Petitioning Married Son (F3)

[hulkie 0]

Hi,

I am a US citizen and submitted a petition to bring my married son (over 21 yrs of age) and his family to the US.

Case Type: I-130

Received Date: Sep. 24, 2008

Notice Date: Sep. 29, 2008

Case is at Vermont Service Center

Please help me with the following questions:

1. How long will it take before it is processed and a visa number is available?

2. I've checked the Processing Dates for Petitions for both Vermont Service Center and California Service Center, the processing timeframes for I-130 (U.S. citizen filing for a married son or daughter over 21) for each center is quite different:

*For California: timeframe is Aug. 8, 2001

*For Vermont: timeframe is Jun. 04, 2006

--> a difference of more than 5 years (Vermont is faster!). My question is Why there is such a discrepancy between the 2 centers? If it is true as seen, will there be an adjustment to align the timeframes for both centers?

3. I heard that petitions are sometimes transferred to California Service Center from Vermont. Is that true? Can it be done without my knowledge or will I receive a notice and a decision to make before the petition can be transferred?

Thank you very much.

Regards,

Hulkie T.

[aaron2020 11,652]

Hi,

I am a US citizen and submitted a petition to bring my married son (over 21 yrs of age) and his family to the US.

Case Type: I-130

Received Date: Sep. 24, 2008

Notice Date: Sep. 29, 2008

Case is at Vermont Service Center

Please help me with the following questions:

1. How long will it take before it is processed and a visa number is available?

Currently, visas are available for I-130s in the F3 category (US citizen petitioning for married child) who filed on or before Aug. 22, 2000. It's about a 9 years wait.

2. I've checked the Processing Dates for Petitions for both Vermont Service Center and California Service Center, the processing timeframes for I-130 (U.S. citizen filing for a married son or daughter over 21) for each center is quite different:

*For California: timeframe is Aug. 8, 2001

*For Vermont: timeframe is Jun. 04, 2006

--> a difference of more than 5 years (Vermont is faster!). My question is Why there is such a discrepancy between the 2 centers? If it is true as seen, will there be an adjustment to align the timeframes for both centers?

I don't know whether there will be a adjustment to align the timeframe. It doesn't matter if a petition is approved in 1 years or 5 years, the beneficiary still has to wait for a visa to become available.

3. I heard that petitions are sometimes transferred to California Service Center from Vermont. Is that true? Can it be done without my knowledge or will I receive a notice and a decision to make before the petition can be transferred?

Thank you very much.

Regards,

Hulkie T.

[aaron2020 11,652]

Hulkie,

There is essentially two parts to bringing your son and his family over. The first part is filing the I-130 petition for your son to prove that there is a familial relationship that qualifies you to petition for your son. This process can take 1-4 years. After the petition is approved, it is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) to wait until a visa is available. As you may know, the US issues 23,400 visas in the F3 category in any one year. There are always more people wanting visas then available visas, so everyone in this category has to wait their turn for a visa. There is no expediting this process. When your son's priority date (PD - day the I-130 was received by USCIS), then you will get more paperwork and file more fees to request visas for your son and his family.

I understand what you are going through. My US citizen father petitioned for my married brother and his family (Vietnamese nationals) in October, 2000. The petitioned took 1 year to get approved and sent to the NVC. Since his PD is near, we have just received paperwork to apply for their visas. Here is the sad part, my brother's children over the age of 21 years old will not be able to come with him as they have aged out; one is age 23 and the other is age 15. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) could not help them. CSPA does not count the time it take to approve a I-130. So if it had taken 4 years to approve the I-130, the 23 and 25 years old would have been eligible for visas. The analogy I gave my dad is like those Vietnamese going to "reeducation camp." It appear luck if someone got out in 2 years and 10 months rather than 3 years and was allowed to go home. However, it was not so lucky because the guy who was there for 3 years could come over to the US under the Orderly Departure Program while the other guy was not eligible. So, it is lucky if it takes long to get the I-130 approved because everyone has to wait the same total amount of time to get a visa.

Good luck.

