Parents of U.S. Citizen who also have a child under 21 at time of petition

[WhatLoveBuys 10]

We pose this question fully knowing that immigration seems to be changing on a daily basis - so we are looking at the information as an ASSUMPTION of if the rules were to be the same next year as they are this year.

 

My husband can apply for Citizenship by marriage June of 2021, once approved we would like to apply for Green Cards for his parents from South Africa. He also has a teenage siblingwho will be over 18 but likely still under 21 by the time we can apply for them.

 

Where does his younger sibling fall in the application process? Would they be a derivative of his Parent's application because they would be under 21 at the time of filing? Because they would be direct relatives of a U.S. Citizen we are assuming their Priority Date would be before their 21st birthday since they are not subject to the visa bulletin. Would they also get a Green Card at the same time the parents get a green card? With the long timelines for Green Cards it is likely that the petition will be submitted before they turn 21, but the GC's not issued until after their 21st birthday.

 

We are just trying to figure out how to handle the younger sister, as that may change the timeline for his parents (as they will not leave her alone in South Africa). 

[EireneFaith 54]

5 minutes ago, WhatLoveBuys said:

We pose this question fully knowing that immigration seems to be changing on a daily basis - so we are looking at the information as an ASSUMPTION of if the rules were to be the same next year as they are this year.

 

My husband can apply for Citizenship by marriage June of 2021, once approved we would like to apply for Green Cards for his parents from South Africa. He also has a teenage siblingwho will be over 18 but likely still under 21 by the time we can apply for them.

 

Where does his younger sibling fall in the application process? Would they be a derivative of his Parent's application because they would be under 21 at the time of filing? Because they would be direct relatives of a U.S. Citizen we are assuming their Priority Date would be before their 21st birthday since they are not subject to the visa bulletin. Would they also get a Green Card at the same time the parents get a green card? With the long timelines for Green Cards it is likely that the petition will be submitted before they turn 21, but the GC's not issued until after their 21st birthday.

 

We are just trying to figure out how to handle the younger sister, as that may change the timeline for his parents (as they will not leave her alone in South Africa). 

There is no derivative beneficiary under IR-5. If your parents in law arrived in US and have their green card, they can file for the petition for their  children as F2A category if they are below 21 when the petition got approved, but when the petition got approved and they are 21 above it will fall under F2B category that has 7 years of waiting for their Priority Date to be current. You are right Immigration seems to change on daily basis but better to file for the petition and let tomorrow worry itself. My friend  has been  here for 7 years and did not care to file for her son's petition and now he is over age. And when the son is above 21 she filed his petition and complaining that it took so long before his son's PD will be current. I asked her why she did not file for his petition while he is younger, she said she has no plan to stay in US but she changed her mind. I told her if you file his petition it is only money that you invested, but now she invested on his petition fee and invested on waiting for many years before his son can come her.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Yes, as above there is unfortunately no way for the sibling to come with the parents. The fastest way for the sibling to come will be as F2A/F2B (depending on age) under/over 21 child of LPR. Sibling will need to remain unmarried through the process, which may be a bigger problem once she turns 21 and has a 5-7 year wait. Your husband may want to file a sibling petition as backup; in case anything happens to the parents, or in case she gets married, that petition will stay valid. However that is likely to take around 15 years to get current. F2A generally has around a 2 year timeline.
 

To clarify: a sibling is not an immediate relative in immigration terms. The parents will be. She has no path currently to anything other than a family based (non immediate relative) path, whether as F2 via her parents or F4 via her brother. Immediate relative petitions (example  parents) do not allow derivatives. 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[HRQX 4,145]

8 minutes ago, EireneFaith said:

F2A category if they are below 21 when the petition got approved,

Also note CSPA-adjusted age [actual age at time of visa availability] - [time petition was pending adjudication] https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/child-status-protection-act-cspa

[aaron2020 11,651]

When a USC petitions for a parent, only the parent is eligible for a visa.  Derivative beneficiaries are not allowed.

 

If your husband gets US citizenship within a year, it would be another year for his parents to obtain their immigration visas.  So, that's June 2022 for citizenship and June 2023 for his parents to become green card holders.  As LPRs, they can petition for an unmarried child.  How long it will take will depend on how old his sister will be in June 2023.

How old would his sister be in June 2023? 

[WhatLoveBuys 10]

Thank you Eirene and Susie!

 

I thought that might be the case but figured I would ask to be sure.

 

Hi aaron,

His sister turns 21 in July of 2022, so she would be 20 when we file for his parents in June of 2022, but would be 21 by the times his parents receive their green cards so would move to the F2B category.

 

She is planning on doing her Graduate study program in the US as well, so we have a lot of things to take into consideration.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

54 minutes ago, WhatLoveBuys said:

Thank you Eirene and Susie!

 

I thought that might be the case but figured I would ask to be sure.

 

Hi aaron,

His sister turns 21 in July of 2022, so she would be 20 when we file for his parents in June of 2022, but would be 21 by the times his parents receive their green cards so would move to the F2B category.

