Applying for Mother, 2 brothers and 1 sister

[mq2007 0]

Hello All,

I recently became a US Citizen..

I am applying for my Mom...

Should I also apply for my brothers and sister...

Brothers are 14/16 and sister is 12....

I heard i cannot apply for siblings.. but they are young and We fear that they cannot stay on their own...

Any thoughts ... how long does it generally take..

[aleful 1,905]

Hello All,

I recently became a US Citizen..

I am applying for my Mom...

Should I also apply for my brothers and sister...

Brothers are 14/16 and sister is 12....

I heard i cannot apply for siblings.. but they are young and We fear that they cannot stay on their own...

Any thoughts ... how long does it generally take..

not true, probably what you heard was that siblings aren't derivatives of your mother, meaning they cannot come together. you have to petition your siblings separatly from your mother. the problem is that the wait is over 10 years for siblings.

so you should petition for her, which will take between 8 months to a year, and when she comes to the US, she can petition for her children. the wait is close to 3 years for unmarried children of a LPR under 21. she can file for a reentry permit to be most of the time with them. and with a lot of children and her not working, she will definitly need a joint sponsor.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from US Citizenship Discussion to Bringing Family Members of US Citizens to America forum.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello All,

I recently became a US Citizen..

I am applying for my Mom...

Should I also apply for my brothers and sister...

Brothers are 14/16 and sister is 12....

I heard i cannot apply for siblings.. but they are young and We fear that they cannot stay on their own...

Any thoughts ... how long does it generally take..

You can apply for all of them. You apply separately for them, each with his/her own I-130.

It will take 1 year for your mother to get an immigration visa.Only she will get a visa because this is an Immediate Relative case. Her children will not be eligible for a visa. (This is where your confusion may lie.)

Depending which country you are from, it may take 12 to 24 years for you to petition for your siblings.

Once your mother becomes a green card holder, she can apply for her children. It would take 2-3 years for them to get immigration visas.

Here is how to keep your family together as much as possible and quickly get your siblings to the US;

1. You petition for your mother.

2. She immigrates to the US and immediately gets her green card.

3. On the day she arrives in the US with her immigration visa, the visa is stamped as a temporary green card valid for 1 year. She immediately files for her children.

4. She applies for a re-entry permit which will allow her to be outside the US for up to 2 years without abandoning her green card. She must stay in the US until after her biometrics.

5. She establishes ties to the US to maintain her green card; get a state ID card (driver's license not necessary), open a bank account, etc. Use your address.

6. After her re-entry biometrics, she can return home to care for her children. Total time in US is 1-2 months.

7. She returns to the US before her re-entry permit expires.

8. In 4-5 years, children will immigrate to the US.

File as fast as you can, your 16 years old brother may age out. If he turns 21, he may have to wait 8+ years.

Edited December 11, 2012 by aaron2020

[Boiler 45,657]

You misconstrue the effect of a Re Entry Permit.

[apple21 953]

You file for your mom NOW. Will take less than a year to complete.

When mom receives her Green Card, she files i-130 for each of her 3 children. The children will be under the F2A category (Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents) with a waiting time of 2-3 YEARS. You can be mom's co-sponsor for your siblings.

Mom, on the other hand, has to maintain permanent residence in the US since she is the petitioner. You will have to find a guardian for your siblings while they are waiting for their visa.

[aaron2020 11,651]

You misconstrue the effect of a Re Entry Permit.

Why would a re-entry permit be wrong? After all, the re-entry permit was designed to allow a legal permanent resident to be outside the US for up to two years.

[apple21 953]

Why would a re-entry permit be wrong? After all, the re-entry permit was designed to allow a legal permanent resident to be outside the US for up to two years.

Won't it be an issue if LPR petitioner enters and stays in the US, example: only 4 months (or less), files i-130, then immediately leaves with a 2-year re-entry permit, stays outside the US for the whole 2 years? Won't it cause red flag for the petition?

Edited December 12, 2012 by apple21

[aaron2020 11,651]

Won't it be an issue if LPR petitioner enters and stays in the US, example: only 4 months (or less), files i-130, then immediately leaves with a 2-year re-entry permit, stays outside the US for the whole 2 years? Won't it cause red flag for the petition?

With a re-entry permit, mom's time outside the US is not considered in assessing whether she has abandoned her green card. With the US ties she maintains, she will be fine. She must take steps to prove that she is maintaining ties to the US. As long as she has her green card status, she can petition for her children.

It's not a red flag when an LPR stays outside the US with a re-entry permit.

What is wrong is an LPR who doesn't get a re-entry permit and try to game the system by coming to the US for a few days every year.

[apple21 953]

With a re-entry permit, mom's time outside the US is not considered in assessing whether she has abandoned her green card. With the US ties she maintains, she will be fine. She must take steps to prove that she is maintaining ties to the US. As long as she has her green card status, she can petition for her children.

It's not a red flag when an LPR stays outside the US with a re-entry permit.

What is wrong is an LPR who doesn't get a re-entry permit and try to game the system by coming to the US for a few days every year.

Thanks for the heads-up.

How can mom maintain ties to the US?

[aaron2020 11,651]

Thanks for the heads-up.

How can mom maintain ties to the US?

Ties to the US = things that normal people in the US have.

A US address is the most helpful.

A state issued ID card (in lieu of a driver's license).

A US bank account.

File US tax returns.

Not claiming a non-US resident.

You can find more information by using Google; search "reentry permit maintaining legal permanent."

[Boiler 45,657]

A job is most common.

[Boiler 45,657]

Why would a re-entry permit be wrong? After all, the re-entry permit was designed to allow a legal permanent resident to be outside the US for up to two years.

As long as they maintain US Residence, the R bit in LPR.

The most common ones you see are students finishing of their studies.