married overseas, GC holder

[ziia 9]

I am asking this question on behalf of a friend who needs some help.

He has been a green card holder since 2004 and in 2006 he married a romanian woman. In January 2007 he sent in the I130 application for his spouse. In May 2009 he received the notice that I130 was approved and in 90 days his wife will receive the approval notice back home in Romania.

In the mean time they had a kid together who is now 1 year old, so his question is:

-What can he do to bring the kid to the states too, along with his wife? Does he need to file e brand new I130 for him separately or is there another way?

-Because in about a month or so, the applicant will receive the citizenship, would that speed up the process of bringing them here at all?

-How long, aproximately will it take untill he has his wife and kid with him in US?

Thanks so much for your imput

Edited July 28, 2009 by ziia

[clueless_in_usa 8]

I am asking this question on behalf of a friend who needs some help.

He has been a green card holder since 2004 and in 2006 he married a romanian woman. In January 2007 he sent in the I130 application for his spouse. In May 2009 he received the notice that I130 was approved and in 90 days his wife will receive the approval notice back home in Romania.

In the mean time they had a kid together who is now 1 year old, so his question is:

-What can he do to bring the kid to the states too, along with his wife? Does he need to file e brand new I130 for him separately or is there another way?

-Because in about a month or so, the applicant will receive the citizenship, would that speed up the process of bringing them here at all?

-How long, aproximately will it take untill he has his wife and kid with him in US?

Thanks so much for your imput

Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the wife cannot come to the USA until the I-485 gets approved ... and that one will take at least FIVE years (the State Department shows that they are currently approving petitions from JAN-2005). A permanent resident has to wait a lot longer than a citizen.

Therefore, "your friend" should wait until he becomes a citizen and then change the status of the application to get a CR1 visa for his wife and child.

[canadian_wife 1,791]

The I-485 is not filed until the beneficiary is already in the US. If your friend's wife is still overseas then you will need to file the I-130 for the child and the wife.

your friend can file the I-130 for each and then upgrade the petition when your friend becomes a citizen. Since the I-130 has already been approved for the wife, the I-130 will need to be done for the son. That is, if an I-129F for a K-3 was not filed as well.

Good luck.

[milimelo 4,228]

The I-485 is not filed until the beneficiary is already in the US. If your friend's wife is still overseas then you will need to file the I-130 for the child and the wife.

your friend can file the I-130 for each and then upgrade the petition when your friend becomes a citizen. Since the I-130 has already been approved for the wife, the I-130 will need to be done for the son. That is, if an I-129F for a K-3 was not filed as well.

Good luck.

As far as I know, LPRs can only do I-130 (CR-1/IR-1) but NOT K-3 or K-1 so no need to even mention those, right?

[canadian_wife 1,791]

I stand corrected. Thanks for letting me know

Edited July 28, 2009 by canadian_wife

[ziia 9]

Thank you for the responses. Would the processing time for I130 speed up for the kid once the petitioner becomes a citizen, even if he originaly petitioned for his family while beeing a GC holder? Would it take a bunch of years for his kid to be approved or would it be a much shorter period of time?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thank you for the responses. Would the processing time for I130 speed up for the kid once the petitioner becomes a citizen, even if he originaly petitioned for his family while beeing a GC holder? Would it take a bunch of years for his kid to be approved or would it be a much shorter period of time?

Currently, his wife and child are family 2nd preference, which is taking about 5 years. This will be reduced to less than a year (probably) once he becomes a citizen and upgrades the petitions to immediate relative (IR).