Married Son or Daughter (and dependants) of a US Citizen

B

BostonAdGirl

Registered Users (C)
I have been searching these threads and cannot find one that answers my questions so I am starting a new one here..

My grandmother is a US Citizen (born in the US) but lived abroad after the age of 13. In 2001, she sponsored her daughter, my mother, who was well over 21 and married to my father with 4 kids together, for a greencard. The I-130, Category F3, was approved in Dec 2008 and has a priority date of October 1, 2001. There is a visa available in her category etc. and she is currently filing DS 230s for herself, my father and my youngest sister who is 15. As I mentioned, my mother has 4 daughters. I have obviously aged out as has my second sister, which is fine. The question I have is concerning my third sister. She has apparently aged out too - she turned 24 this april but in 2001, priority date, was 14. In Dec 2008, when they received the approval notice she would have been 21. Does she qualify for any of the CSPA/follow to join stuff?

Thank you!
 
If there was a gap of 7 years between the I-130 receipt and its approval, you sister, who is 24 now, should qualify for CSPA.

BostonAdGirl said:
she turned 24 this april but in 2001, priority date, was 14. In Dec 2008, when they received the approval notice she would have been 21. Does she qualify for any of the CSPA/follow to join stuff?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the response. With a priority date of Oct 1, 2001 and an approval date of Dec 2008, it would be 7 years and some months.. Do you know what forms they should file/steps to take etc?
My mother emailed NVC in Feb 2010 requesting follow-to-join info and received a response that essentially said "this case cannot be reviewed for applicability of CSPA as there is no visa number according to this case's priority date and category". I dont know if it means its inadmissable for CSPA or if it was only at that point in time that CSPA was not applicable (i had interpreted it as the former at the time.. although on re-reading it i'm thinking the latter..)

Their category became current in Jan 2011 (and seems to have retrogressed since then) but they have received requests to file DS 230s which they are doing so does that mean the case can now be reviewed for CSPA?
 
For a discussion see: http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/cisomb-telecon-cspa.shtm

Child Status Protection Act

The CSPA was enacted on August 6, 2002, to provide a remedy for applicants who would have otherwise aged out (turned 21) and lost the possibility of gaining an immigration benefit. The CSPA addresses problems with USCIS processing delays that are not within the control of children beneficiaries, which inevitably caused the beneficiaries to lose their status. The law has different formulas for how the CSPA age should be calculated depending on whether the person is the child of a U.S. citizen, the child of a green card holder, a derivative in the family- or employment-based categories, an asylee/refugee derivative, or a derivative based on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Although it does not protect all applicants, the CSPA ensures that certain family members who turn 21 will not be penalized due to USCIS processing delays.
 
BigJoe5,

Thanks for the link - its quite informative. Do you count the current age as age at the point when the priority date became current or from today? My parents' priority date (OCT 01 2001) became current in DEC 2010 but the bulletin dates have since retrogressed, and the current priority date for the F3 category is MAY 2001..

Thanks a ton for the info, it seems my sister should be able to take advantage of the CSPA. now i just need to figure out what forms they file/when etc..
 
She can't do anything about it now because the priority date isn't current.

When the priority date becomes current again, recalc her CSPA-adjusted age to see if she still qualifies. If there indeed was a 7-year wait for the I-130 to be approved, she'll be OK if the priority date becomes current again before she turns 28.
 
Thank you all for the incredibly helpful info. I honestly had NO knowledge about any of this till today and it is VERY useful.
You are right about their priority date no longer being current however, my sisters are 26 and 24 and i think they should BOTH be able to take advantage of the CSPA once their priority date becomes current if it happens within this year. Fingers crossed!

Again, appreciate all the wonderful help.
 
BostonAdGirl said:
You are right about their priority date no longer being current however, my sisters are 26 and 24 and i think they should BOTH be able to take advantage of the CSPA once their priority date becomes current if it happens within this year.
Click to expand...

Yes, if indeed the I-130 was pending for 7 years. But double-check the documents to be certain of the filing date and approval date. 7 years is a bit unusual for an F3 case.

And when they apply, they need to be sure to include a letter explaining their CSPA eligibility, because the consulates sometimes reject CSPA-eligible dependents who are over 21, if they don't assert their CSPA eligibility.

Meanwhile, the parents should file a direct petition for them in the F2B category, so if they age out of CSPA eligibility they'll have an F2B case well under way.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Is it? I only got involved in helping my mother figure this out in 2008. I have a copy of a an I-797 "Approval Notice- Section: Married Son or Daughter of U.S. Citizen, 201 (1) (3). It has a notice date of Dec 11, 2008. And has a priority date of Oct 1, 2001. The text says "The above petition has been approved. We have sent the original petition to the state national visa... etc."
Am i looking at an incorrect notice? Should i be trying to trace it backwards to an older one?

Thanks..
 
Use the case number to check the online status and see if it's consistent with the 2008 approval date. They often don't update the online status and you might see it's pending, but try it and see what happens ... hopefully it will confirm what's on the paper notice.
 
Strange thing is, the case number shows as being invalid/non existant. But if i put in the receipt number from that notice, it shows up and says "on dec 11, 2008 we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I-130..."
Since then they have received: an Affidavit of Support Fee Bill of $70; which we've paid; filed the affidavit of support (i-864) but only mentioned my parents and youngest sister on the form because we assumed the other 2 had aged out; received Visa Immigrant Processing Fee bills ($400 per person, for 3 named people), and a month ago they were sent a checklist asking them to file the DS-230 for each of them.. Am i missing something? Did we miss a step somewhere? It feels a lot more haphazard than my own green card process was when i got married....
 
BostonAdGirl said:
Strange thing is, the case number shows as being invalid/non existant. But if i put in the receipt number from that notice, it shows up and says "on dec 11, 2008 we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I-130..."
Click to expand...

When I wrote "case number" I meant the receipt number.
 
oh ok. Got it. Sigh, this is even more complicated than i thought. I finally just called the NVC and got an update. I need to find some sort of checklist of required documents/timelines or put one together for my own reference. I'm using the NVC's Immigrant Visa Processing webpage but its slightly cluegy...
Thanks again, for the advice.
 
Good catch. My grandparents actually moved back to the US at the beginning of 2001 and then sponsored their kids that October.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top