QUESTION
Will his I130 application can affect his F1 student visa application after 2 years?
Asked on Aug 23rd, 2016 on Immigration - Georgia
More details to this question:
I am US citizen. I have applied for my brother F4 family petition 04/2012. He is in USA on B1/B2 visa. When can he apply for adjustment of status? He is planning to study in US and will maintain his legal status until he can adjust his status. I want my brother stay legally with me because he has nobody except me
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3 ANSWERS
If he manages to have a legal status for 10-12 years, he might be able to adjust.
Answered on Sep 20th, 2016 at 11:33 AM
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Current priority dates for F4 category (brothers/sisters of U.S. citizens) are: 01NOV2003 01MAY2003 01DEC2002 01MAY1997 15APR1993Most countries mainland China India Mexico Philippines So, if your brother is a citizen of Mexico, he will be eligible to adjust status in approximately 15 years; if he is a citizen of Kenya or Brazil - in 8.5 years. This is a long time to remain a student. Hopefully, some other avenues for adjusting his status will open up (marriage-based or employment-based green card). Meanwhile, he should think twice before crossing the border on a student visa: at entry, every non-immigrant must prove that he/she does not intend to immigrate to the U.S.; with an immigrant petition filed, it can be difficult, and an immigration inspector at the border can deny a non-immigrant entry despite the fact that he/she has a visa.
Answered on Sep 15th, 2016 at 5:44 PM
Generally, a foreign national may maintain F1 student status notwithstanding the filing of a Form I-130 application by a sibling. The filing of the I-130 establishes a "Priority Date," and when the official Visa Bulletin issued by the U.S. Department of State shows that an immigrant visa is available in the Family-based Fourth Preference (F4) visa category, it will be possible for the foreign national then to file an Adjustment of Status application. There currently is a very long backlog for visas in this category. While the Visa Bulletin information may appear to show a shorter time, less than a year's backlog gets resolved each year, and it may take another 10 - 15 years or longer for a visa to become available in this category for an I-130 that was filed in 2012. For this reason an application in the F4 category rarely is a satisfactory strategy.
Answered on Sep 15th, 2016 at 10:48 AM