry, that makes paying any additional fee (due to increase in fee by April 1) not to make sense. Just EAD for my spouse is sufficient and we can wait till they are ready to finalize (though i definitely want to get done with this process ASAP). With this, EB1 seems like the best option. However, the chances of EB1 rejection or even an RFE is what I don't want to deal with. Also, I believe that RoW EB1 will be faster than EB2-NIW due to the level of traffic. Please what do you mean by an offer for fund refund for EB1?

I@Rijo Rijo thanks for sharing your journey, yes I have NIW filled via Chen law firm and later I evaluated my profile for EB1 and they offer me full(typo in last msg)refund if my eb1 s not approved

@ali khan, got it