Follow to Join Expiry Time?

[scopar]

Hi Folks,

I'm new to this whole US immigration thing, so looking for some guidance from any wise heads here. Here's my situation.

Back in 2000/2001, my parents had an immigration petition filed on their behalf by my mother's brother (my uncle), who is a US citizen. At the time, I was 16/17, so I was a dependent on the application. We sort of forgot about the application (my uncle did it mostly because it was an option). Nonetheless, years have gone by and the whole process has been rolling through in the last 2 years. We (wrongly) assumed that, now that I am over 21, I was no longer on the application.

My parents got notice recently of their Interview appointment, with the NVC completing its process. Before the interview, we got a call from a friend who works at the US embassy that I was actually still on the application. Doing some research, it looks like I benefited from the Child Status Protection Act that prevented me from "Ageing Out".

Basically our friend advised that I fill out the DS-230 Part 1 form and have my parents bring it into their interview. My parents went to their interview, their visas are due to be issued shortly with their passports mailed back to them. Our friend advised that my application is now filed, and I am considered a "Follow to Join" on the original application.

Accordingly, my application is now with the local embassy, and all I need to do is let them know I am ready, and they will send me a "Packet 3" with a checklist to start the process. Apparently once I let them know I am ready, it'll take about 2 months to get the packet, and I'll have a year to complete the interview/checklist. However, as of now, I have no expiration date by when to contact the embassy to let them know I am ready.

Is anyone familiar with this situation that can confirm or provide advice if the above is accurate? Specifically, I want to confirm that by filing the DS-230 Part 1, that I have registered myself as a "Follow to join" and I don't have a specific time-frame to complete the process.

Any advice, or suggested reading, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Jackolantern]

There is a time limit to initiate action on your end. You must "seek to acquire" an immigrant visa or adjustment of status within a year of your priority date become current. You might already be past that year, depending on the exact priority date of the petition. Check the visa bulletin archive at http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1770.html, or tell us the priority date so we can figure it out.

The other aspect is that your CSPA-adjusted age still needs to be under 21 according to the CSPA calculation. To compute your CSPA-adjusted age, find out the difference between the priority date and the I-130 approval date. Take that result and subtract it from your actual age. You must be about 29 now, so you'll need that to give you an adjustment of about 9 years. It is very unusual for an I-130 to take that long, so your chances are not good. But first find out the relevant dates before drawing conclusions.