Urgent: F1 current visa and I-485 pending and just realized I can’t travel – bad lawyer advice

Hi everyone, I really need some guidance because I feel completely lost right now.

I am a Spanish citizen (born in Venezuela). I came to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa which is still valid and I am maintaining status (full-time credits, valid I-20, etc.).

I married a U.S. citizen and we filed:

I-130 on November 4

I-485 received by USCIS on November 21

https://preview.redd.it/ssb0voxd25ng1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=c5361b279687daf2337ad2059523c6c5cbf0d426

However, I went to do my biometrics in January 14th but those are not appearing. Is that normal?

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My husband and I hired a lawyer, and he told me that as long as I kept my F-1 active I could still travel internationally and return using my student visa. Based on that advice we planned a destination wedding in Spain for May.

We were supposed to leave very soon to prepare everything. Today I learned that leaving the U.S. while my I-485 is pending without Advance Parole may cause USCIS to consider my case abandoned. From what I’m reading now, it seems I should have filed Form I-131 for Advance Parole. Unfortunately my lawyer told me I didn’t need it, so we never applied.

I called USCIS today and got completely different answers from different agents:

• One agent told me I must have Advance Parole to travel.

• Another agent said if I tried to request Emergency Advance Parole I might not qualify because I was born in Venezuela (even though I’m a Spanish citizen and my visa is in my Spanish passport).

• A third agent said if my F-1 is valid and active I could travel and re-enter without issues.

At this point I have no idea what information is correct.

From USCIS guidance it seems that leaving the U.S. with a pending I-485 without Advance Parole is usually considered abandoning the application.

I’m trying to understand what my real options are now.

My questions:

1- Has anyone been in a situation where they had a pending I-485 but still traveled with an active F-1 visa?

2- If I leave the U.S. without Advance Parole, will my case automatically be considered abandoned?

3- Would my only option then be to finish the process through consular processing abroad?

4- Has anyone successfully received Emergency Advance Parole for a family situation?

I feel incredibly stressed because we planned our wedding and trusted our lawyer’s advice. I genuinely thought I was doing everything correctly.

Any insight or experiences would be greatly appreciated.