Nguoi Viet (Que Son, Quang Nam, Viet Nam)

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin...letin_1360.html

[hulkie 0]

Hulkie,

There is essentially two parts to bringing your son and his family over. The first part is filing the I-130 petition for your son to prove that there is a familial relationship that qualifies you to petition for your son. This process can take 1-4 years. After the petition is approved, it is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) to wait until a visa is available. As you may know, the US issues 23,400 visas in the F3 category in any one year. There are always more people wanting visas then available visas, so everyone in this category has to wait their turn for a visa. There is no expediting this process. When your son's priority date (PD - day the I-130 was received by USCIS), then you will get more paperwork and file more fees to request visas for your son and his family.

I understand what you are going through. My US citizen father petitioned for my married brother and his family (Vietnamese nationals) in October, 2000. The petitioned took 1 year to get approved and sent to the NVC. Since his PD is near, we have just received paperwork to apply for their visas. Here is the sad part, my brother's children over the age of 21 years old will not be able to come with him as they have aged out; one is age 23 and the other is age 15. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) could not help them. CSPA does not count the time it take to approve a I-130. So if it had taken 4 years to approve the I-130, the 23 and 25 years old would have been eligible for visas. The analogy I gave my dad is like those Vietnamese going to "reeducation camp." It appear luck if someone got out in 2 years and 10 months rather than 3 years and was allowed to go home. However, it was not so lucky because the guy who was there for 3 years could come over to the US under the Orderly Departure Program while the other guy was not eligible. So, it is lucky if it takes long to get the I-130 approved because everyone has to wait the same total amount of time to get a visa.

Good luck.

Nguoi Viet (Que Son, Quang Nam, Viet Nam)

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin...letin_1360.html

Hi aaron,

Thanks for your response and valuable information about I-130 F3. I really appreciate it. It is sad to hear about your brother's children who were over 21 and did not qualify. Actually, from your brother's family story, I am now worried about one of my son's child who is 12 years of age now and will be 21 in 9 years by which time he will age out if my son's family visas are not available. Like you said above, it depends on luck too.

Another question I'd like to ask. What happen to the petition if I pass away in the next 9 or 10 years (before my son's family receives their visas)? I know it is a sad but a realistic scenario.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Edited March 30, 2009 by hulkie

[aaron2020 11,652]

Hulkie,

There is essentially two parts to bringing your son and his family over. The first part is filing the I-130 petition for your son to prove that there is a familial relationship that qualifies you to petition for your son. This process can take 1-4 years. After the petition is approved, it is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) to wait until a visa is available. As you may know, the US issues 23,400 visas in the F3 category in any one year. There are always more people wanting visas then available visas, so everyone in this category has to wait their turn for a visa. There is no expediting this process. When your son's priority date (PD - day the I-130 was received by USCIS), then you will get more paperwork and file more fees to request visas for your son and his family.

I understand what you are going through. My US citizen father petitioned for my married brother and his family (Vietnamese nationals) in October, 2000. The petitioned took 1 year to get approved and sent to the NVC. Since his PD is near, we have just received paperwork to apply for their visas. Here is the sad part, my brother's children over the age of 21 years old will not be able to come with him as they have aged out; one is age 23 and the other is age 15. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) could not help them. CSPA does not count the time it take to approve a I-130. So if it had taken 4 years to approve the I-130, the 23 and 25 years old would have been eligible for visas. The analogy I gave my dad is like those Vietnamese going to "reeducation camp." It appear luck if someone got out in 2 years and 10 months rather than 3 years and was allowed to go home. However, it was not so lucky because the guy who was there for 3 years could come over to the US under the Orderly Departure Program while the other guy was not eligible. So, it is lucky if it takes long to get the I-130 approved because everyone has to wait the same total amount of time to get a visa.

Good luck.

Nguoi Viet (Que Son, Quang Nam, Viet Nam)

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin...letin_1360.html

Hi aaron,

Thanks for your response and valuable information about I-130 F3. I really appreciate it. It is sad to hear about your brother's children who were over 21 and did not qualify. Actually, from your brother's family story, I am now worried about one of my son's child who is 12 years of age now and will be 21 in 9 years by which time he will age out if my son's family visas are not available. Like you said above, it depends on luck too.

Another question I'd like to ask. What happen to the petition if I pass away in the next 9 or 10 years (before my son's family receives their visas)? I know it is a sad but a realistic scenario.

Thanks again.

Regards,

I think your grandson will very likely be able to immigrate with your son. Hopefully, it will take a few years for the I-130 to be approved and his CSPA age will be under 21 when a visa becomes available.

If either you or your son pass away before the process is complete (your son and his family arriving in the US), then the petition is automatically revoked.