Waiting time for getting GC under visa category F4 (brothers and sisters)

Nightingle

Registered Users (C)
Is there anyone here who knows the actual waiting period for the petitioner after applying for immigration visa under catergory F4 ( applying for siblings/ brothers and sisters by a US citizen? )

whats the procedure here? does the petitioner need to apply I-130 first or apply concurrent I-130 and I-485?

Whats the actual wating time from the application phase to GC receive? i am from south asia.
 
What i found in trackitt.com that , applicants of F4 category who applied after 2007 had to wait only 5 years to complete the whole process.
I heard that, recently the waiting period has been shortened dramatically. Thats why i need to know the answer, from the experienced persons who applied recently or gets approved .
 
What i found in trackitt.com that , applicants of F4 category who applied after 2007 had to wait only 5 years to complete the whole process.

Not possible. They may have waited 5 years for i-130 approval, but it couldn't be 5 years for the whole process.

If they listed 5 years for the whole process, it's either a typo, or they don't have clear knowledge of when the process actually started -- they may have never seen the I-130 themselves, given that their US citizen sibling or uncle/aunt filed the I-130.
 
Thank you TheRealCanadian and Jackolantern.

I now clearly understand the process after watching the Visa Bulletin. My another question is, suppose i applied for I-130 on 2011 and it will be approved on 2015 . Then i will apply for I-485. And for someone else, he applied for I-130 on 2012 and it approves on 2014 and he applied for I-485 on 2014. Whose process will be quicker? As per visa bulletin?

Another thing is, what is the meaning of concurrent I-130 and I-485?

Thanks again.
 
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You're misunderstanding how it works. I-130 approval doesn't mean you can file I-485. To file the I-485, you have to wait for them to cross your date in the visa bulletin (priority date must be BEFORE, not equal to or later than the date in the visa bulletin).

So for a typical F4 case, after I-130 approval the case sits idle for years before it becomes "ripe" for an I-485 filing or consular appointment. With an I-130 filed in 2011, you probably will have to wait until at least 2021.

In addition, filing I-485 in F4 requires you to be inside the US legally* at the time of filing it. And your legal status should be a long-term type of status like student visa or work visa; it is problematic to file an F4 I-485 on a tourist visa, and outright banned for people on a visa waiver or air/sea crew visa.

If outside the US, or inside the US in a status not suitable for I-485, instead of I-485 you would file DS-230 with a US consulate in your country of citizenship. Or in your country of legal residence if you are a legal resident of a different country.

Another thing is, what is the meaning of concurrent I-130 and I-485?
That's when you file the I-130 and I-485 at the same time, or file the I-485 while the I-130 is pending. The first is not allowed in the F4 category, for reasons I explained above. The second is theoretically possible, but it rarely or never happens in F4 because the I-130 will usually be approved in less than 10 years, and the noncitizen relatives are usually outside the US when their date is crossed in the visa bulletin.

*there is the 245(i) exception for certain people who have been in the US illegally and filed the necessary paperwork before the cutoff in April 2001, but that's not available to you.
 
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