I am an indian citizen and recently married a brazillian citizen (who also has itallian passport). She is currently on a Visa here, and I have a GC. I know that the waiting time for family based GC for GC holder from india is about 5 years. Would her being a Braziallian citizen make any difference? Or would it still be coming from the indian quota? I.e. what is the "chargablity" area for this application? thank you for your advice in advance.
Which Waiting Period applies for family based GC for a GC Holder?
- Thread starter thedutt
- Start date
Your spouse would be eligible for a visa number as per the dates specified on the visa bulletin published by dept of state (travel.state.gov). She would be from category F2 and the times you need to watch out for would depend on where your spouse was born, but there are exceptions/work-arounds to help out with immigrations. here is the definition of "chargeability" from the dept of state web-site which makes this clear with examples -
"Charge/Chargeable: There are numerical limits on the number of immigrant visas that can be granted to aliens form any one foreign country. This limit is the same for all countries. The limit is based on place of birth, not citizenship. Where the immigrant is "charged", means that person is counted towards a given country's numerical limit. For example, an immigrant born in Ethiopia is "charged" to Ethiopia, and therefore counted towards reaching the numerical limit for that country. The person would be "charged" to Ethiopia, even if the immigrant born in Ethiopia was born of Yemeni parents and has a passport from Yemen.
Although immigrants are normally "charged" to their country of birth, and immigrant is sometimes able to claim another for the sake of immigration. You would do this if it helps the immigrant in reaching the "cut-off date" date faster. For example, suppose you were born in India, but your spouse was born in Sudan. The "cut-off date" for a person born in India is earlier in family fourth preference immigration category than the "cut-off date" for a person born in Sudan. We can "charge" you to Sudan, rather than India, and you can use the more favorable cut-off date for Sudan. Therefore, you would be able to immigrate years earlier with a chargeability to Sudan than a chargeability to India."
Hope that helps you. All the best.
"Charge/Chargeable: There are numerical limits on the number of immigrant visas that can be granted to aliens form any one foreign country. This limit is the same for all countries. The limit is based on place of birth, not citizenship. Where the immigrant is "charged", means that person is counted towards a given country's numerical limit. For example, an immigrant born in Ethiopia is "charged" to Ethiopia, and therefore counted towards reaching the numerical limit for that country. The person would be "charged" to Ethiopia, even if the immigrant born in Ethiopia was born of Yemeni parents and has a passport from Yemen.
Although immigrants are normally "charged" to their country of birth, and immigrant is sometimes able to claim another for the sake of immigration. You would do this if it helps the immigrant in reaching the "cut-off date" date faster. For example, suppose you were born in India, but your spouse was born in Sudan. The "cut-off date" for a person born in India is earlier in family fourth preference immigration category than the "cut-off date" for a person born in Sudan. We can "charge" you to Sudan, rather than India, and you can use the more favorable cut-off date for Sudan. Therefore, you would be able to immigrate years earlier with a chargeability to Sudan than a chargeability to India."
Hope that helps you. All the best.
habibtizena
Registered Users (C)
Advice
Krakow007,
You certainly seem to undertand this topic, may I get a little advice from you? I am a LPR here in the US I applied for citizenshop 11 months ago and an interview seems no where in sight. I am married to a Moroccan I was advised that it would be best to wait to file the I-130 for him until I was a citizen, do you think that was good advice or do you think that I should go ahead and file for him now? I would appreciate any insight in to this frustrating process.
Thank you
Z
Krakow007,
You certainly seem to undertand this topic, may I get a little advice from you? I am a LPR here in the US I applied for citizenshop 11 months ago and an interview seems no where in sight. I am married to a Moroccan I was advised that it would be best to wait to file the I-130 for him until I was a citizen, do you think that was good advice or do you think that I should go ahead and file for him now? I would appreciate any insight in to this frustrating process.
Thank you
Z
Johnnyc316
Registered Users (C)
What's up krakow007? Hope you are doing okay. You seem to be very knowledgeable about the Visa Bullentin. I have a question for you, why all countries except the ones listed have the same cut-off date. All countries or Chargeability areas don't have the same number of immigrants come to the U.S.. Can you explain that?
Hello thedutt,
I found another link - "http://www.filipinorecipeslink.com/quotas.html" which has some more information on cross-chargeability of visas. It seems to illustrate the issue of alternate chargeability better than the explanation on the state dept website. Hope this helps you too.
I found another link - "http://www.filipinorecipeslink.com/quotas.html" which has some more information on cross-chargeability of visas. It seems to illustrate the issue of alternate chargeability better than the explanation on the state dept website. Hope this helps you too.
