F1 to Green Card, what happens to dependents on F2

F

floatingfrisbee

New Member
Hello!

A friend of mine is in a unique situation. She is in the US on an F1 visa, and is applying for a green card based on her older daughter's status (older daughter was born in the US and is a US citizen).

The tricky part is that she has a younger daughter who is not a US citizen, and is currently on F2 status, tied to my friend's F1 visa. Her lawyer just informed her that her younger daughter will be out of status when she gets the green card, and would have to go back to her country (Morocco) or be enrolled into a school so she can get her own F1 visa (which would incur a substantial cost). That seems a bit strange to me, and so I wanted to check if anyone has any insight into this scenario, and any suggestions how the younger daughter can remain with the family in the US without incurring a high financial cost.

Thanks in advance for your help
 
The lawyer is correct. There’s no other way for the younger daughter to legally remain in the US once the mother becomes a LPR.
 
What you were told is correct. The mother is in the Immediate Relative category (spouse, parent, or unmarried under-21 child of US citizen) which cannot have derivative beneficiaries. So the daughter cannot immigrate together with the mother. And once the mother becomes a permanent resident (i.e. when her Adjustment of Status is approved), the mother will cease to have any nonimmigrant status, and thus the daughter's F2 dependent status will also be lost. Although the daughter won't be accruing "unlawful presence" because people in F status are admitted on "D/S", she would be deportable at any time. She could apply for Change of Status to B2 visitor status, but that's only for if she is staying temporarily and will leave, not for if she wants to stay long-term. As you have noted, change to F1 student status is also an option.

As soon as the mother becomes a permanent resident, she can file an I-130 petition for her daughter to immigrate. As an unmarried under-21 child of a permanent resident, the daughter would be in the F2A category. The F2A category currently has a bit of a wait for visa numbers, though it's unclear if this is a temporary phenomenon. If she's close to 21, depending on how things go, there's a change she might age out into the F2B category, which has a much longer wait.

The problem is, even if there were no wait in the F2A category, the daughter would still not be able to file I-485 for Adjustment of Status to get a green card from within the US, because Adjustment of Status in this category requires that she be in status at the time of filing, and she would be out of status as soon as her mother became a permanent resident. (Plus, she should not change into another nonimmigrant status like B2 or F1 with preconceived intent to apply for Adjustment of Status during that stay.) So she would have to go through Consular Processing for an immigrant visa abroad, and it'll be at least a year or two before she can get an immigrant visa.
 
Thank you @Sm1smom and @newacct for your answers. I really appreciate it.

Sadly, this situation will introduce tremendous hardship for this family, which is already going through a lot. I wish her lawyer had made her aware of this reality earlier before she committed to the process.
 
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