Posted by The Hulk on February 07, 2006 at 14:02:10:
Overview: TN -> PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP -> GC -> US Citizen
1) File PERM. Keep renewing your TN as you normally would. You can continue to travel and work using your TN.
PERM -> I-140
2) After the PERM gets approved, file your I-140. Do not file your I-485 concurrently. (Only avoid concurrent application if you are unsure of your I-140 getting approved easily. See below on my opinion this point). Renew your TN via mail if necessary (not at the POE/PFI). The reason for this is that some less experienced officers at the POE/PFI may incorrectly deny you entry in TN status when you attempt to renew and they see that you have a pending I-140, so to avoid this error, renew by mail at this point. You can continue to travel and work using your TN.
3) After your I-140 is approved, and your priority date is current, verify that you have at least 6 months left on your TN. If so, proceed to step 4. If not, apply for a new TN now. If your priority date is not current, keep renewing your TN until your priority date becomes current. Once it is current, make sure you have 6 months left on your TN and proceed to step 4.
PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP
4) Check the priority dates for your employment-based category on the Department of State website. The priority date (PD) for your I-485 is the filing date of your Labor Certification, and this will determine if you can file your I-485 today or not. The country of chargeability is determined by your birth country, regardless of any other citizenships you may have received via naturalization. Once your I-140 is approved, and your priority date is current, and you have a TN that is good for at least 6 months apply for your I-485. Apply for your Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and your Advance Parole (AP) at the same time. Your TD dependants should also apply for their I-485, EAD and AP now. For your EAD use form I-765, and AP use form I-131. You would also need to file an affidavit of support (form I-134) for each of your dependants.
5) Do not leave the United States between step 4 and step 7. You can continue work using your TN, but you cannot travel using your TN. Never apply for a new TN ever again. If you leave between steps 4 and 7, your I-485 will be considered abandoned, and you won't be eligible for a new TN. Basically if you leave, you can't come back, unless you get some other kind of visa, (H1, L1, etc) and you'll have to re-file your I-485. Bad...bad...bad?
6) If your EAD does not arrive within 90 days after the application was filed, schedule an appointment at the local office using InfoPass and apply for an interim EAD. (this is why you needed to have at least 6 months left on your TN as mentioned in step 3.) I say 6 months, because the 90 days starts ticking after USCIS "receives" your EAD application. If it takes them a while to get it into their system that may be a delay. It may take a few weeks for your InfoPass appointment, even after you schedule it, depending on availability, plus, once you go get the Interim EAD, you may not be issued it on the spot, as they may want to do some background checks first. There may be an additional delay of a week or so before you actually get it. So although you can "apply" for an I-EAD in 90 days, its better to leave a buffer of a few months on your TN in step 3. Otherwise if your TN expires, and you don抰 have a valid EAD in your hand yet, then you must take a leave of absence from work and ensure that this leave is well documented.
7) Once your Advance Parole is approved, you can travel abroad. If you travel using your Advance Parole, upon re-entry to the US, you will be in I-485 pending status, not in TN status. Upon using your AP, your TN status will be voided, and you'll have to provide your EAD to your employer to update the I-9. If you are traveling with your dependants, they will also need an AP (as mentioned in step 4). As an aside note, the law states that you must have a valid Advance Parole before departure from the United States, not upon re-entry into the United States, so don抰 forget to allow time for approval before your trip, to ensure the AP is in your hand, otherwise your I-485 will be considered abandoned, and since you抳e shown immigrant intent by filing an I-485, you抮e no longer eligible for anther TN, so don抰 allow this to happen.
8) Once your EAD is approved, you can find a second job if you so wish. In fact if your I-485 has been pending for more than 6 months, and you have an approved I-140, then you can invoke AC-21, and leave your sponsoring company for different job that matches the deion in your PERM application. Upon using your EAD, your TN is voided. All of your employers would need a new I-9 with your EAD on it, and you would be in I-485 pending status, not in TN status. If you voided your TN, you will need to use your Advance Parole when you travel for re-entering the US. On the same token your dependants can also use their own respective EAD to find jobs if your TN is voided. A privilege they were not entitled to under their TD status. If your dependants only have an ITIN number, then now they can get Social Security cards. Be cognizant that by voiding your TN status, you are also voiding your dependants?TD status, so if they need to travel, they will need their own respective Advance Paroles at this point, as suggested in step 4.
