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I am a US citizen and would like to sponsor my married child who has one son with his wife. How long would it take for him to get here, get i-130 approved and for visa,
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Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney serving New York, NY
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Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law
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You would be sponsoring your son under the F-3 category, which for the month of March 2013 is backlogged to 7/15/02 for people born in most countries of the world except Mexico and the Philippines, which countries are backlogged even longer. There is thus an approximate 10 year wait for your son and his family to emigrate to the States if your son is born in a country other than Mexico or the Philippines. A priority date is established at the time that the I-130 petition is submitted to US CIS. As the date is established at the time of filing and not the date of approval, USCIS is not overly concerned with the length of time that it takes to adjudicate I-130 petitions in this category. According to the latest processing time chart of the agency, I-130 petitions adjudicated in the Vermont Service Center in the F-3 preference are being reached which were being filed by 2/27/12, in the Texas Service Center by 6/10/12, and in the California Service Center by 6/19/10.
Answered on Feb 22nd, 2013 at 5:38 PM
Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visas Attorney serving Greensboro, NC
at
Goulder Immigration Law Firm
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Your son is not classified as an "immediate relative," and the petition process takes place at a later date than the actual visa issuance. A citizen's married child is preference category F-3; only about 23,000 of these immigrant visas are available each year--so they are over-subscribed. More information is needed to identify when the visa would be available, but it will be approximately 11 years (more if he is chargeable to Mexico or Philippines) on the Department of State Visa Bulletin--from the priority date. The petition priority date is the date the petition was initially filed with DHS/USCIS. Your preference category, priority date, and country of origin determine your place in line for an immigrant visa.
You must first petition (Form I-130) for your son's immigrant visa. DHS/USCIS approval of the I-130 is only the necessary first step for an immigrant visa, or permanent residence (“green card”) a family member. The I-130 approval is not the grant of permanent resident status (“green card”). You do not need to file a separate I-130 for your son's wife and unmarried children under 21 years of age.
USCIS processing time for I-130 is approximately 6 months. After USCIS approves a preference category petition, the approved petition sits on the shelf as the beneficiary intending immigrant waits in line for the visa to become available according to the Visa Bulletin. When the visa number becomes available, which is also referred to as the priority date is current, is when the intending immigrant beneficiary can take the next step and apply for permanent residence.
Note: This information is offered for educational purposes only; and, is not, and should not be considered, legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created unless we have a signed engagement letter.
For more information contact immigration attorney Gerald Goulder at www.gouldervisa.com
Answered on Jan 29th, 2013 at 4:10 PM