Child under 21yrs and not married

[TEE&ESS 0]

Just wanted to know if anyone can shed some light on this situation. A friend's mum applied for I-130 for her daughter. Mother is a green card holder. She sent in the application in 2008. We have information that the case was approved by USCIS and was sent to the NVC sometime in 2008. We contacted the NVC and we were told that the NVC is still processing similar situations from May 2007. Basically, they're seriously backlogged. Mother cannot stay too long on her visits to the US because daughter has health issues back home. We know that another way to quicken this is by mother becoming a citizen. However, mother is worried that she might not qualify for citizenship as she has only spent close to 700 days in the US between 2007 and now. Another way is to expedite the case with the NVC based on health issues of daughter. My questions are:

Are there specific criteria to qualify for citizenship based on the number of days you are physically present in the States?

Is it possible to expedite a case with the NVC. (I know this is possible with the USCIS). If so, how?

Any ideas, suggestions, advise or opinions are welcome. Thank you!

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Are there specific criteria to qualify for citizenship based on the number of days you are physically present in the States?

Is it possible to expedite a case with the NVC. (I know this is possible with the USCIS). If so, how?

Any ideas, suggestions, advise or opinions are welcome. Thank you!

Good morning - this type of case cannot be expedited at with the NVC because the case is not current.

This person seems eligible for US Citizenship BASED ON this information alone even though the person traveled outside the USA for 700 days it is less than 900 days over the last 5 year period leading up to submitting the application.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Are there specific criteria to qualify for citizenship based on the number of days you are physically present in the States?

Is it possible to expedite a case with the NVC. (I know this is possible with the USCIS). If so, how?

The rules for residency are complicated. There are separate rules for continuous residence and physical presence. If she's been married to a US citizen for at least three years then she needs three years of continuous residence and 18 months of physical presence. Otherwise, she needs five years of continuous residence and 30 months of physical presence.

Physical presence is the sum total of days since the LPR got their green card, minus the sum total of days they spent outside the US.

Continuous residence usually begins to accrue the day they get their green card, but some events can stop the clock, and other events can reset the clock to zero. The clock stops when the LPR has been outside the US continuously for six months. When they are outside the US for more than one year but less than two years then the last 364 days they were absent may count towards their continuous residence, but all of the time before that is erased. Basically, they start over with just under a year of continuous residence.

Publication M-476 from USCIS describes the requirements.

She may be able to get an expedite of processing based on the health of the daughter, but they won't change her priority date because of it. I don't know the process because I've never heard of anyone doing it, but I would presume it's as simple as sending a letter that makes the case for an expedite. If she sent the petition in 2008 then I presume her priority date is current, or will be current soon. If her daughter needs long term medical care then this may be an issue when making the "public charge" determination. Hopefully, the mother can provide medical insurance or other evidence that her daughter's medical care will be paid for.

When will the daughter be 21? If she ages out prior to immigrating then her visa category would become F2B, which would add years before her priority date would again become current.

[LADYDARE 28]

Just wanted to know if anyone can shed some light on this situation. A friend's mum applied for I-130 for her daughter. Mother is a green card holder. She sent in the application in 2008. We have information that the case was approved by USCIS and was sent to the NVC sometime in 2008. We contacted the NVC and we were told that the NVC is still processing similar situations from May 2007. Basically, they're seriously backlogged. Mother cannot stay too long on her visits to the US because daughter has health issues back home. We know that another way to quicken this is by mother becoming a citizen. However, mother is worried that she might not qualify for citizenship as she has only spent close to 700 days in the US between 2007 and now. Another way is to expedite the case with the NVC based on health issues of daughter. My questions are:

Are there specific criteria to qualify for citizenship based on the number of days you are physically present in the States?

Is it possible to expedite a case with the NVC. (I know this is possible with the USCIS). If so, how?

Any ideas, suggestions, advise or opinions are welcome. Thank you!

Do you know exactly when the application was sent in 2008? According to July visa bulletin, for F2A category they are working on cases with piority date of 22-MARCH-08.

[TEE&ESS 0]

Good morning - this type of case cannot be expedited at with the NVC because the case is not current.

This person seems eligible for US Citizenship BASED ON this information alone even though the person traveled outside the USA for 700 days it is less than 900 days over the last 5 year period leading up to submitting the application.

Thank you. I appreciate your response

[TEE&ESS 0]

The rules for residency are complicated. There are separate rules for continuous residence and physical presence. If she's been married to a US citizen for at least three years then she needs three years of continuous residence and 18 months of physical presence. Otherwise, she needs five years of continuous residence and 30 months of physical presence.

Physical presence is the sum total of days since the LPR got their green card, minus the sum total of days they spent outside the US.

Continuous residence usually begins to accrue the day they get their green card, but some events can stop the clock, and other events can reset the clock to zero. The clock stops when the LPR has been outside the US continuously for six months. When they are outside the US for more than one year but less than two years then the last 364 days they were absent may count towards their continuous residence, but all of the time before that is erased. Basically, they start over with just under a year of continuous residence.

Publication M-476 from USCIS describes the requirements.

She may be able to get an expedite of processing based on the health of the daughter, but they won't change her priority date because of it. I don't know the process because I've never heard of anyone doing it, but I would presume it's as simple as sending a letter that makes the case for an expedite. If she sent the petition in 2008 then I presume her priority date is current, or will be current soon. If her daughter needs long term medical care then this may be an issue when making the "public charge" determination. Hopefully, the mother can provide medical insurance or other evidence that her daughter's medical care will be paid for.

When will the daughter be 21? If she ages out prior to immigrating then her visa category would become F2B, which would add years before her priority date would again become current.

I didn't know all of these before now. I guess I will send this information across to her and have her go through.We need to verify whether she's even eligible to file for her citizenship based on the information you provided. I will have to look through this again for her. Hopefully, there will be a way out from here. Thanks a lot!

Do you know exactly when the application was sent in 2008? According to July visa bulletin, for F2A category they are working on cases with piority date of 22-MARCH-08.

I think the application was filed in June of 2008. Really?? If they are currently working on March 2008, looks like she's almost there. Thanks for the info.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I think the application was filed in June of 2008. Really?? If they are currently working on March 2008, looks like she's almost there. Thanks for the info.

Priority dates aren't simply a matter of bureaucratic backlogs. There are a limited number of family preference visas available each year, so everyone has to wait in line until a visa is available for them. Department of State manages this by publishing a visa bulletin every month with a cutoff date for each visa category. A beneficiary becomes eligible for a visa number and can apply for a visa when their priority date is before the current cutoff date. Based on what you've said, the cutoff date for F2A's should be after her daughter's priority date within a few months.