9) If you don't travel in step 7, and you don't get a second job, or switch jobs in step 8, then you'll be in TN status until your TN expires at which point you'll be in I-485 pending status. You should notify your employer and file a new I-9 with your EAD information. In any case, once you are in I-485 pending status due to any of the steps outlined above, then your TD dependants are by default in I-485 pending status, and they would also need an AP for traveling at that point.
10) Keep renewing your EAD every year at least 4-6 months before it expires so that you can take advantage of step 6 if necessary. Make sure it doesn抰 expire since although you'd still be in a legal status of I-485 pending, you would not be able to work until the new EAD arrives in the mail, and if you don抰 possess a valid EAD, then you抣l need to take a leave of absence as mentioned in step 6. If your travel patterns are unpredictable, make sure that you keep renewing your AP at least 3-4 months before it expires as well. There is no such thing as an interim Advance Parole, so if you suddenly have to travel out of the United States and you don抰 have a current Advance Parole, then you抣l have to delay your trip until you get your Advance Parole in your hand.
11) Sometime between steps 4 and 13, you will undoubtedly be instructed to go to the local office or an application support center (ASC) to get your fingerprints done. Fingerprints are only valid for 15 months, as the FBI needs to revalidate them. If they 揺xpire?before step 14, you抣l be instructed to go get your fingerprints again. There is no way to systematically gauge how much longer you need to wait for your file to be adjudicated after you did your fingerprints, so don抰 try to guess at this point. In addition, the USCIS will issue an FBI name check, without any involvement or knowledge of the event on your part, to be completed prior to your I-485 being adjudicated. This is a separate process from the fingerprints, and can happen before or after you had your fingerprints done. Fingerprint results generally are available in a day or two, and you can check with the FBI to verify that they sent the response back to USCIS. A name check however can take a few months. Some unlucky individuals can get stuck in this process for a year or more. You can verify the status of your 搉ame check?by emailing the FBI. If they confirm that they have sent the results back to the USCIS, and your case has been pending for an inordinate amount of time, but when asked, the USCIS denies ever having received them, then you should contact a congressman, to help move this through the wonderfully bureaucratic system. This situation often happens to people from special registration countries, but can unfortunately affect others as well.
12) As you are anxiously awaiting your case to get approved, you might be surprised to get a Request for Evidence (RFE) asking you to provide updated documentation or even possibly missing information that may or may not have been initially requested in the original application. An RFE is not necessarily a bad thing, if you have the documentation to provide. Make sure you send back your reply ASAP, since if the evidence is not received in a timely fashion, your case will get denied. 13) In the rare instance that your I-485 gets denied you would be out of status immediately, and so will your dependants. At this point your EAD and AP are also invalid, and you should stop working, and cancel any trips abroad. You would need to apply for a motion to reopen as soon as possible. Once your MTR is accepted, you can work using your EAD again. (This situation is very very rare, so don抰 worry about this one, and this is not at all specific to TN cases, since the same situation happen if your H1b had expired, never to be extended afterwards, and your I-485 were to get denied).
PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP -> GC
14) Eventually your I-485 will get approved, either directly from the service center, or if you抮e one of the rare few, you might get an interview like me at the local office. It might be a long wait, so be ready to be patient. If you had your biometrics (photo, digital signature and index finger print) taken at the same time that you had your fingerprints taken in step 11 then your card should arrive in the mail within a matter of weeks or months. If you didn抰 get your biometrics done, then you would get a letter telling you to go to the local office and bring a passport photo to get your temporary I-551 stamp in you passport, at which time they would take your biometrics. If you got scheduled for an interview at the local office, and all goes well and you抣l get your approval right then and there. If you抮e not approved on the spot then the officer probably wants to see some additional info and you may need to return or fax it to the officer. The adjudicating officer will order your card to be made for you at that time also. Your status will change from I-485 pending to permanent resident status. You might get an I-181 Welcome Notice, welcoming you into the United States as a permanent resident. For some random reason not everyone gets the welcome letter, but its not required. If you or your dependants have a social security card that says "VALID ONLY WITH WORK AUTHORIZATION" then you might want to consider getting an updated card, to reduce confusion from any future employers. If your card does not say this, then there is no need to update it. Either way, your SS number will remain the same. Congrats! You've completed the process!
15) If your card shows up with errors, you抣l have to file an I-90 to correct it. It should be free of charge if your I-485 application has the correct information, and the error is by fault of USCIS.
