Family Fourth Preference: minor children?

I

igores07

Registered Users (C)
Hello all,

My uncle (US citizen and over 21) petitioned for my mother 5 years ago (when I was 16) through Family Fourth Preference category.

In the USCIS website it states that: US citizens can petition for their sisters and brothers and their immidiate relatives such as husband/wife and minor children.

And the following paragraph continues: "
Once USCIS receives your visa petition, I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, it will be approved or denied. USCIS will notify the person who filed the visa petition if the visa petition is approved. USCIS will then send the approved visa petition to the Department of State's National Visa Center, where it will remain until an immigrant visa number is available. The Center will notify you, the foreign national, when the visa petition is received and again when an immigrant visa number is available. You do not need to contact the National Visa Center, unless you change your address or there is a change in your personal situation, or that of your alien relative, that may affect eligibility for an immigrant visa, such as reaching age 21, marriage, divorce, or death of a spouse."

Now I'm 21 years and 8 months old by calendar.

Now does that mean that I have to inform my uncle to contact the National Visa Center and notify them of this situation?

Since it's gonna take at least 5-6 years from now till my mother gets the notification of an immigration visa available for her, I don't want to be denied when the time arrives since I will be an adult like I am now.

Sorry for the long post,

Thanks in advance,
 
Dear patty579,

Thanks for your quick response. I feel a whole lot better now.

The reason I posted about aging out was that, I witnessed someone (an old friend) whose parents won the DV Lottery and in the day of the interview at the US consulate, when the officer was checking the documents, told him that he is not eligible to get his Green Card since he is an adult (I assume he turned 21 just before the interview) and his father and mother along with his younger sister (16 years old) got the immigration visa but he was refused to get it.

Congratulations on your GC approval! (just took a look at your signature) :D

Good luck!



patty579 said:
Here is an older thread about aging out:
http://immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=219287
According to answers there, you would still be considered a minor child.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
 
One more question for you patty579 and the others,

My grand parents are GC holders and they will go back to the US 2 weeks later (as a requirement for citizenship) and this time they will be able to apply for citizenship.

After they got their citizenship, can they apply for the status change for my mom (I mean to change it from F4 preference category to F3)?

Since my uncle (not grand parents) petitioned for my mom because my grand parents were not citizens at that time, do you think it is possible to change the sponsor from my unle to my grand parents?

And the last question, how long does it take for the F3 category?...As I mentioned before it's been 5 years now since my uncle applied for my mom (F4), are they going to take into acount these 5 years and therefore reduce the waiting time to get the notification?

Thanks in advance,
 
Your grandparents can upgrade their petition after they got their citizenship, which will expedite the process. Read more about it on the official website: www.uscis.gov
Not sure if your grandparents can file a petition for you. Maybe somebody else here knows?
 
ur grandparents can apply for ur mum, and then when she gets citizenship then she can apply for u.and this will al take about 3 yrs most likely. i have 4th prefernce in family based too. my pd is oct 1999, and right now theyre gibing visa numbers to priority daes before july 1995 :( :(
so whats up with u, whats ur priority date and did u get letter from uscis???
 
Thank you both for your replies,

So do you mean that if my grandparents after getting their citizenship change the status (take control of my mom's case from my uncle :D ), I will not get Green Card at the same time with my mom?

To bijuria11: I don't have detailed information about my mom's case, my uncle (in the US) petitioned for her, when I was abroad, I am living in another country rather than home.

At the end please confirm this or let me know if I'm wrong:

When the status of my mom's application changes (F4-->F3) and by that the waiting time will be less (3 years likely as bijuria11 said!), will I be able to get GC at the same time with my mom or not? (I assume I can since the case details will be the same as I was under 21 when my uncle petitioned for my mom)

And the most critical point which I'm really concerned is that: Since it has been 5 years from the time that my uncle petitioned for my mom, are they going to take it into account and I can get my GC without waiting for 3 more years? Or I should consider each preference category separate from the other categories (according to the waiting time required for each) ??

Thanks,
 
Last edited by a moderator:
no, ur grandparents cant take over your mothers case from ur uncle. because it doesnt work tht way. now ur mum would have 2 c how long it will take if u continued with ur uncle and how long if ur grandparents filed for ur mother. u cant get citizenship through ur grandparents because i dont think it works tht way. only ur mum can get it. then after ur mum gets it she can file for u. so whats the country of ur mum's birth? and u need to know the priority date(the date the case was filed). hope this helped.
 
Well, with my uncle's sponsorship it will take 8-9 years from now, but if my grandparents take over my mom's case it will take around 3 years.

However I am not sure of this possibility, that's why I just asked, I'm not sure 100% that a transfer between preference categories is possible which is in this case from F4 to F3.


bijuria11 said:
no, ur grandparents cant take over your mothers case from ur uncle. because it doesnt work tht way. now ur mum would have 2 c how long it will take if u continued with ur uncle and how long if ur grandparents filed for ur mother. u cant get citizenship through ur grandparents because i dont think it works tht way. only ur mum can get it. then after ur mum gets it she can file for u. so whats the country of ur mum's birth? and u need to know the priority date(the date the case was filed). hope this helped.
Click to expand...
 
Your grandparents (your mother's parents) can also sponsor your family. The F4 sponsorship does not get cancelled, instead it is still there pending which sponsorship will become current first (F3 vs. F4). The only problem with that is you will not be able to apply with your parents for you are past the age of 21. But if your parents keep the F4 sponsorship you may still be able to apply for the Child Protection Act (look through the forum for additional info). If you chose to apply for the F3 from your mom's parents it most likely will become current first but you may not be able to immigrate with them. It is the decision you must make, immigrate with the family all at once but wait longer, or your parents get their green card first, then sponsor you under the F2b (if you are unmarried then) or F1 if they sponsor you after they become citizens.
 
