QUESTION
What's faster, employment based or family based petition?
Asked on Jun 13th, 2012 on Immigration - Texas
More details to this question:
My brother has a h1-b visa. I am a US citizen. Would it be faster if I submit the i-130 and i-485 form concurrently than having him go through the employment based petition for green card?
8 ANSWERS
Immigration Law Attorney serving Long Beach, CA
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Law Offices of Brian D. Lerner
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The employment based petition is much better.
Answered on Jun 29th, 2013 at 1:05 AM
Business Law Attorney serving Atlanta, GA
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Elkhalil Law, P.C.
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In your case, it is faster if you let your brother pursue his legal residency through employment. A brother to brother petition takes about 15 years wait before his visa to adjust his status becomes available. Further, you cannot file his I-485 when you file the I-130 because his visa is not immediately available.
Answered on Aug 13th, 2012 at 12:58 PM
Rebecca T White
You can't file the I-485 for your brother until his priority date becomes current. You can only file an I-130 for him at this time. If you review the Department of State Visa Bulletin you will see that siblings of US citizens have many, many years of wait times - sometimes around a decade. You may wish to file the I-130 now, but assume that he will want to pursue other immigration options while waiting for a priority date to become available.
Answered on Jun 21st, 2012 at 7:06 PM
U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney serving San Diego, CA
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Kazmi & Sakata
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Hello. You cannot file a concurrent I-130 & I-485 for a brother. The I-130 visa number must first be available. That will take 12 years. It is likely the EB category will be faster, but that will depend on the job requirements and his nationality.
Answered on Jun 21st, 2012 at 6:52 PM
An employment-based visa petition will be a lot faster than a petition filed by a US citizen on behalf of a sibling. That takes about 10-12 years. The employment-based visa petition, depending on the level of education (bachelor's or master's degree and country of birth) can take anywhere from 1.5 years to 7 years. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.
Answered on Jun 21st, 2012 at 5:34 PM
Immigration & Naturalization Attorney serving Seattle, WA
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Orbit Law, PLLC
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You cannot submit a joint I-130/I-485 for a sibling. You can sponsor him as the sibling of a U.S. Citizen but those petitions generally have a wait time of 10 - 12 years If your brother is either from China or India, even an employment based application by his employer for a "Green Card" will likely take 10-12 years given the large amount of petitions from these countries. Your brother should consult with an Immigration attorney familiar with these areas of law to advise him on how best to proceed.
Answered on Jun 21st, 2012 at 5:16 PM
Your brother cannot file I-485 concurrently with your I-130 for lack of a current priority date. Employment based application might be faster depending on the proffered job and country of origin. More facts are needed.
Answered on Jun 21st, 2012 at 4:56 PM
Immigration Attorney serving Arlington, TX
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Law Office of Pho Ethan Tran, PLLC
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As a brother of a US citizen, he would not qualify for adjustment of status immediately because he must wait for his priority date to become current or until there is a visa available to him. You can submit just the I-130 now and wait to file the I-485 when the priority date is current. Following is a link to the visa bulletin, which will keep you informed of current priority dates: http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html
Answered on Jun 21st, 2012 at 4:56 PM