16) If your card never shows up, and a year has elapsed since your I-485 was approved, then you抣l need to file a G-731 to find out what ever happened to the card. Also you should get another I-551 passport stamp in the interim.
17) Once you have a green card, or a I-551 passport stamp, do not leave the US for more than 12 months at a time without first getting a reentry permit by filing an N-470. This will allow you to be out of the US for up to 2 years without losing your green card. If you leave without filing an N-470 then your only chance to get back is to apply for an SB-1 at the local US consulate. An SB-1 is risky since you will need to prove that your extended leave was not intentional. Note that if you leave for more than 6 months, but less than 12, you don抰 need a reentry permit, but this will disrupt your continuous stay requirement for the purposes of citizenship as mentioned in step 19 below.
18) If you lose your card, you抣l need to file an I-90 to get a replacement. Beware that they are VERY expensive, unlike a driver抯 license, so try not to lose it, and you can抰 leave the US without one, unless you get another temporary I-551 stamp.
PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP -> GC -> US Citizen
19) Fifty-Seven months after your I-485 approval date, you can mail the application for US citizenship by filing an N-400 if you were present in the US for a total of 30 months within the last 5 years, without any trips abroad longer than 6 months. Remember to keep track of all your travel dates when you left and entered the US, and also all your employment start and end dates. You抣l need this for the N-400. You can keep an other citizenship(s) when you get your US citizenship, if those countries allow you to have multiple citizenships. Canada for example allows you to have both, so you would be a dual citizen in this case.
Notes on NOT filing concurrently in Step 2:
If your I-140 is clear cut and straight forward, then ignore the following. My I-140 was "on the edge", so the following advice is what I would recommend for anyone in my situation. This point is moot these days for many people these days with the retrogression of priority dates, but its still something to consider for people applying with a current priority date.
An I-140 is filed by your company, not YOU so simply filing an I-140 does not show clear immigrant intent, since it抯 the company filing in your name. There was a USCIS memo that was issued that clarified that simply filing an I-140 does NOT show immigrant intent. The company "could" file it without your consent, so therefore it抯 not your fault that "they" want you to immigrate, eventually. It doesn抰 necessarily mean you want to immigrate. By filing an I-485 you are clearly expressing YOUR choice to immigrate, not anyone else's, YOU are the one that consciously made the decision to immigrate by filing an I-485, and that is clear immigrant intent.
By filing an I-485, you show clear immigrant intent. For this reason, once you've applied for an I-485 you are no longer eligible for a new TN, since to qualify for a new TN, you cannot have dual intent. Dual intent is defined by having shown the intentions of wanting to switch to a permanent status (i.e. Green Card), while still in a temporary status (i.e. TN, H1b, L1, F1, B1, etc). Only H1, and L1 visas explicitly allow for dual intent, and so people can extend their H1 and L1 visas while their I-485 is pending. TN, F1, and B1 statuses do not afford you the right you to extend your status while your I-485 is pending. People in statuses other than H1 and L1 that have a pending I-485 must use an EAD to work once their status is expired, or gets voided by leaving the country, since statuses like TN do not allow you to renew once you抳e applied for an I-485.
If you file the I-485 and the I-140 concurrently, and the I-140 is DENIED for any reason, then once your TN has expired, you are out of status, and you are no longer eligible for a new TN because you've shown immigrant intent. You can call it game over, and pack up and go back to Canada. Although a good lawyer should help to ensure that an I-140 does not get denied, lost mail, disorganized USCIS practices, and unskilled adjudication officers are just a few reasons that are out of your control as to why your I-140 may inadvertently get denied.
On the other hand, if all you filed is your I-140, and it gets denied, you can still apply for a new TN, and re-file the I-140. Life goes on, and you learn from the mistakes you made on the I-140, and you try again.
Also, if you filed concurrently and the I-140 gets an RFE (Request for Evidence), and then I-485 can be put on "hold". With the I-485 on hold, this may cause a delay in getting the EAD, and AP.. If the TN expires during this time, you would not be able to work, since you would not have an EAD yet. Examples of this is the ability to pay RFE's for smaller companies, or education issues for EB2 cases. These are common RFE抯 that are predicable, yet unavoidable in some cases, even with a great lawyer. The delay due to this RFE on the other hand is unpredictable, and this is where the issues arise.