Habibtizena,
First of all I must caution you against getting "advice" from me. I'm neither a lawyer nor have very deep knowledge about the intricacies of immigration laws. I can only state either from my experience, or perhaps if I ever read or heard about something on that topic. If you want definitive advice, you are better off consulting a good immigration lawyer. Having said that, in my own personal case, my spouse applied for my 130 even before applying for citizenship. Since I was working here even before we married I was able to maintain my own visa status till my spouse's citizenship was over. About what you were told, that it was better to wait for your cz and then apply for your spouse's 130, I have heard that opinion on the forums before. But it did not seem like anyone really understood why that would be better than applying right now and then "upgrading" when you cz was approved and spouse was filing 485. My personal opinion seems to be that either process is about the same no too terribly different. A 130, even if approved, does not buy you much by itself, unless accompanied with a 485 or something. But I can understand your frustration, it took my spouse and I many years before we got here, where I now have my AoS application in and have a receipt in hand. But hang in there, god willing, this period will be over soon. If you need a more technical advise on which way to go, a lawyer could perhaps explain all the intricacies. If it turns out that what you learn is different from what I think then please let me know, I would like to know too.
First of all I must caution you against getting "advice" from me. I'm neither a lawyer nor have very deep knowledge about the intricacies of immigration laws. I can only state either from my experience, or perhaps if I ever read or heard about something on that topic. If you want definitive advice, you are better off consulting a good immigration lawyer. Having said that, in my own personal case, my spouse applied for my 130 even before applying for citizenship. Since I was working here even before we married I was able to maintain my own visa status till my spouse's citizenship was over. About what you were told, that it was better to wait for your cz and then apply for your spouse's 130, I have heard that opinion on the forums before. But it did not seem like anyone really understood why that would be better than applying right now and then "upgrading" when you cz was approved and spouse was filing 485. My personal opinion seems to be that either process is about the same no too terribly different. A 130, even if approved, does not buy you much by itself, unless accompanied with a 485 or something. But I can understand your frustration, it took my spouse and I many years before we got here, where I now have my AoS application in and have a receipt in hand. But hang in there, god willing, this period will be over soon. If you need a more technical advise on which way to go, a lawyer could perhaps explain all the intricacies. If it turns out that what you learn is different from what I think then please let me know, I would like to know too.
Hello Johnnyc316,
Unfortunately I'm sorry, I have no idea about the answer to your question. Also I'm no expert on the visa bulletin, not even close. Sure I read the visa bulletin once in a while and used to read it more frequently before my 485 application, but that does not make me an expert. I just share what I have experienced or have read about and have made the sources of my information very clear(atleast I hope).
But if you find out the answer to your question ever, my curious mind would love to know.
Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately I'm sorry, I have no idea about the answer to your question. Also I'm no expert on the visa bulletin, not even close. Sure I read the visa bulletin once in a while and used to read it more frequently before my 485 application, but that does not make me an expert. I just share what I have experienced or have read about and have made the sources of my information very clear(atleast I hope).
But if you find out the answer to your question ever, my curious mind would love to know.
Thanks in advance.
habibtizena
Registered Users (C)
Krakow00
Thanks for the advice...............
Thanks for the advice...............
familybased
Registered Users (C)
Correct me if I am wrong
Correct me if I am wrong. your wife will be under FB2A category. Since the cut-off date for India, China and Phillipines is in line with worldwide cut-off date, you should not worry about where your spouse comes from unless a sharp increase applicants from your particular country. For example people are from Mexico (All categories), Philippines (USC relatives) or India (Only on FB4 USC siblings). India, China, Mexicao and Philippines have been on the watching list for years due to heave visa demanding from these countries, but I have not noticed anything changes in recent years. FB2A for Inda, China and Philippines always has same priority date along with world wide cut-off date. Mexico cut-off date varys.
Correct me if I am wrong. your wife will be under FB2A category. Since the cut-off date for India, China and Phillipines is in line with worldwide cut-off date, you should not worry about where your spouse comes from unless a sharp increase applicants from your particular country. For example people are from Mexico (All categories), Philippines (USC relatives) or India (Only on FB4 USC siblings). India, China, Mexicao and Philippines have been on the watching list for years due to heave visa demanding from these countries, but I have not noticed anything changes in recent years. FB2A for Inda, China and Philippines always has same priority date along with world wide cut-off date. Mexico cut-off date varys.
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Thank you very much everyone
Somehow i did not get the notification that people had replied to my post. Thank you to everyone for very detailed information, this is exactly what i had been search and was disheartned to see that even all the F2A categories are 01dec01 or worst. So im going to wait for my Citzenship (another 2 years 2 go)
She currently has a valid visa (on her own) and is going to apply to extend her current visa. Hypothetically, for a worst case senario situation, if she does not get the visa, are there any legal provisions for her to stay in the US?
thanks to everyone on this forum. always a great help.
Somehow i did not get the notification that people had replied to my post. Thank you to everyone for very detailed information, this is exactly what i had been search and was disheartned to see that even all the F2A categories are 01dec01 or worst. So im going to wait for my Citzenship (another 2 years 2 go)
She currently has a valid visa (on her own) and is going to apply to extend her current visa. Hypothetically, for a worst case senario situation, if she does not get the visa, are there any legal provisions for her to stay in the US?
thanks to everyone on this forum. always a great help.