I 130 for my parents - a few quick questions

sbkim

Registered Users (C)
First, thank you so much for the wonderful forum. I am in process of sponsoring GC for my parents. I am currently a US citizen. My questions are as follows:

1. I realize that I must file a separate I 130 for each of my parent. Do I need to submitt $190 or 2 x $190 for filing?

2. I do not have a b-certificate. Would 2 affidavits - one from my father and the other from my mother be sufficient along with family census information?

3. My parents do not have marriage certificate. Could they do their own affidavit of marriage or does it have to be someone other than my parents?

4. I have family census info from my home country which clearly states that I am the son of my parents and that they were married. This information was certified and translated back in 2001. Is this still good or do I need an updated version of this?

5. I presume I need a letter from civil authority stating that both my b-certificate and my parents' marriage certificates were not available? As mentioned here would a request letter to embassy serve this purpose or do I still need to obtain a letter from back home?

Thank you so much in advance!
 
sbkim said:
1. I realize that I must file a separate I 130 for each of my parent. Do I need to submitt $190 or 2 x $190 for filing?
Well, if you realize you must file 2 separate I-130s, and you know that the fee for filing I-130 is $190.00, then it should be obvious that you need 2 separate checks for $190.00, one for each I-130.
2. I do not have a b-certificate. Would 2 affidavits - one from my father and the other from my mother be sufficient along with family census information?
No, you also would need a non-availability certificate from the civil authority that issues birth certificates. There is tons of info about it on this forum if you need more details.
3. My parents do not have marriage certificate. Could they do their own affidavit of marriage or does it have to be someone other than my parents?
It has to be from other people.
4. I have family census info from my home country which clearly states that I am the son of my parents and that they were married. This information was certified and translated back in 2001. Is this still good or do I need an updated version of this?
It should be OK
5. I presume I need a letter from civil authority stating that both my b-certificate and my parents' marriage certificates were not available? As mentioned here would a request letter to embassy serve this purpose or do I still need to obtain a letter from back home?
Yes, you would need the non-availability cetificates.
A request letter for what?
 
Another dumb question - it's obvious that filing 130 and 485 would expedite the entire process but what other benefits are there for doing this concurrently?
 
sbkim said:
Thank you so much for the quick response!

My last question comes from the following post:

http://immigration-information.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2133
In the link above, R. Gotcher's response answers your question completely. The embassy here would assist you in getting that certificate. You should call the embassy, and find our what form you need to fill out, and how much it would cost you. You can also get the info from their website. If you have another way of contacting the civil authority in your country, go ahead, and do it. What's important for you is either get a duplicate document or unavailability certificate.
After you send a request to the embassy, you can wait for the answer, or you can send copies of the papers sent to the embassy with your AOS package. Actually, that's exactly what I did in my parents case. I received the answer from the embassy after my parents' interview. But the officer didn't even mention about it at the interview. We'll use it if for some reason we need it again.
 
sbkim said:
Another dumb question - it's obvious that filing 130 and 485 would expedite the entire process but what other benefits are there for doing this concurrently?
If your goal is to sponsor your parents permanent residency, why not file as soon as possible? Isn't there enough waiting in processing of CIS applications?
 
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