Next, you could get your not-yet-approved I-140 inadvertently transferred to a local office, because the service center wanted to give you an interview for your concurrently filed I-485, not realizing that the you have a pending I-140. Although a local office does have the capability to adjudicate an I-140, in general, they will claim it is the responsibility of the service center, and will not even touch the case. If you were on a TN in this scenario, you would be caught in the loop of trying to get your I-140 back to the service center, all the while your EAD may not get approved before your TN expires because nobody at USCIS wants to admit to having your file. Again, bad luck due to USCIS error, and its out of your control. The risk is too high to take the chance.
The safe route in a TN scenario is NOT to file concurrently. I still highly recommend this to all TN holders reading this trying to adjust status (if your priority date is even current in the first place). Otherwise you may have to take a leave of absence for an unforeseeable amount of time, or the worst case is (as originally stated in less frequent cases these days) you might be out of status, without the option to renew your TN.
Glossary of Terms and Acronyms:
AC-21: The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act
AP: Advance Parole
AR-11: Alien's Change of Address Form
ASC: Application Support Center
CSC: California Service Center
EB: Employment-Based Immigration Category
EAD: Employment Authorization Document
FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation
GC: Green Card
G-731: Inquiry About Status of I-551, Alien Registration Card
I-131: Application for Travel Document
I-140: Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
I-485: Application To Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
I-551: Green Card
I-765: Application for Employment Authorization
I-90: Application to Replace Permanent Residence Card
I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification
InfoPass: USCIS appointment system i-EAD: Interim EAD
KCC: Kentucky Consular Center
LC: Labor Certification
MSC: Missouri National Benefits Center
MTR: Motion to Reopen
NCSC: National Customer Service Center
NSC: Nebraska Service Center
N-400: Application for Naturalization
N-470: Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes
PD: Priority Date
PERM Processing: Program Electronic Review Management
PFI: Pre-Flight Inspection
POE: Point of Entry
RFE: Request for Evidence
SB-1: Returning Resident Alien
SS: Social Security
TSC: Texas Service Center
TD: NAFTA Professional Dependant visa
TN: NAFTA Professional visa
USCIS: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
VSC: Vermont Service Center
Overview: TN -> PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP -> GC -> US Citizen
1) File PERM. Keep renewing your TN as you normally would. You can continue to travel and work using your TN.
PERM -> I-140
2) After the PERM gets approved, file your I-140. Do not file your I-485 concurrently. (Only avoid concurrent application if you are unsure of your I-140 getting approved easily. See below on my opinion this point). Renew your TN via mail if necessary (not at the POE/PFI). The reason for this is that some less experienced officers at the POE/PFI may incorrectly deny you entry in TN status when you attempt to renew and they see that you have a pending I-140, so to avoid this error, renew by mail at this point. You can continue to travel and work using your TN.
3) After your I-140 is approved, and your priority date is current, verify that you have at least 6 months left on your TN. If so, proceed to step 4. If not, apply for a new TN now. If your priority date is not current, keep renewing your TN until your priority date becomes current. Once it is current, make sure you have 6 months left on your TN and proceed to step 4.
PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP
4) Check the priority dates for your employment-based category on the Department of State website. The priority date (PD) for your I-485 is the filing date of your Labor Certification, and this will determine if you can file your I-485 today or not. The country of chargeability is determined by your birth country, regardless of any other citizenships you may have received via naturalization. Once your I-140 is approved, and your priority date is current, and you have a TN that is good for at least 6 months apply for your I-485. Apply for your Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and your Advance Parole (AP) at the same time. Your TD dependants should also apply for their I-485, EAD and AP now. For your EAD use form I-765, and AP use form I-131. You would also need to file an affidavit of support (form I-134) for each of your dependants.
5) Do not leave the United States between step 4 and step 7. You can continue work using your TN, but you cannot travel using your TN. Never apply for a new TN ever again. If you leave between steps 4 and 7, your I-485 will be considered abandoned, and you won't be eligible for a new TN. Basically if you leave, you can't come back, unless you get some other kind of visa, (H1, L1, etc) and you'll have to re-file your I-485. Bad...bad...bad?
