F2a and F2b visas

[letmebefree]

I have a question regarding F2a and F2b visas.

If a mother from Mexico with permanent residency applies for her Mexican SON to adjust his status to permanent residency while her son is 20 years old, can her son's age be FROZEN if her son turns 21 while waiting for his permanent residency or will he then fall into the F2b category ?

The reason I ask this is that if her SON turns 21 years of age while waiting in a F2a category then the new F2b category puts him (currently) into a twenty year wait for a Green Card! Rather than a 2 year wait if he is under 21 years of age.

The trouble is he is 20 years of age right now however we don't want to apply for a Green Card only for him to fall into the F2b category

 

[Jackolantern]

No, that freezing at age 20 would only happen if the sponsoring parent becomes a USC before he is 20.

With a permanent resident mother as the sponsor, there would be some adjustment based on how long the I-130 is pending, but that might not be enough to keep his adjusted age under 21 during the 2-3 year wait for the F2A priority date to become current. For example, if the I-130 takes 1 year to be approved, he would get to subtract 1 year from his physical age, but if he is 22 when they reach his F2A priority date, subtracting that year would still result in 21 which would be too old for F2A.

But how did his mother get a green card? Maybe he can follow-to-join as a derivative beneficiary?