Petition for a son

[tomigaoka 8]

How should i start this process? Lets say im on GC and the son to be petitioned is 12 yrs old (divorce from her mom)

 

and how long in estimate should it take before the kid can come here... in your known experience.

 

[geowrian 22,335]

The process starts by filing the I-130.

 

Timeline is hard to say right now as the category (F2B) is banned until at least the start of 2021, and there will likely be a backlog of cases at that time. And that's assuming consulates are processing F2A at that time (many visa categories are suspended still...only mission critical visas are processed).

Typical timeline was ~1.5-2.5 years. YMMV

 

Have the written permission of the mother, or a court order, ready so they can immigrate. This isn't needed at the time of filing the I-130.

[tomigaoka 8]

5 hours ago, geowrian said:

The process starts by filing the I-130.

 

Timeline is hard to say right now as the category (F2B) is banned until at least the start of 2021, and there will likely be a backlog of cases at that time. And that's assuming consulates are processing F2A at that time (many visa categories are suspended still...only mission critical visas are processed).

Typical timeline was ~1.5-2.5 years. YMMV

 

Have the written permission of the mother, or a court order, ready so they can immigrate. This isn't needed at the time of filing the I-130.

Thank you very much for this information, i will look into I-130 and start from there

 

Follow up question, is there any differences in waiting time between Citizen and GC holder petitioning the kid? 

 

What will happen if I lets say, i already file the I-130 as a gc holder and in the process of waiting I become a citizen?

[geowrian 22,335]

38 minutes ago, tomigaoka said:

Thank you very much for this information, i will look into I-130 and start from there

 

Follow up question, is there any differences in waiting time between Citizen and GC holder petitioning the kid? 

 

What will happen if I lets say, i already file the I-130 as a gc holder and in the process of waiting I become a citizen?

Yes and no...

Child of a USC is an IR-2 visa. These are always immediately available (no quota) and just has to go through processing times. This category is currently being processed by the consulates - as local conditions permit - and is not banned.

 

Child of an LPR is F2A preference. These may or may not be immediately available. There is a quota on how many are available per year. Currently, there are fewer people getting a visa under F2A than F2A visas available, so the waiting time is also only the processing time (no waiting for a visa number to become available).

That could change...around a 1.5 years ago, there was about a 2 year wait between initial I-130 filing and a visa number becoming available, so back then even if USCIS processed the I-130 in a mater of days, the approved I-130 would just sit at NVC waiting for the visa number to become available.

 

As noted, F2A is currently banned by an Executive Order until at least 2021. This does NOT impact I-130 processing - only visa interview scheduling and issuance. So it's possible the ban might never impact you. It's also possible the ban might be the cause of a significant backup. It's also possible the ban could be extended, in which case you would need to wait until it expires (or become exempt...see below).

 

You can file now under F2A category. If you naturalize later, you will have the petition upgraded from F2A to IR-2. Your "spot in line" is not lost, although it can take a few weeks for them to acknowledge the change.

This would make the child exempt from the ban, too, since it excludes the unmarried children of a USC.

Edited September 13, 2020 by geowrian