 

She is planning on doing her Graduate study program in the US as well, so we have a lot of things to take into consideration.

She could certainly go for a student visa then. We have seen mixed reports of success with an F2B filed. Some have been denied for that and others have been fine.  But (unless she’s planning on a PhD) she would be finished her graduate studies long before an F2B would be current, and would have to return to SA in the interim anyway.

[Boiler 43,425]

Match.com?

[JFH 12,189]

20 hours ago, WhatLoveBuys said:

 

 

My husband can apply for Citizenship by marriage June of 2021 

Your dates seem to be off. According to your timeline, his AOS was approved in September 2019 (filed September 2018). Assuming the timeline is correct, he’s eligible to file for citizenship in June 2022 (90 days before his third anniversary of his residency). It’s based on the date you become a resident (in your case that’s the date AOS was approved), it’s not based on the date you filed the AOS. 
 

Citizenship is taking anything between 4 months and 2 years depending on your local office. Then allow about a year for the IR-5 process to be complete. That gives you enough time to figure out healthcare for 2 older people. Are they of working age? 

[Boiler 43,425]

30 minutes ago, JFH said:

Your dates seem to be off. According to your timeline, his AOS was approved in September 2019 (filed September 2018). Assuming the timeline is correct, he’s eligible to file for citizenship in June 2022 (90 days before his third anniversary of his residency). It’s based on the date you become a resident (in your case that’s the date AOS was approved), it’s not based on the date you filed the AOS. 
 

Citizenship is taking anything between 4 months and 2 years depending on your local office. Then allow about a year for the IR-5 process to be complete. That gives you enough time to figure out healthcare for 2 older people. Are they of working age? 

Excellent catch and rather puts the sister situation to bed.

[WhatLoveBuys 10]

28 minutes ago, JFH said:

Your dates seem to be off. According to your timeline, his AOS was approved in September 2019 (filed September 2018). Assuming the timeline is correct, he’s eligible to file for citizenship in June 2022 (90 days before his third anniversary of his residency). It’s based on the date you become a resident (in your case that’s the date AOS was approved), it’s not based on the date you filed the AOS. 
 

Citizenship is taking anything between 4 months and 2 years depending on your local office. Then allow about a year for the IR-5 process to be complete. That gives you enough time to figure out healthcare for 2 older people. Are they of working age? 

 

We received his green card in Sept of 2019 with an expiration date of Sept 2020, it says Resident Since Sept 2018. We were told to use the dates on the I-551 for removal of conditions and naturalization.

 

They currently own their own business and would be transferring their education and going through the proper licensing and certifications to continue the line of work they are already in.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

7 minutes ago, WhatLoveBuys said:

 

We received his green card in Sept of 2019 with an expiration date of Sept 2020, it says Resident Since Sept 2018. We were told to use the dates on the I-551 for removal of conditions and naturalization.

 

They currently own their own business and would be transferring their education and going through the proper licensing and certifications to continue the line of work they are already in.

That’s positive, especially if the daughter wants to do graduate school here. A typical (not top private pricey) masters degree in the US costs 15-20 times the cost of one in SA, so hopefully they’ll have enough savings to tide them over for that and for living expenses while the business gains traction locally, assuming sister can get a student visa.  (Or is she aiming at a fully funded PhD? Not generally that easy to get for a graduate from a SA university these days, not impossible of course.) The timing of everything you’ve mentioned makes an F2A option highly unlikely, so hoping for student visa to be granted while awaiting F2B seems the only chance of getting them all together in a relatively short timeframe. 

[geowrian 22,335]

1 hour ago, WhatLoveBuys said:

We received his green card in Sept of 2019 with an expiration date of Sept 2020, it says Resident Since Sept 2018. We were told to use the dates on the I-551 for removal of conditions and naturalization.

Generally that is the case. Although sometimes USCIS prints the wrong dates on the card anyway, which will get caught when you file for ROC and/or naturalization.

Can you confirm the date that the I-485 was officially approved?

[aaron2020 11,651]

2 hours ago, WhatLoveBuys said:

 

We received his green card in Sept of 2019 with an expiration date of Sept 2020, it says Resident Since Sept 2018. We were told to use the dates on the I-551 for removal of conditions and naturalization.

 

They currently own their own business and would be transferring their education and going through the proper licensing and certifications to continue the line of work they are already in.

Since his I-485 was not approved until 2019, you know that the Resident Since 2018 is a mistake.  You need to have this corrected.  Don't go by the wrong date and file for ROC or naturalization as this will only create problems.

[Boiler 43,425]

2 hours ago, WhatLoveBuys said:

 

We received his green card in Sept of 2019 with an expiration date of Sept 2020, it says Resident Since Sept 2018. We were told to use the dates on the I-551 for removal of conditions and naturalization.

 

They currently own their own business and would be transferring their education and going through the proper licensing and certifications to continue the line of work they are already in.

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