NEO2023

The petitioner's son is already at the interview stage; therefore, I assume the petitioner has submitted the last three years of tax returns, as well as their W-2 forms and pay stubs, and that these have already been accepted by the consular officer and NVC. It seems the petitioner has been in their home country since May 2025. I don’t think we can really know from this post whether they actually spend most of their time abroad or just visit the U.S.

There are cases where principal applicant must be physically present in the U.S. at the same time as, or before, the derivative beneficiary. However, AFAIK, in this case, if the petitioner’s domicile is in the U.S., the petitioner is not required to be physically present in the United States at the time of his or her son’s port of entry. If the petitioner's domicile is in the U.S. (verified during visa processing), they can remain abroad temporarily at the time of the beneficiary's entry without issue.

If the petitioner has been in their home country for about five months, this would generally be considered a "temporary stay" abroad. In technical terms, your parents are not living in their home country, but temporarily staying in their home country. In that case, their Green Card alone is sufficient to demonstrate that their domicile is in the United States. If additional proof is required, a valid state ID or driver's license should be more than enough. However, if during the interview the applicant mistakenly states that the petitioner is currently living in their home country rather than in the U.S., it may raise concerns. In such a situation, even the documents listed above might not be sufficient. Domicile is not necessarily where you are currently living, but rather where your primary residence and intent to return permanently are located. Regarding the second question: If a lawful permanent resident stays outside the U.S. for more than six months, they may still be allowed to return, but it could put their status at risk of being considered abandoned. However, this does not automatically affect their domicile claim until an immigration judge in US formally determines that they have lost their status.

This is strange. What are your thoughts on the September visa bulletin section G: (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-september-2024.html) At the end of the fiscal year 2024, NVC complains that USCIS did not provide them enough information to calculate the annual limits. I wonder how they calculated it for the whole year? DETERMINATION OF THE NUMERICAL LIMITS ON IMMIGRANTS REQUIRED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (INA) The State Department is required to make the determination of the worldwide numerical limitations, as outlined in Section 201(c) and (d) of the INA, on an annual basis. These calculations are based in part on data provided by U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the number of immediate relative adjustments in the preceding year and the number of aliens paroled into the United States under Section 212(d)(5) in the second preceding year. Without this information, it is impossible to make an official determination of the annual limits. To avoid delays in processing while waiting for the USCIS data, the Visa Office (VO) bases allocations on reasonable estimates of the anticipated amount of visa numbers to be available under the annual limits, in accordance with Section 203(g) of the INA. On July 19th, USCIS provided the required data to the VO.

This is from Ankara embassy. Proof of your U.S. petitioner’s status and domicile in the United States (photocopy of a U.S. passport, naturalization certificate, or lawful permanent resident card). https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/ANK-Ankara.html#pre_interview_checklist I think state id and a medical bill is sufficient. You may include a utility bill under the name of your mother if you want. But don't forget to include a copy of LPR card.

Thanks for the information. That's a regulation, not a law. Currently, the law remains silent on this issue. However, due to this regulation, if one goes to court in the event of a visa denial due to marriage, he is likely to lose.

The original question is whether the petition becomes void when her brother gets married. As I said, the law is silent on this issue, which means it's a grey area. If someone claims the petition is void, they should provide a reference to the relevant legal rule. Regarding the brother's visa situation, if he was still married during the interview, he would not be eligible for a visa. However, since he is already divorced, his marital status at the interview will be unmarried. The law could certainly benefit from an update to address situations like this. However, as we know, US immigration law dates back to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA). Back then, waiting lines for visas likely weren't a major concern!

INA 203(a)(2)(B) says that for the petition to be valid, your brother should be unmarried, which your brother satisfied in 2016. In addition to that, AFAIK, law is silent about what happens while waiting for visa. Since he is currently unmarried, I don't think there will be any problem with his interview.

Family preference category lost another 21,000 visas in 2023, which were rolled over to the employment category, bringing the total number of employment category visas for 2024 to 161,000 (140000+ 21,000).