Am I eligible to apply for I-140?

[dsc1982]

Hello, I would like to start my giving some background information on myself.
I am a 24 year old college student in NYC, in my last semester of school. Me and my family came to the US form India in the summer 1990 on a visitors visa. Recently my father was approved for I-140 and he recieved his permanent status card. Through him my mother, and sister revieved the same. I was left out of the loop because when the papers cleared I was over 21, even though when we applied I was under 21.

My father tells me from his talks to our lawyer that I cannot apply for I-140. this is becasuse the INS is currently not accepting requests for I-140. The only to obtain my papers our lawer tells us is through H1 or marriage. I wont bluntly accept this without a second opinion, which we have never recieved.

I have someone willing to sponsor me under I-140 but it would help if some light is shed on this issue. My question is, am I eligible to apply for I-140? Any advice or comments will be greatly appreciated.
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[Boyan]

Unfortunately your lawyer is right. You can apply for I-140 but even though it may get approved you wont be able to adjust your status to that of LPR before your priority date become current. There are 3 ways you can get permanent residency under employment: EB1, EB2 and EB3. To find what each is about go to this website:

/employment-based-greencard/

You said that you are about to graduate college which means that you probably qualify for EB3. If you have a sponsoring employer willing to file I-140 on your behalf and everything goes fine (labor certification; I-140 approved ...) your priority date for your green card will be the filing date of your labor certification. Even though you will have I-140 approved you won’t be able to file I-485 (application for adjustment of status) before your priority date become current. Right now INS is working on applications from 2001. To find this information go here:
http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/visa-bulletin.jsp

What does this mean? It means that people that have their labor certification priority date before May 1st,2001 under EB3 can apply for Adjustment of status and get their green card. If they have applied under EB2 and they are from say India they must have priority date before Jan 1st,2002 - for more info look at the table from the website above. So in your case if you file today for labor certification your priority date will be Feb 19,2006. You will have to wait from Jan 1st,2001 to Feb.19,2006 since you are from India which is 5 years and 1 month (or longer) before you can file for adjustment of status(I-485). During this time you MUST be in legal status (F1, H1b or other visa) or leave the country. Please note that having I-140 approved does not allow you to be in the country legaly. You can be legaly here only when you have filed I-485 for adjustment of status or you are on a valid visa (h1b, F1 or other). Your options:
1. Marriage!
2. Have your employer file for H1b and then EB3 as soon as possible and work for him for the next 6-7 years.
3. Go for masters or doctorate degree and have your employer file for EB3 AFTER you get F-1 from your new school. If you do it the other way they will refuse your new F-1 since your intention is to stay in the country not return to your place of origin.
4. File EB3 and leave the county waiting for your priority date to become current back home.
5. Do OPT for 12 months and choose any of the above options.
6. Get a masters or higher education and then apply for EB2
7. Look into E-2 visa (requires investment). Do some research about it at Google.
8. There will be reform in the immigration coming this March. There is a good chance for the above backlogs in EB category to be reduced if Senate come up with something smart.
9. Have your parents sponsor you for family based immigration under 2b preference. The current wait for India is from July 8,1996 or wait for them to become citizens (this takes 5 years from the date they got their Green card stamp) and apply under 1st preference family based immigration where the wait is from April 22, 2001 (so 5 years + ~5 years =10 years).
10. Become illegal.

The good news: Well.... you are not alone.....

PS: The consultation above will cost you $100

[dsc1982]

Thank you Boyan for taking your time to answer my question. It was exactly was I needed. Some clarity.