I-130 confused on processing times

[carlos7 3]

Sorry to start a new topic, but I’ve been looking everywhere, forums, lawyers, even ChatGPT, and I’m still very confused.

My mom is a lawful permanent resident (LPR) and filed an I-130 petition for my brother, who is currently under 21. The petition was filed in December 2023, and my brother will turn 21 in November 2025.

We’ve spoken to two different immigration lawyers, and they gave us conflicting answers:

• One lawyer said that when we filed the I-130, the visa was current, and we could have filed for adjustment of status right away. (The last time the visa category for children of LPRs was current was in early 2023.) They also said that even if my brother turns 21, we can still apply for the green card once the I-130 is approved, and he won’t age out.

• The other lawyer said the I-130 would take at least 3 years to be approved and that my brother would age out unless both the I-130 is approved and we file for adjustment of status or consular processing before he turns 21.

Because of this conflicting information, I started reading online forums and asking ChatGPT, but I keep getting mixed answers. Some say that children under 21 of LPRs are in the immediate relative category (like children of U.S. citizens), and others, including ChatGPT at times, say they fall under the F2A category and may have to wait 4–5 years.

According to USCIS's case processing times, the California Service Center currently takes up to 55 months to process an I-130 for a child of an LPR (F2A category).

I’m now really worried that, unless something changes, the I-130 won’t be approved before my brother turns 21, and that he will age out and lose eligibility under the F2A category.

Is there anything we can do to preserve his eligibility? Does the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) offer any protection in his case, and what steps should we take, if any, before he turns 21?

One last important detail: my brother is currently in the U.S. on a valid student visa and is expected to finish his studies by September or October of this year.

Any clear, fact-based guidance would be sincerely appreciated. We’re overwhelmed with the conflicting advice and just want to make sure we do everything we can to help before it's too late.

[appleblossom 3,908]

Forget ChatGPT, that's not a place to go to for immigration advice. Although they are actually right on the visa category, children of LPR's are never immediate relatives. He is F2A.

 

Your brother's PD wasn't current in December 2023 (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-december-2023.html) so he couldn't have filed for AOS then, that lawyer isn't correct. 

 

And the other lawyer doesn't seem to have taken in to account that the time the I-130 takes to be processed gets added on to his age anyway. So even if the I-130 does take 3 years, that would mean he would still be eligible for a visa under F2A until he turns 24. 

 

But if your brother's PD is December 2023, then he can file for AOS right now, his PD date for filing is current and has been for a long time. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2025/visa-bulletin-for-may-2025.html

 

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-priority-dates/when-to-file-your-adjustment-of-status-application-for-family-sponsored-or-employment-based-112

 

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/concurrent-filing-of-form-i-485

 

There still won't be a visa available to him until his PD is current on Table A of the Visa Bulletin though, but he can at least file for his AOS.

 

Good luck. 

Edited Tuesday at 02:46 PM by appleblossom

[carlos7 3]

Thank you so much, appleblossom, for the reply and explanation. That’s exactly why I wanted to ask here, because what both lawyers told me didn’t seem quite right, and I wasn’t confident they were giving me accurate information.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I understand, he is eligible to apply for the I-485, I-765, and I-131 right now. Then we’ll just have to wait for the green card to become available, which may take another two years.

 

Now, the confusing part is the aging-out issue. I thought a person's age only "freezes" when the green card becomes available, and that while waiting, the age keeps counting. But you're saying the age is actually frozen from the moment we file the I-130, and once it's approved, the time it was pending gets subtracted from his biological age? So, for example, if it took three years for the I-130 to be approved, it would be like he's still 19 years old, and he would still have three more years before aging out, as long as the visa becomes available within that time?

 

Am I understanding that correctly? Or are you saying that since his date for filing is current, once we apply, we no longer need to worry about aging out?

A few months ago, I found this statement in the USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7 (Adjustment of Status), Part A, Chapter 7 (Child Status Protection Act):

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-a-chapter-7 

• "The applicant must seek to acquire lawful permanent resident status within 1 year of visa availability in order to benefit from the CSPA."

That’s what I showed to the first lawyer, and that’s when she told me that, because of this rule, he will not age out after we apply for the I-485.

 

Sorry if I’m asking too much. I thought I had a good grasp of the situation, but the lawyers and everything else I’ve read have really confused me.

 

3 hours ago, appleblossom said:

Forget ChatGPT, that's not a place to go to for immigration advice. Although they are actually right on the visa category, children of LPR's are never immediate relatives. He is F2A.

 

Your brother's PD wasn't current in December 2023 (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-december-2023.html) so he couldn't have filed for AOS then, that lawyer isn't correct. 

 

And the other lawyer doesn't seem to have taken in to account that the time the I-130 takes to be processed gets added on to his age anyway. So even if the I-130 does take 3 years, that would mean he would still be eligible for a visa under F2A until he turns 24. 

 

But if your brother's PD is December 2023, then he can file for AOS right now, his PD date for filing is current and has been for a long time. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2025/visa-bulletin-for-may-2025.html

 

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-priority-dates/when-to-file-your-adjustment-of-status-application-for-family-sponsored-or-employment-based-112

 

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/concurrent-filing-of-form-i-485

 

There still won't be a visa available to him until his PD is current on Table A of the Visa Bulletin though, but he can at least file for his AOS.

 

Good luck. 

 

[appleblossom 3,908]

23 hours ago, carlos7 said:

But you're saying the age is actually frozen from the moment we file the I-130, and once it's approved, the time it was pending gets subtracted from his biological age?

 

Under CPSA, the processing time for the I-130 is subtracted from the actual age of the applicant to give an 'adjusted' age. So yes, if the I-130 did take 3 years then he'd have until his 24th birthday before aging out. But it's also not 'frozen' when the I-130 is submitted. 

 

But I don't think it's relevant as he can apply for AOS now from what you've said. 

 

Good luck. 

[carlos7 3]

Thanks for the reply! My mom applied for him on December 13, 2023. Since he’s eligible to apply for Adjustment of Status, once he submits the application and gets the receipt notice (I-797C) from USCIS, he won’t need the M-1 anymore because he’ll be in that "limbo" stage while waiting for his status to adjust. Am I understanding this correctly?

[OldUser 9,025]

38 minutes ago, carlos7 said:

Thanks for the reply! My mom applied for him on December 13, 2023. Since he’s eligible to apply for Adjustment of Status, once he submits the application and gets the receipt notice (I-797C) from USCIS, he won’t need the M-1 anymore because he’ll be in that "limbo" stage while waiting for his status to adjust. Am I understanding this correctly?

It's always good to have a status to fall back in case if I-485 is denied.