Brother in Ukraine, expedite I-130

[Traveler101 16]

Hi everyone, was wondering if anyone applied to expedite I-130. I applied for my brother back in 2018 and was wondering if it could get expedited due to the war.

 

Thanks for any help

[aaron2020 11,651]

The case can not be expedited.  The law does not allow anyone to get a visa before their PD becomes current.

Google "Uniting for Ukraine."  That is the way to get your brother to the US.  

[JeanneAdil 6,203]

expedite has to be for hardships of USC
plus men age 18 to 60 can not leave Ukraine if he is between those ages

and the US government can not ignore the rules of Ukraine 

[Traveler101 16]

2 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

expedite has to be for hardships of USC
plus men age 18 to 60 can not leave Ukraine if he is between those ages

and the US government can not ignore the rules of Ukraine 

I didn't understand about expedite for hardships of USC, sorry. He is disabled, so he is allowed to leave.

[aaron2020 11,651]

1 minute ago, Traveler101 said:

I didn't understand about expedite for hardships of USC, sorry. He is disabled, so he is allowed to leave.

The I-130 petition you filed for him can not be expedited.  He can not get a visa until his PD is current.  There are NO EXCEPTIONS.

 

Uniting for Ukraine is the proper way to go.  Have you looked into this?

Edited May 17, 2022 by aaron2020

[Traveler101 16]

10 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

The I-130 petition you filed for him can not be expedited.  He can not get a visa until his PD is current.  There are NO EXCEPTIONS.

 

Uniting for Ukraine is the proper way to go.  Have you looked into this?

Yes, I know about the program and I looked into it. I was wondering if that way through expedite request would be possible. And since it's not, then I will proceed with Uniting for Ukraine. 

Thanks

[JeanneAdil 6,203]

6 minutes ago, Traveler101 said:

I didn't understand about expedite for hardships of USC, sorry. He is disabled, so he is allowed to leave.

it is this way as too many countries are subject to war,  threats of war,  famine,  etc

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/national-visa-center/immigrant-visas-processing-general-faqs.html

 

If a visa is not available, unfortunately there is nothing that NVC can do to expedite the petition. Immigrant visa processing is governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended, which controls availability of visas. There is no provision within the law that would allow the Department of State to issue a visa to someone for whom a visa is unavailable.

[.yana 586]

7 minutes ago, Traveler101 said:

I didn't understand about expedite for hardships of USC, sorry.

When a person who filed a petition (US citizen) needs to expedite the case, the reasons for expedite are based on hardship falling on the US citizen. For example, US citizen falling ill, unable to work / provide care for themselves = reason for expedite. Petitioned alien relative under the same circumstances would not be a reason for an expedite. 

 

Ultimately USCIS would grant an expedite if bringing over an alien relative would alleviate some sort of burden on the US citizen. Not the other way around.

 

HOWEVER  

There was recently a case here of someone being granted an expedite for their Russian fiancée who was cutoff from being supported by her American fiancé due to sanctions. According to USCIS rules his request was not supposed to be approved. 

 

Now your situation is entirely different because your brother is under a completely different category of visa priority, and not an immediate relative (as per USCIS definition). But I'm just pointing out that some rules don't seem to apply these days when it comes to Ukraine / Russia specifically. 

 

With that said, I think Uniting for Ukraine is your best (and probably quickest) path forward. 

[JeanneAdil 6,203]

46 minutes ago, Traveler101 said:

I didn't understand about expedite for hardships of USC, sorry. He is disabled, so he is allowed to leave.

Have u considered sponsoring your parents and when they have a green card ,  they sponsor him?

Still not fast but faster than the F4 visa

 

[aaron2020 11,651]

3 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

Have u considered sponsoring your parents and when they have a green card ,  they sponsor him?

Still not fast but faster than the F4 visa

 

OP has already filed for at least one parent in the IR5.  Visa was reissued after COVID restrictions lifted. 

[Boiler 43,505]

U4U is the obvious option 

 

As far as expedites which would not apply here for maybe 15 years they are inherently discretionary and subjective so best to apply and see

[Kineo 93]

2 hours ago, Traveler101 said:

Hi everyone, was wondering if anyone applied to expedite I-130. I applied for my brother back in 2018 and was wondering if it could get expedited due to the war.

 

Thanks for any help

Just an FYI. There are several threads here on VJ for Uniting for Ukraine. If you have any questions just ask. Several of us have been through the process.

-Kineo

[Traveler101 16]

2 hours ago, .yana said:

When a person who filed a petition (US citizen) needs to expedite the case, the reasons for expedite are based on hardship falling on the US citizen. For example, US citizen falling ill, unable to work / provide care for themselves = reason for expedite. Petitioned alien relative under the same circumstances would not be a reason for an expedite. 

 

Ultimately USCIS would grant an expedite if bringing over an alien relative would alleviate some sort of burden on the US citizen. Not the other way around.

 

HOWEVER  

There was recently a case here of someone being granted an expedite for their Russian fiancée who was cutoff from being supported by her American fiancé due to sanctions. According to USCIS rules his request was not supposed to be approved. 

 

Now your situation is entirely different because your brother is under a completely different category of visa priority, and not an immediate relative (as per USCIS definition). But I'm just pointing out that some rules don't seem to apply these days when it comes to Ukraine / Russia specifically. 

 

With that said, I think Uniting for Ukraine is your best (and probably quickest) path forward. 

Thanks for explaining. I was gearing towards this program, but wasn't really sure. Thanks again!

[Traveler101 16]

2 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

Have u considered sponsoring your parents and when they have a green card ,  they sponsor him?

Still not fast but faster than the F4 visa

 

Yes, my mother is already here with me.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

4 hours ago, .yana said:

 

There was recently a case here of someone being granted an expedite for their Russian fiancée who was cutoff from being supported by her American fiancé due to sanctions. According to USCIS rules his request was not supposed to be approved. 

 

Now your situation is entirely different because your brother is under a completely different category of visa priority, and not an immediate relative (as per USCIS definition). But I'm just pointing out that some rules don't seem to apply these days when it comes to Ukraine / Russia specifically. 

 

 

When you say “according to uscis rules” , are you talking about some sort of reasoning requirements for expedite being these “rules”? Or what rules?  (Humanitarian reasons is a reason for expedite btw and that’s what it sounds like from your brief description.) The inability to expedite an F4 case whose priority date is not current is nothing to do with “uscis rules”, it is to do with actual US immigration law that says you cannot legally issue a visa when a visa number is not available (as is the case for a family preference case where the priority date is not yet current). Pointing this out because your comment could be inferred to give false hope to OP. There is just no way that “some rules don’t apply these days”, even if that statement is true somewhere, can help OP in reference to the sibling  visa petition. 

 

FYI: 

If a visa is not available, unfortunately there is nothing that NVC can do to expedite the petition. Immigrant visa processing is governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended, which controls availability of visas. There is no provision within the law that would allow the Department of State to issue a visa to someone for whom a visa is unavailable. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/national-visa-center/immigrant-visas-processing-general-faqs.html#ivp7

 

—
OP, sounds like unite for Ukraine is your best way forward, good luck - hope it works out, and quickly.