USCIS Accepting Concurrently Filed Religious Worker Petitions Form I-360 and Adjustment of Status Applications Form I-485
Do you have a pending Form I-360 Special Immigrant Religious Worker Petition? If so, you are now eligible to file an application to adjust your status to permanent resident. On June 25, 2009, in response the district court’s order in Ruiz-Diaz v. United States, No. CO7-1881RSL (W.D. Wash. June 11, 2009), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is now accepting concurrently filed Form I-360 and Form I-485 Applications to Adjustment. Applicants who filed Form I-360 religious worker petitions and are currently pending with USCIS are immediately eligible to file Form I-485 Application to Adjust Status and Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization. USCIS has posted this notice on their website and is available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/dkt_127-2_notice.pdf.
Under the district court's order, if you have a Form I-360 religious worker petition that is pending with USCIS as of June 11, 2009, then you are eligible to file Form I-485 and/or Form I-765. Also, applicants filing after June 11, 2009, are eligible to concurrently file Form I-360/I-485. The order protects foreign nationals from the accrual of unlawful presence and unauthorized work since any period of unlawful presence and unlawful employment will be tolled until will be tolled until September 9, 2009.
For additional information please see the USCIS Web site.
Please explain "unlawful presence and unauthorized work since any period of unlawful presence and unlawful employment will be tolled until will be tolled until September 9, 2009".
Lilly, Individuals who were in the U.S. with a valid visa (for example an R-1 non-immigrant religious worker visa) and who remained in the U.S. beyond the authorized period of time, began accruing unlawful presence in the U.S. when the time allowed in the U.S. expired. If the authorized time in the U.S. expired, non-immigrant visa holders who were in valid status in the U.S. are now in unlawful status. Moreover, if the non-immigrant visa holder is now in unlawful status and continued working with the employer then there is also the issue of unauthorized employment (working without permission). Individuals who began accruing unlawful presence, unlawful status, and unlawful employment in the U.S. as a result of an expired form I-94 will be tolled to allow pending I-360 religious worker applicants to file their Adjustment of Status applications (Form I-485). Thus, if there’s a pending I-360 religious worker petition, then there are no status violations even though the time in the U.S. expired (on Form I-94). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will “extend” the authorized time while the I-360 remains pending so that there won’t be any status violations. I hope this answers your question.
MY I-360 RELIGIOUS WORKER IS APROVED IN 2006 AND I FILE I-485 TO CHANGE MY STATUS IT WAS DENIED I AM NOW WORKING WITH A NEW CHURCH CAN I USE THE APROVE I-360 OF THE OLD CHURCH IN THE NEW CHURCH TO CHANGE MY STATUS THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU I ALWAYS FILE MY YEARLY TAX WITH THE NEW CHURCH TAX EXCEMPT NUMBER