asking for a continuance at asylum hearing

[Jasmine Doe]

Hello,

My basic question is, We have an upcoming asylum hearing. Is it likely that a judge will grant us a continuance at that hearing so we can wait to until our separate petition for adjustment of status is further along?

Background -- I am a US citizen. My husband is a national of the Republic of Congo. He applied for asylum several years before we were married. After we were married in 2007, he had an asylum hearing in which the officer did not grant his asylum petition and referred him to an immigration judge. In the meantime, I/we have filed an I-485 and supporting documents so he can get permanent residency based on marriage to me. We are planning to abandon the asylum petition, but I would like to wait until our other petition is further along before we do. We do have filing receipts from the I-485 petition, and he reported for biometrics, but nothing else yet.

Eventually, we plan to just abandon the asylum petition, for various reasons: it's preferable to have status based on marriage to me, and it's virtually certain it will be granted eventually; and based on the documentation we received after the immigration hearing, it's unlikely they will grant asylum anyway. However, I don't really want to abandon it yet because I don't want him to fall out of status (basically he has "pending asylum" and that's the basis on which he gets a renewable work permit each year). I think that he now should have temporary status based on the fact that we have received a filing receipt for the I-485, but I'd like to hedge our bets...

Sorry this was so long, but does anyone have an idea of how easy it is to get a continuance? Thanks.