Hi,

Thank you laxdef14 for your input, and with regard to what you said I prefer my mom (and eventually my dad) get their GCs first and then apply for me.

I have a younger sister and she is 14 now. She will likely be able to go with my mom even under F3, right?

But with regard to the Child Protection Act, when should I act, I mean after the transfer of case from my uncle to my grandparents, right?

At the end, I would like to review the steps:

1- wait till my grandparents become citizens
2- talk to my uncle to go to the DO and ask about how to hand over the case to the grandparents (F4 -->F3 possibility)
3- and also tell him to notify them of my situation (aging out) and mention that I was a minor child when he petitioned for my mom
4- If everything is ok, the waiting starts and it is gonna take around 6 years total. (at least it's better than 8-9 years and at least my mom will have her GC in her hands, better than nothing :D )

What do you guys think?...please correct me if I missed something

Thank you for your inputs,

laxdef14 said:
Your grandparents (your mother's parents) can also sponsor your family. The F4 sponsorship does not get cancelled, instead it is still there pending which sponsorship will become current first (F3 vs. F4). The only problem with that is you will not be able to apply with your parents for you are past the age of 21. But if your parents keep the F4 sponsorship you may still be able to apply for the Child Protection Act (look through the forum for additional info). If you chose to apply for the F3 from your mom's parents it most likely will become current first but you may not be able to immigrate with them. It is the decision you must make, immigrate with the family all at once but wait longer, or your parents get their green card first, then sponsor you under the F2b (if you are unmarried then) or F1 if they sponsor you after they become citizens.
Click to expand...
 
When you are petitioned by your parents, it is going to be as a son over 21 years of age. The wait for this category is around 10 years.

Just wanted to make sure you knew that before making any decision :)
 
See the attachment, I got it from some lawyer's website but I can't recall the address of that website. According to that the waiting time for each category is as follows: (Mexico and Philippines are exceptions meaning it's gonna take longer)

F1: a little waiting time (probably max. 1 year)
F2: 3 years (both 2A and 2B)
F3: 3 years
F4: 10 years

To Pinturicchio: There will be 2 scenarios:

1- my mother will get her GC and in this case I'll fall into 2B category
2- my mother will become citizen, in this case I'll fall into F1 category


I think 2B will better work for me. Now what is your opinion based on?

Although in case of category 2B, it will take for me around 6 years to get the GC but it's still better than 10+ years. (3 years for my mother as a married daughter of my grandparents who are citizens and another 3 years for myself as an unmarried son of a permanent resident)

Correct me If I'm wrong.



Pinturicchio said:
When you are petitioned by your parents, it is going to be as a son over 21 years of age. The wait for this category is around 10 years.

Just wanted to make sure you knew that before making any decision :)
Click to expand...
 
igores07,

You need to look at the government website for the right info: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3009.html.
And again, like bijuria11 said, your grandparents can't take over your uncle's petition. They would have to file a new petiiton when they become citizens, if your mom is still married (a permanent resident can't petition married children), and that would be F3 category with a waiting period of 8 years (according to the current visa bulletin).
 
bijuria11 said:
ur grandparents can apply for ur mum, and then when she gets citizenship then she can apply for u.and this will al take about 3 yrs most likely. i have 4th prefernce in family based too. my pd is oct 1999, and right now theyre gibing visa numbers to priority daes before july 1995 :( :(
so whats up with u, whats ur priority date and did u get letter from uscis???
Click to expand...
bijuria,

What will take 3 years? How did you come up with that number?
 
im saying after his mother gets citizenship and she applies for him it will be like 3 years. but his mother can apply for him when she gets the green card. and when she gets citizen (in about less than a year) she can upgrade the case so he will get green card soon enough 2. so im saying it'll b like 3 yrs.
 
bijuria11 said:
im saying after his mother gets citizenship and she applies for him it will be like 3 years. but his mother can apply for him when she gets the green card. and when she gets citizen (in about less than a year) she can upgrade the case so he will get green card soon enough 2. so im saying it'll b like 3 yrs.
Click to expand...
Look at the priority dates again! F1 shows January 98. :confused:
These are the Family-Sponsored preference categories with a current priority dates of:

F1: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens - 01Jan98;

F2A: Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents - 22SEP99;

F2B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents - 01DEC96;

F3: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens - 01OCT98;

F4: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens - 01AUG95.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok guys, when I said my uncle can hand over the case to grandparents I didn't mean to find some way to make that happen, petitioning again by my grandparents will do it.


Once again, say my grandparents got their citizenship today, and if they apply again for a new file for my mom 2-3 days later, then how long will it take for my mom to receive her GC? (just give me an approximate number)

Now, 2nd. Q: let's say my mom got her GC, now she wants to apply for me, how long will it take for me to get my GC?


I will sum up the numbers you give me and it will give me an estimated waiting time.

Thank you,


bijuria11 said:
im saying after his mother gets citizenship and she applies for him it will be like 3 years. but his mother can apply for him when she gets the green card. and when she gets citizen (in about less than a year) she can upgrade the case so he will get green card soon enough 2. so im saying it'll b like 3 yrs.
Click to expand...
 
Anahit,

Please check the attachment in my previous post in the first page and let me know if the information provided there is accurate or not?


Thanks,
 
igores07 said:
Anahit,

Please check the attachment in my previous post in the first page and let me know if the information provided there is accurate or not?


Thanks,
Click to expand...
The attachment shows the year 2000. I assume, that information was accurate for 2000. You can check it here: http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/visa_bulletin/#2000. However, you can't relay on it today. The link I gave you, http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3009.html, is the only place to check.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top