How does an entire household immigrate at the same time?

[handsofholes 6]

My wife and I would like to know how we could petition for her parents and two brothers in a way that they are all approved and able to move here at the same time? Her two brothers are over 18 years old, but they still live with their parents and are dependent on them. So, it is basically a situation where they all move here at once together or none of them move at all. My wife and I are both U.S. citizens, so we were looking into the i-130, but the processing times for parents and siblings of U.S. citizens are different so we wanted to know what our options were to keep them together as a family unit throughout the immigration process.

 

Do we have any options we can pursue? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

18 is not a crucial age and neither is being dependent the issue. The issue is that they cannot be derivatives on an IR5 visa which is what the parents will get, so they cannot all immigrate at the same time. If they are under 21 and will be so for a while, then the patents can immigrate, get green cards, file F2A petitions for the sons and use a re-entry permit to live back with them at home until they get their visas. (This does involve other complications, like showing domicile and US income, but it’s the only possible way they will all be able to move at the same time.)

[handsofholes 6]

One is over 21 and the other would likely be 21 by the time all of the paperwork is processed. Basically, there is no option for us? That is pretty messed up that they would not make a way to keep people together by at least putting parents and siblings on the same processing time frames. As it is, if we applied for the parents and they got approved... their visa would expire due to them waiting for the brothers petitions to become approved. It's highly unlikely that they would be approved in a similar time frame.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

19 minutes ago, handsofholes said:

One is over 21 and the other would likely be 21 by the time all of the paperwork is processed. Basically, there is no option for us? That is pretty messed up that they would not make a way to keep people together by at least putting parents and siblings on the same processing time frames. As it is, if we applied for the parents and they got approved... their visa would expire due to them waiting for the brothers petitions to become approved. It's highly unlikely that they would be approved in a similar time frame.

Yes, children over 21 are considered adults and are not treated the same as actual children where it is obvious a family needs to be “kept together”. As it is the US is far more generous than just about any other country allowing all of adult children (even married ones and their kids in the case of citizens) and siblings to be sponsored. 
 

There are 2.1 million people currently in the waiting line under the sibling visa category. Trying to put them all in the same time frame as parents would be a disaster. The only way to do that would be to make the parents also wait 15 years plus with the siblings.

 

If they absolutely have to stay together then unfortunately yes your only alternative is that they do not immigrate.

Edited June 22, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[JFH 12,189]

53 minutes ago, handsofholes said:

One is over 21 and the other would likely be 21 by the time all of the paperwork is processed. Basically, there is no option for us? That is pretty messed up that they would not make a way to keep people together by at least putting parents and siblings on the same processing time frames. As it is, if we applied for the parents and they got approved... their visa would expire due to them waiting for the brothers petitions to become approved. It's highly unlikely that they would be approved in a similar time frame.

Why does the US have a duty to keep non-American adults together? They are all adults. And if being together is important they can stay where they are. They are together now. 
 

Note that the USA is one of the only countries in the world that allows people to apply for citizenship after 2 years 9 months as a resident AND allows citizens to bring in parents and siblings. 

Edited June 22, 2020 by JFH

[Claudis927 5]

I did the I-130 for my mom and my sister who was just 21 at the time of the application. My mom got her visa in one year and was able to come here. My sister is still waiting for her paperwork through me after 8 years. My mom did apply for my sister 5 years ago (as child of LPR) and her process just started moving along. Right now its at the last step before she gets an interview. 
I am also a US citizen and that didnt move things along for my sister. Only for my mother. I am sorry but its pretty impossible for them to all come here at same time. 

[dentsflogged 352]

47 minutes ago, JFH said:

Why does the US have a duty to keep non-American adults together? They are all adults. And if being together is important they can stay where they are. They are together now. 
 

Note that the USA is one of the only countries in the world that allows people to apply for citizenship after 2 years 9 months as a resident AND allows citizens to bring in parents and siblings. 

Not to mention the fees involved are paltry compared to some. 

Australia has basically only one option for parent visas and it costs over $47,000 per parent PLUS a $10,000 bond (which in fairness is theoretically refundable) against the fact that the parent will not make any future welfare claims.  Theoretically there are others, but they have such strict criteria and limited numbers allocated that they aren't worth mentioning.  

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 minutes ago, dentsflogged said:

Not to mention the fees involved are paltry compared to some. 

Australia has basically only one option for parent visas and it costs over $47,000 per parent PLUS a $10,000 bond (which in fairness is theoretically refundable) against the fact that the parent will not make any future welfare claims.  Theoretically there are others, but they have such strict criteria and limited numbers allocated that they aren't worth mentioning.  

And heaven forbid your parent has a stroke before they become citizens, because then Australia literally just chucks them out as a future public charge. Happened to my uncle.

[dentsflogged 352]

13 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

And heaven forbid your parent has a stroke before they become citizens, because then Australia literally just chucks them out as a future public charge. Happened to my uncle.

Yeah. Or the Irish family where a kid had diabetes (I think? Something relatively benign if expensive to treat) and they were denied extension of their residency based on it. 
 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

29 minutes ago, dentsflogged said:

Yeah. Or the Irish family where a kid had diabetes (I think? Something relatively benign if expensive to treat) and they were denied extension of their residency based on it. 
 

Another friend got denied their initial residency application because one of their kids is autistic. Same reason, potential future public charge. Australia can be pretty harsh indeed. It was never an issue for the US, where they ended up.

[Unlockable 7,306]

@handsofholes,

 

Don't take offense but you are not seeing it rationally. A person over 21 is an adult, and just because they live with their parents does not mean they are no longer adults. They do not need the dependence of a parent like a 5 or 6 year old.

 

But the main point is that you are frustrated over an immigrant benefit that most other countries don't offer. If you look around the world most countries don't even offer a person the ability to bring over parents and siblings... AT ALL. I tried to see if Lebanon offers it but could not find anything. Bringing parents and siblings is a huge benefit but immigrants should not rely heavily on it as there are many things that could happen. And as already mentioned, the US government does not have an obligation to keep extended families together. It was the decision of your wife to immigrate and her joining you as an American citizen was accomplished. Bringing over extended family has its limits.

 

Think of it like this, bringing over extended family is a generous benefit of the US but there needs to be limitations. Age cut off is one and no derivative is another. It already takes too ling for a person to bring over a spouse and minor children (it was taking over a year in normal processing times) so imagine if there was no limit to family based petitions. The process would be so flooded that it would take several years for a man to bring over his wife, for example. The point is there can not be a, "come one, come all" solution that maintains fast reunification of families. Logistically it can't happen.

[handsofholes 6]

@Unlockable

 

I am seeing it rationally, but at the moment of my second reply I was just reacting emotionally. If there's nothing else we can do, then I suppose we will just have to make due with tourist visas to see each other as much as possible.

[xyz12345 260]

2 hours ago, handsofholes said:

@Unlockable

 

I am seeing it rationally, but at the moment of my second reply I was just reacting emotionally. If there's nothing else we can do, then I suppose we will just have to make due with tourist visas to see each other as much as possible.

Or the sons can separately apply for a diversity visa when it becomes (or if it's still) available.