Upgrading preference classification from F4 to F2A

Tristian Azuara

New Member
Hello there, I'm a U.S. Citizen that just petitioned my brother (who is under 21) under Consular Processing.

Considering that he was classified into the 4th Preference (based on the receipt notice) and that the Visa Bulletin for his country of birth (Mexico) indicates that the current priority dates are around year 1997, it seems that it'll be a looooong time until he is able to become a GC holder.

I wonder if it's possible for me to petition my Mother to become a GC holder which should happen in around 1.5 years through Consular Processing and then after she is a GC holder upgrade my Brother's classification to F2A, for which the current visa dates are around year 2016, meaning a much shorter processing time from the current year (2 years apart).

Does anyone know whether it is possible to just "upgrade" the classification or would we have to file a whole new petition for my brother but now with my Mom as the petitioner (and thus paying all the fees again)?

Would anyone recommend doing this?, anyone mind sharing similar experiences?

Thanks in advance!!
 
Hello there, I'm a U.S. Citizen that just petitioned my brother (who is under 21) under Consular Processing.

Considering that he was classified into the 4th Preference (based on the receipt notice) and that the Visa Bulletin for his country of birth (Mexico) indicates that the current priority dates are around year 1997, it seems that it'll be a looooong time until he is able to become a GC holder.

I wonder if it's possible for me to petition my Mother to become a GC holder which should happen in around 1.5 years through Consular Processing and then after she is a GC holder upgrade my Brother's classification to F2A, for which the current visa dates are around year 2016, meaning a much shorter processing time from the current year (2 years apart).

Does anyone know whether it is possible to just "upgrade" the classification or would we have to file a whole new petition for my brother but now with my Mom as the petitioner (and thus paying all the fees again)?

Would anyone recommend doing this?, anyone mind sharing similar experiences?

Thanks in advance!!

Your mother would need to file a new petition as there will be a new sponsor. This route will be a bit faster (exactly how much faster depends on when your brother turns 21, also means he can’t get married to keep the son-of-LPR petition active though). You can keep both petitions active eg if he does decide to get married he would revert to the F4.
Remember your mother has to be domiciled in the US and have the requisite income to be able to sponsor him (though you can obviously co-sponsor re income).
 
Your mother would file a new petition once she becomes a permanent resident (i.e. enters the US with her immigrant visa). Your brother can be the beneficiary of multiple petitions; they do not conflict. Your petition and your mother's petition would have different priority dates; the priority date is the date the petition was filed.

Note that it takes a while for your mother to immigrate (from petition to getting the immigrant visa takes a year or so) and only when she enters can she petition your brother. There is an about 2 year wait in the F2A category. You didn't say exactly what age he is, but if he is within 2 or 3 years of 21, he might age out, either during the mother's immigration time, or during the wait for visa numbers in F2A. (CSPA complicates this a little bit; he might not age out at exactly 21; the exact time he ages out depends on how long the petition is pending.) If he ages out during this wait, he goes into F2B category, and the wait in that category for people born in Mexico is even longer than the wait in the F4 category.
 
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