By J. Lavetsky, Esq.
Beacon Immigration PLLC
August 31, 2023
When applying for a green card within the U.S., a process known as adjustment of status, it’s common to concurrently apply for both a work permit and also a travel permit (also known as advance parole). Typically, USCIS will send you your work and travel permits on a single card several months before processing your green card application. This allows you to work and travel internationally while waiting for USCIS to adjudicate your green card.
Unfortunately, waiting times for these documents are severe. We recently assisted a couple with their marriage green card application in November 2022, but they didn’t receive their work/travel combo card until July 2023 – an eight-month wait time (and they’re still waiting for the green card approval).
With waiting times out of control, the question then arises: is there anything that adjustment of status applicants can do to reduce wait times for their work and travel permits?
Working and Traveling
There is one tactic that seems to work, but as with many things involving USCIS, it’s not entirely satisfactory. Recently, applicants have found reduced wait times when they either apply for a work permit only, or a travel permit only. In other words, if an applicant sends only the work permit application together with their green card filing, they tend to receive their work permit within only a few months (but not the travel permit). Likewise, if they file only for the travel permit, they receive that faster (but not the work permit).
This is probably because USCIS tends to combine the work and travel permit applications when they are filed together, and will only issue one or the other when both have been processed. By choosing only either the work permit or the travel permit, an adjustment of status applicant may be able to reduce their wait time by prioritizing what’s more important to them: working, or traveling.
An Impossible Choice
Of course, for many, this is an impossible choice. Working can be a sine qua non, as can traveling to see one’s family or friends back home. USCIS is offering applicants unsatisfactory and unacceptable options.
Nonetheless, some applicants may be able to take advantage of this tactic, particularly applicants who have no plans to work for the time being, such as students. For them, the ability to travel home, especially for unforeseen emergencies, may be much more important. Likewise, if applicants place more importance on building their careers or making money, they can choose the work permit.
Keep in mind that after either the work permit or travel permit arrives, applicants can then file the application for the other, as long as their adjustment of status application remains pending. Currently, USCIS does not charge a fee for either application, though they plan to start charging in due time. Also keep in mind that wait times at USCIS are capricious, and many applicants will receive both their work and travel permits quickly, even if filed concurrently.
Conclusion
Wait times at USCIS have long been frustrating, and the problem doesn’t seem to be going away. Thankfully, there are things that an applicant can do to ameliorate these issues, such as prioritizing either their work or travel permit over the other, before finally receiving their green card.
If you need help applying for a green card, a work permit, advance parole, or anything else, please contact Beacon Immigration today: +1 845-288-2435 / beaconimmigrationlawyer@gmail.com.
Beacon Immigration PLLC is a law firm located in the Hudson Valley of New York at 6 Eliza Street, Suite 5, Beacon, NY 12508 (Dutchess County).
