Process time for "Green Card for a Family Member of a U.S. Citizen"

[MuneebRasool]

Hello all,

I am currently a non-immigrant, studying in Minnesota on F-1 visa. My elder brother is a US citizen and if he applies permanent residence for me, I will be in "family preference category". Since I am already in United States, I want to know through your experiences and encounters that how much time does it generally take to change the status from non-immigrant to green card holder (permanent resident). The process is already described on the US govt. website but they are quite ambiguous about the exact time required in this process and someone told me that it can take around 10-15 years. I am wondering if anyone of you can give me an exact and accurate figures abou time.

Thank you so much

 

[nkm-oct23]

It will take you around 10-15 years because there is an annual quota for brothers/sisters of US citizens and the current backlog is for 10-15 years depending on your country of birth. Your being in the US has no effect on the time taken to reach the end of the quota line.

 

[BigJoe5]

It will take you around 10-15 years because there is an annual quota for brothers/sisters of US citizens and the current backlog is for 10-15 years depending on your country of birth. Your being in the US has no effect on the time taken to reach the end of the quota line.

Your being in F-1 status and having an I-130 filed could cause some difficulty going home for a visit. BUT in that it is such a LONG wait, you can usually get around that by acknowledging that you know that you cannot get anything from the I-130 for 10 to 15 years (even longer if from P.I. or Mexico).

A preference visa category requires that YOU be in a lawful nonimmigrant status when the Priority Date for the I-130 becomes "current" in order to file an I-485. You could probably do better studying hard and trying for an H1-B then an employment based immigrant visa. Plan ahead. It is sometimes the case that while waiting for a visa to become available on the employment path, the sibling petition could become current first.