I-130 application during visit on a B-1 visa

T

teerex

New Member
Hello:
My mother has a 10-yr B-1 visitor visa and I am a US citizen. Is it okay for me to file an I-130 on her behalf when she is already in the US visiting us ? Or, do I need to wait until she returns to India ? Does it bring up any change of intent issues for her, meaning, she applied for the visitor visa not intending to emigrate and now she is planning to do so.

Secondly, when can she be eligible for Medicare/Medi-Cal ? Only on the I-130 approval, or, is she eligible the moment I file for her I-130 ?

Thanks for any advice
 
Filing I-130 while she is already in the US on visitor's visa is 100% OK if consular processing is requested and she actually leaves the US before her I-94 expires. No issues of intent in that scenario.

However, filing the I-130 before she arrives in the US could cause trouble at the port of entry, as the I-130 makes it harder to convince the immigration officer that she is actually going to leave the US within the period allowed by the visa.

She needs to accumulate 40 quarters of paying into Social Security, and be 65, to be eligible for Medicare. I don't know about Medi-Cal ... that is state specific. But most states don't allow new green card holders to be eligible until they have spent at least a certain number of years in the US.
 
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Jackolantern said:
Filing I-130 while she is already in the US on visitor's visa is 100% OK if consular processing is requested and she actually leaves the US before her I-94 expires. No issues of intent in that scenario.
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Filing both ways will work. Filing while she's here, I wouldn't say is 100% ok, cos it makes it harder for other people from you country to get a visitor's visa. I would go with consular, but that is me... the decision is yours.
 
jupiter07 said:
Filing while she's here, I wouldn't say is 100% ok, cos it makes it harder for other people from you country to get a visitor's visa.
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No. By filing I-130 with consular processing and actually leaving before the I-94 expires, it doesn't create any problem for anybody. The issue of immigrant intent or lack thereof is about the intent of the specific trip; you are not expected to maintain the same intent on future trips, so filing the I-130 within the US then going back for a consular interview is perfectly acceptable. Filing the I-485 after entering with a tourist visa is what can lead to possible denial and/or make it more difficult for other people to get a tourist visa.
 
Thank you both for your replies. To be safe, maybe, I'll just wait until she returns and then apply for her. I don't think her 3-month visit will make any difference to the processing of her application unless USCIS decides to raise their astronomical fees one more time :) One more con to filing for I-485 is that the filing fee is now $930 + AP fee + EAD fee == large chunk out of my pocket.
 
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