6) If your EAD does not arrive within 90 days after the application was filed, schedule an appointment at the local office using InfoPass and apply for an interim EAD. (this is why you needed to have at least 6 months left on your TN as mentioned in step 3.) I say 6 months, because the 90 days starts ticking after USCIS "receives" your EAD application. If it takes them a while to get it into their system that may be a delay. It may take a few weeks for your InfoPass appointment, even after you schedule it, depending on availability, plus, once you go get the Interim EAD, you may not be issued it on the spot, as they may want to do some background checks first. There may be an additional delay of a week or so before you actually get it. So although you can "apply" for an I-EAD in 90 days, its better to leave a buffer of a few months on your TN in step 3. Otherwise if your TN expires, and you don抰 have a valid EAD in your hand yet, then you must take a leave of absence from work and ensure that this leave is well documented.
7) Once your Advance Parole is approved, you can travel abroad. If you travel using your Advance Parole, upon re-entry to the US, you will be in I-485 pending status, not in TN status. Upon using your AP, your TN status will be voided, and you'll have to provide your EAD to your employer to update the I-9. If you are traveling with your dependants, they will also need an AP (as mentioned in step 4). As an aside note, the law states that you must have a valid Advance Parole before departure from the United States, not upon re-entry into the United States, so don抰 forget to allow time for approval before your trip, to ensure the AP is in your hand, otherwise your I-485 will be considered abandoned, and since you抳e shown immigrant intent by filing an I-485, you抮e no longer eligible for anther TN, so don抰 allow this to happen.
8) Once your EAD is approved, you can find a second job if you so wish. In fact if your I-485 has been pending for more than 6 months, and you have an approved I-140, then you can invoke AC-21, and leave your sponsoring company for different job that matches the deion in your PERM application. Upon using your EAD, your TN is voided. All of your employers would need a new I-9 with your EAD on it, and you would be in I-485 pending status, not in TN status. If you voided your TN, you will need to use your Advance Parole when you travel for re-entering the US. On the same token your dependants can also use their own respective EAD to find jobs if your TN is voided. A privilege they were not entitled to under their TD status. If your dependants only have an ITIN number, then now they can get Social Security cards. Be cognizant that by voiding your TN status, you are also voiding your dependants?TD status, so if they need to travel, they will need their own respective Advance Paroles at this point, as suggested in step 4.
9) If you don't travel in step 7, and you don't get a second job, or switch jobs in step 8, then you'll be in TN status until your TN expires at which point you'll be in I-485 pending status. You should notify your employer and file a new I-9 with your EAD information. In any case, once you are in I-485 pending status due to any of the steps outlined above, then your TD dependants are by default in I-485 pending status, and they would also need an AP for traveling at that point.
10) Keep renewing your EAD every year at least 4-6 months before it expires so that you can take advantage of step 6 if necessary. Make sure it doesn抰 expire since although you'd still be in a legal status of I-485 pending, you would not be able to work until the new EAD arrives in the mail, and if you don抰 possess a valid EAD, then you抣l need to take a leave of absence as mentioned in step 6. If your travel patterns are unpredictable, make sure that you keep renewing your AP at least 3-4 months before it expires as well. There is no such thing as an interim Advance Parole, so if you suddenly have to travel out of the United States and you don抰 have a current Advance Parole, then you抣l have to delay your trip until you get your Advance Parole in your hand.
11) Sometime between steps 4 and 13, you will undoubtedly be instructed to go to the local office or an application support center (ASC) to get your fingerprints done. Fingerprints are only valid for 15 months, as the FBI needs to revalidate them. If they 揺xpire?before step 14, you抣l be instructed to go get your fingerprints again. There is no way to systematically gauge how much longer you need to wait for your file to be adjudicated after you did your fingerprints, so don抰 try to guess at this point. In addition, the USCIS will issue an FBI name check, without any involvement or knowledge of the event on your part, to be completed prior to your I-485 being adjudicated. This is a separate process from the fingerprints, and can happen before or after you had your fingerprints done. Fingerprint results generally are available in a day or two, and you can check with the FBI to verify that they sent the response back to USCIS. A name check however can take a few months. Some unlucky individuals can get stuck in this process for a year or more. You can verify the status of your 搉ame check?by emailing the FBI. If they confirm that they have sent the results back to the USCIS, and your case has been pending for an inordinate amount of time, but when asked, the USCIS denies ever having received them, then you should contact a congressman, to help move this through the wonderfully bureaucratic system. This situation often happens to people from special registration countries, but can unfortunately affect others as well.
