QUESTION

If I have been a US citizen for 10 years, can I petition to bring my parents and brother from France?

Asked on Dec 31st, 2013 on Immigration - Texas
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Is it difficult? Lengthy?
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10 ANSWERS

Immigration Attorney serving Pittsburgh, PA
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As a US citizen, you can petition for both your parents and brother for a green card. The first step consists of filing a petition with USCIS, and then after approval, processing the case through the US State Department. It is not a difficult process if you submit the correct documentation at each stage and are properly prepared for the interview. The processing time, however, will be much longer for your brother than for your parents. Your parents are considered immediate relatives so the total time to bring them from France to the US can be less than one year. If your parents are already in the US, then it is possible for them to adjust their status to US permanent residents within a few months. Your brother, after the initial approval of the petition, will need to wait for the priority date in his immigrant visa category to become current. Based upon current processing times, the wait can actually be more than ten years. It is only speculation, but it is possible that future immigration reform may shorten the wait for brothers and sisters of US citizens.
Answered on Feb 10th, 2014 at 11:27 AM

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Personal Injury Attorney serving Pasadena, CA at Law Offices of Pius Joseph
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They are your immediate relatives and will not be very lengthy. Brother if an adult not a minor will take a preference position and may take years.
Answered on Jan 06th, 2014 at 12:15 PM

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Bruce A. Coane
A USA citizen can file a petition for parents and a brother. It is not unreasonably difficult but there is lots of paperwork. It's like doing a complex tax return. The brother case takes many years. Parents' case takes 8-24 months, on average.
Answered on Jan 06th, 2014 at 12:12 PM

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Your petition for your parents, if approved, can be expected to give them an opportunity to become permanent residents of the U.S. sometime from 8 months to 1.5 years. Your brother, however, would have to wait over 13 years before his turn would come. The process is rather straightforward; and you might complete it just by following the instructions posted on the USCIS website. One difficulty that arises frequently in this type of cases is the petitioner's inability to qualify as the sole sponsor on the affidavit of support: as a condition to approval of your parents' green cards, the Government would require you to promise that they will not become "public burden" (meaning that you will support them financially until they become U.S. citizens, and they will not ask for welfare, SSI, food stamps, Medicaid, or subsidized housing); you must show that you have income (or assets) above the current federal poverty guidelines ( http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-864p.pdf; add 2 to the number of people in your family, and look for the amount in the 125% column). If you do not earn enough, you will have to find a co-sponsor who does. Other difficulties might arise is your parents are not citizens of France, have communicable diseases, criminal convictions, or history of violations of immigration laws. If any of this applies in your parents' case, I would strongly recommend engaging an immigration attorney before these difficulties stall the process for months or derail it completely.
Answered on Jan 06th, 2014 at 12:04 PM

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Immigration Law Attorney serving San Francisco, CA at Law Offices of S. Ouya Maina
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You can petition for both parents and siblings. Your parents should be in the US within a year. Your brother will take considerably longer. Depending on his age, it might make sense for your parents to also petition for him once they arrive as Permanent Residents.
Answered on Jan 03rd, 2014 at 11:32 AM

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Corporate and Business Law Attorney serving Ridgewood, NJ
Partner at NPZ Law Group
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You can petition to bring your parents immediately. If they are in the U.S., it may only take a few (3 or so) months. If your parents are in France then it may take about 6 months or so. It may take your brother a bit of time but there may be other ways to do the case for your brother. For your brother, we would need to see a recent resume with his academic and experiential credentials. We would be pleased to meet with you or to have a telecon with you to discuss the options for U.S. immigration for your parents and your brother.
Answered on Jan 03rd, 2014 at 11:21 AM

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If you are over 21 years old, you can apply for your parents and when the petition is approved they can apply for immigrant visas. You can file a petition for your brother now, but he will have to wait more than 10 years to apply for an immigrant visa.
Answered on Jan 03rd, 2014 at 11:18 AM

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Yes, the parents can come as immediate relatives. Brother will take at least 10 years if law is not changed.
Answered on Jan 03rd, 2014 at 11:09 AM

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Immigration Law Attorney serving San Francisco, CA at Richard S. Kolomejec
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Parents you can do while they are visiting the US. Brother is a different story (11 year process).
Answered on Jan 03rd, 2014 at 11:03 AM

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As a US citizen, you can petition for both your parents and brother from France to immigrate to the US. The petitions are filed on form I-130. It normally takes about 1 year for the paperwork to be processed before your parents will have their visa interviews scheduled at the US consulate. It's currently taking about 13 years for siblings of US citizens.
Answered on Jan 03rd, 2014 at 11:02 AM

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