Does applying for,or having an I-130 approved,affect eligibility for a Student Visa?

[healthteacher 18]

Does applying for,or having an I-130 approved,affect eligibility for a Student Visa?

I am asking this because there seems to be a condition for obtaining student visas requiring that the applicant have no current "intention" to immigrate to the US. It's just for going to school,right?

Is applying for or having an I-130 evidence that you have "intention" to immigrate?

[umikoikaze 12]

Does applying for,or having an I-130 approved,affect eligibility for a Student Visa?

I am asking this because there seems to be a condition for obtaining student visas requiring that the applicant have no current "intention" to immigrate to the US. It's just for going to school,right?

Is applying for or having an I-130 evidence that you have "intention" to immigrate?

I think it would depend on your situation and what your actual intent is. Who's petitioning for you and are they USC or LPR?

[Lavender7 32]

Does applying for,or having an I-130 approved,affect eligibility for a Student Visa?

I am asking this because there seems to be a condition for obtaining student visas requiring that the applicant have no current "intention" to immigrate to the US. It's just for going to school,right?

Is applying for or having an I-130 evidence that you have "intention" to immigrate?

There are no such restrictions, however, decision on your F1 visa is purely based on immigration officer at the time of visa interview. If you are able to prove that your intent to use this visa is only for the purpose to apply for further education, you still can get the visa. As your i-130 petition is still pending for approval.

You can also consider consulting an immigration lawyer and based on the advise can take a decision on the same.

Good luck to you

[healthteacher 18]

An LPR parent would be the petitioner for any I-130.The purpose of the student visa would be just to go to school.

The question was if having an I-130 disqualifies one from seeking a student visa

[healthteacher 18]

Thanks Lavender, I see it is sort of a gray area

[Lavender7 32]

An LPR parent would be the petitioner for any I-130.The purpose of the student visa would be just to go to school.

The question was if having an I-130 disqualifies one from seeking a student visa

You are not stating the question correctly. There is no ''Having'' I-130. I-130 is just the beginning of your process for getting your immigrant visa. Once your I-130 is approved, you will have to proceed with the rest of paperwork, medical, affidavit, interview etc. Only after the interview you will be able to know, whether or not you got your immigrant visa - Green Card which allows you to move to the United States and live/work/study there legally. You are not going to need to apply for any student visas once you will get your Green Card that is. But if you want to still apply for your Student visa in the meantime,you can. So basically you don't have anything to worry about

Having a petition filed for you doesn't disqualify you for an F-1 visa or any other visa. You can get a visa and enter the U.S. on that visa if you qualify for that status.

INA 214(b) requires that people entering into nonimmigrant status like F-1 to be presumed to be immigrants (and thus not qualify for the status) until they prove that they do not intend to use this visa or this entry to immigrate. Whether your application sufficiently proves to the consular officer or immigration officer that you don't intend to use this particular visa to immigrate is fundamentally a matter of judgment. That a petition was filed on your behalf means that you might want to immigrate in the future, but it does not mean that you will use the particular visa you are applying for to immigrate or use this particular entry to immigrate. The filed petition could make it more difficult to sufficiently prove that you don't intend to use it to immigrate in the consular officer's judgment.

If this was a visa with a short duration of stay, like a tourist visa (which has a duration of stay of at most 6 months), and if the visa was issued for only a few years, then it could be argued that it would not help you to immigrate anyway, since in the F2B category you are so many years away from having a visa number available, and to be able to use the visa to immigrate you would have to enter within 6 months before a visa number was available. However, for a student visa, there is indeterminate length of stay (you can stay as long as you have a valid I-20 from some school), and it is not difficult to stay for 5-10 years. So then it's easier to abuse the visa to immigrate. So this argument is weaker for a student visa.

[umikoikaze 12]

Thanks Lavender, I see it is sort of a gray area

It is gray area and it's up to your CO to decide. Since there's a wait time for your visa preference for about 2 years, I think you could be fine. What you need to do is be honest with them about everything and not hide the fact that somebody filed a I-130 petition for you. You'll need to put this information on your application. You still could be denied, but it is worth a try. Make sure you have enough evidence of your ties to home and that you intend to come back from your studies. If they deny your student visa, you'll only lose that visa fee, but it won't affect your I-130 petition and green card process. I think you should try, hope for the best but be prepared that it might get denied. Good luck!