12) As you are anxiously awaiting your case to get approved, you might be surprised to get a Request for Evidence (RFE) asking you to provide updated documentation or even possibly missing information that may or may not have been initially requested in the original application. An RFE is not necessarily a bad thing, if you have the documentation to provide. Make sure you send back your reply ASAP, since if the evidence is not received in a timely fashion, your case will get denied. 13) In the rare instance that your I-485 gets denied you would be out of status immediately, and so will your dependants. At this point your EAD and AP are also invalid, and you should stop working, and cancel any trips abroad. You would need to apply for a motion to reopen as soon as possible. Once your MTR is accepted, you can work using your EAD again. (This situation is very very rare, so don抰 worry about this one, and this is not at all specific to TN cases, since the same situation happen if your H1b had expired, never to be extended afterwards, and your I-485 were to get denied).
PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP -> GC
14) Eventually your I-485 will get approved, either directly from the service center, or if you抮e one of the rare few, you might get an interview like me at the local office. It might be a long wait, so be ready to be patient. If you had your biometrics (photo, digital signature and index finger print) taken at the same time that you had your fingerprints taken in step 11 then your card should arrive in the mail within a matter of weeks or months. If you didn抰 get your biometrics done, then you would get a letter telling you to go to the local office and bring a passport photo to get your temporary I-551 stamp in you passport, at which time they would take your biometrics. If you got scheduled for an interview at the local office, and all goes well and you抣l get your approval right then and there. If you抮e not approved on the spot then the officer probably wants to see some additional info and you may need to return or fax it to the officer. The adjudicating officer will order your card to be made for you at that time also. Your status will change from I-485 pending to permanent resident status. You might get an I-181 Welcome Notice, welcoming you into the United States as a permanent resident. For some random reason not everyone gets the welcome letter, but its not required. If you or your dependants have a social security card that says "VALID ONLY WITH WORK AUTHORIZATION" then you might want to consider getting an updated card, to reduce confusion from any future employers. If your card does not say this, then there is no need to update it. Either way, your SS number will remain the same. Congrats! You've completed the process!
15) If your card shows up with errors, you抣l have to file an I-90 to correct it. It should be free of charge if your I-485 application has the correct information, and the error is by fault of USCIS.
16) If your card never shows up, and a year has elapsed since your I-485 was approved, then you抣l need to file a G-731 to find out what ever happened to the card. Also you should get another I-551 passport stamp in the interim.
17) Once you have a green card, or a I-551 passport stamp, do not leave the US for more than 12 months at a time without first getting a reentry permit by filing an N-470. This will allow you to be out of the US for up to 2 years without losing your green card. If you leave without filing an N-470 then your only chance to get back is to apply for an SB-1 at the local US consulate. An SB-1 is risky since you will need to prove that your extended leave was not intentional. Note that if you leave for more than 6 months, but less than 12, you don抰 need a reentry permit, but this will disrupt your continuous stay requirement for the purposes of citizenship as mentioned in step 19 below.
18) If you lose your card, you抣l need to file an I-90 to get a replacement. Beware that they are VERY expensive, unlike a driver抯 license, so try not to lose it, and you can抰 leave the US without one, unless you get another temporary I-551 stamp.
PERM -> I-140 -> I-485+EAD+AP -> GC -> US Citizen
19) Fifty-Seven months after your I-485 approval date, you can mail the application for US citizenship by filing an N-400 if you were present in the US for a total of 30 months within the last 5 years, without any trips abroad longer than 6 months. Remember to keep track of all your travel dates when you left and entered the US, and also all your employment start and end dates. You抣l need this for the N-400. You can keep an other citizenship(s) when you get your US citizenship, if those countries allow you to have multiple citizenships. Canada for example allows you to have both, so you would be a dual citizen in this case.
Notes on NOT filing concurrently in Step 2:
If your I-140 is clear cut and straight forward, then ignore the following. My I-140 was "on the edge", so the following advice is what I would recommend for anyone in my situation. This point is moot these days for many people these days with the retrogression of priority dates, but its still something to consider for people applying with a current priority date.
An I-140 is filed by your company, not YOU so simply filing an I-140 does not show clear immigrant intent, since it抯 the company filing in your name. There was a USCIS memo that was issued that clarified that simply filing an I-140 does NOT show immigrant intent. The company "could" file it without your consent, so therefore it抯 not your fault that "they" want you to immigrate, eventually. It doesn抰 necessarily mean you want to immigrate. By filing an I-485 you are clearly expressing YOUR choice to immigrate, not anyone else's, YOU are the one that consciously made the decision to immigrate by filing an I-485, and that is clear immigrant intent.
