The USCIS has announced that it will no longer accept the concurrent filing of permanent residency religious visas (“EB-4 Visa” ) with an application for adjustment of status. Since 2009, the USCIS has allowed immigrants applying for the EB-4 visa to file a concurrent adjustment of status application along with a request for employment authorization (I-765) and advanced parole (I-131).
The concurrent filing of these applications allowed an immigrant to become a lawful permanent resident faster and granted the applicant the ability to work while waiting for the permanent residency application to be approved.
With this decision, the EB-4 joins the EB-5 investor immigrant as the two employment-based permanent residency applications that do not allow concurrent filing. EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 immigrant applications do allow for current filing.