By filing an I-485, you show clear immigrant intent. For this reason, once you've applied for an I-485 you are no longer eligible for a new TN, since to qualify for a new TN, you cannot have dual intent. Dual intent is defined by having shown the intentions of wanting to switch to a permanent status (i.e. Green Card), while still in a temporary status (i.e. TN, H1b, L1, F1, B1, etc). Only H1, and L1 visas explicitly allow for dual intent, and so people can extend their H1 and L1 visas while their I-485 is pending. TN, F1, and B1 statuses do not afford you the right you to extend your status while your I-485 is pending. People in statuses other than H1 and L1 that have a pending I-485 must use an EAD to work once their status is expired, or gets voided by leaving the country, since statuses like TN do not allow you to renew once you抳e applied for an I-485.
If you file the I-485 and the I-140 concurrently, and the I-140 is DENIED for any reason, then once your TN has expired, you are out of status, and you are no longer eligible for a new TN because you've shown immigrant intent. You can call it game over, and pack up and go back to Canada. Although a good lawyer should help to ensure that an I-140 does not get denied, lost mail, disorganized USCIS practices, and unskilled adjudication officers are just a few reasons that are out of your control as to why your I-140 may inadvertently get denied.
On the other hand, if all you filed is your I-140, and it gets denied, you can still apply for a new TN, and re-file the I-140. Life goes on, and you learn from the mistakes you made on the I-140, and you try again.
Also, if you filed concurrently and the I-140 gets an RFE (Request for Evidence), and then I-485 can be put on "hold". With the I-485 on hold, this may cause a delay in getting the EAD, and AP.. If the TN expires during this time, you would not be able to work, since you would not have an EAD yet. Examples of this is the ability to pay RFE's for smaller companies, or education issues for EB2 cases. These are common RFE抯 that are predicable, yet unavoidable in some cases, even with a great lawyer. The delay due to this RFE on the other hand is unpredictable, and this is where the issues arise.
Next, you could get your not-yet-approved I-140 inadvertently transferred to a local office, because the service center wanted to give you an interview for your concurrently filed I-485, not realizing that the you have a pending I-140. Although a local office does have the capability to adjudicate an I-140, in general, they will claim it is the responsibility of the service center, and will not even touch the case. If you were on a TN in this scenario, you would be caught in the loop of trying to get your I-140 back to the service center, all the while your EAD may not get approved before your TN expires because nobody at USCIS wants to admit to having your file. Again, bad luck due to USCIS error, and its out of your control. The risk is too high to take the chance.
The safe route in a TN scenario is NOT to file concurrently. I still highly recommend this to all TN holders reading this trying to adjust status (if your priority date is even current in the first place). Otherwise you may have to take a leave of absence for an unforeseeable amount of time, or the worst case is (as originally stated in less frequent cases these days) you might be out of status, without the option to renew your TN.
Glossary of Terms and Acronyms:
AC-21: The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act
AP: Advance Parole
AR-11: Alien's Change of Address Form
ASC: Application Support Center
CSC: California Service Center
EB: Employment-Based Immigration Category
EAD: Employment Authorization Document
FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation
GC: Green Card
G-731: Inquiry About Status of I-551, Alien Registration Card
I-131: Application for Travel Document
I-140: Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
I-485: Application To Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
I-551: Green Card
I-765: Application for Employment Authorization
I-90: Application to Replace Permanent Residence Card
I-9: Employment Eligibility Verification
InfoPass: USCIS appointment system i-EAD: Interim EAD
KCC: Kentucky Consular Center
LC: Labor Certification
MSC: Missouri National Benefits Center
MTR: Motion to Reopen
NCSC: National Customer Service Center
NSC: Nebraska Service Center
N-400: Application for Naturalization
N-470: Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes
PD: Priority Date
PERM Processing: Program Electronic Review Management
PFI: Pre-Flight Inspection
POE: Point of Entry
RFE: Request for Evidence
SB-1: Returning Resident Alien
SS: Social Security
TSC: Texas Service Center
TD: NAFTA Professional Dependant visa
TN: NAFTA Professional visa
USCIS: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
VSC: Vermont Service Center
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