Derivate green card for spouse?

[Ali-Hasnain 0]

Hello everyone.

I have a question. Here is the scenario:

I am a CDN citizen, I was married and over 21 when, in 2004, my mother who at the time was already a a US citizen, submitted my I130. When the I130 was submitted, I was already married and the I130 listed my wife's name and date of birth. Again, the I130 applicant mother was already a USC at time of I130 submission. The I130 has just been approved and I'm waiting for my PD to become current for an immigrant visa.

Question: When I do get an immigrant visa and ultimately a green card, will my spouse and dependent children under 21 automatically be eligible for a "derivative" green card? Or will I have to go through the V visa process which is useless anyways since the I130 application would have had to be before year 2000.

thanks very much,

Ali

[aaron2020 11,651]

Your case is in the F3 family preference category; US citizen petitioning for a married child. If you qualify for a visa, so will your wife and unmarried children with a CSPA age of under 21.

You can write to the NVC to see if your wife and children are listed as derivative beneficiaries. If yes, then you don't have a problem. If no, then you need to add them by providing your marriage certificate and everyone's birth certificates.

[Ali-Hasnain 0]

Thanks for clarifying.

[trailmix 77]

Are we sure about this? Ali-Hasnain, you say your Mother only sent in an application for you and it was only in 2004. So that would be 5 years you have waited. The preference categories are as follows (obviously you are in the third preference category, not the second). From what I see here, they are currently working on petitions, for that category, from 2002. For unmarried children they are working on 2005.

I'm just concerned that the application may not have been filed correctly.

First preference: Unmarried, adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Adult means 21 years of age or older.

Second Preference: Spouses of lawful permanent residents, their unmarried children (under twenty-one), and the unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents.

Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens.

Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. Citizens.

Edited December 22, 2009 by trailmix

[aaron2020 11,651]

Are we sure about this? Ali-Hasnain, you say your Mother only sent in an application for you and it was only in 2004. So that would be 5 years you have waited. The preference categories are as follows (obviously you are in the third preference category, not the second). From what I see here, they are currently working on petitions, for that category, from 2002. For unmarried children they are working on 2005.

I'm just concerned that the application may not have been filed correctly.

First preference: Unmarried, adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Adult means 21 years of age or older.

Second Preference: Spouses of lawful permanent residents, their unmarried children (under twenty-one), and the unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents.

Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens.

Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. Citizens.

His mother filed correctly. There is only one Form I-130. It is used for Immediate Relative cases and family preference cases (F1, F2a, F2b, F3, & F4).

Whether USCIS has approved his petition or not in the AVERAGE time is irrelevant. There are cases where it takes 8+ years for the I-130 to be approved.

Because it has been a while since the petitioner and beneficiary has heard from USCIS, I suggest contacting them (either by mail, email, or online) to see if the case is still active and who are listed on the case as derivative beneficiaries.

It is not unusual to not hear from the government for 8+ years.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Best way to check on cases at USCIS. https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do

[trailmix 77]

His mother filed correctly. There is only one Form I-130. It is used for Immediate Relative cases and family preference cases (F1, F2a, F2b, F3, & F4).

Whether USCIS has approved his petition or not in the AVERAGE time is irrelevant. There are cases where it takes 8+ years for the I-130 to be approved.

Because it has been a while since the petitioner and beneficiary has heard from USCIS, I suggest contacting them (either by mail, email, or online) to see if the case is still active and who are listed on the case as derivative beneficiaries.

It is not unusual to not hear from the government for 8+ years.

Ok, well I think it is very relevant. The fact that their application seems to have been approved in record time would indicate that it bears further investigation. I don't think we have enough information to know one way or the other.

I do know that it can take 8 or more years for the I-130 to be approved (I provided the link to that information above).

[aaron2020 11,651]

Ok, well I think it is very relevant. The fact that their application seems to have been approved in record time would indicate that it bears further investigation. I don't think we have enough information to know one way or the other.

I do know that it can take 8 or more years for the I-130 to be approved (I provided the link to that information above).

My USC father petitioned for my married brother in the F3 category in Oct. 2000. The case was approved and sent to the NVC in Aug. 2001. No contact for 7+ years. In Feb. 2009, we received the AOS and IV Fee letter. (No DS-3020 was required since we had an attorney friend handle the case.) DS-230s and I-864 were sent in by June 2009. Sept. 2009, his PD became current. Dec. 2009, US Embassy interview where he and his family received visas.

So his petition was approved in 10 months and everything went smoothly. Don't assume that the time it takes to approve an I-130 means anything. The only exception is the application of CSPA.

Approval of the I-130 means that USCIS made a preliminary determination that the petitioner can legally file for the beneficiary under the law. USCIS is only looking for a qualifying family relationship. No inquiry is made on income or admissibility at this point. How long does it take USCIS to actually review the petitioner's citizenship and the beneficiary's birth certificate to look for a parent-child relationship? Probably less than a day. It just take time for the few USCIS workers to go though a mountain of I-130s. There is no rhyme or reason as to when a case is actually approved.

Edited December 22, 2009 by aaron2020

[aaron2020 11,651]

The fact that USCIS approved the OP's petition is evidence that everything has been done correctly. Why would they approve it otherwise? If there was a problem, a RFE would have been issued or the petition denied. An approved I-130 is a good thing. Why would there be a problem with that?

(I misread the OP's post and thought his petition had not been approved in Post #5. Ignore paragraph 3 there.)

[trailmix 77]

Ok I do kind of see what you mean.

I read his post, then I saw your post:

You can write to the NVC to see if your wife and children are listed as derivative beneficiaries. If yes, then you don't have a problem. If no, then you need to add them by providing your marriage certificate and everyone's birth certificates.

Which was a bit confusing as he had already stated that his wife was listed but he didn't have children at the time. Then you said he should contact USCIS.

I do understand that the process takes several years, I guess I just didn't understand where the OP was up to in that process.

[Ali-Hasnain 0]

Hello trailmix and aaron2020. I enjoyed seeing your debate back and forth, and thank you both for taking the time to analyze the situation.

I did call NVC just today, and the confirmed that, as far as they're concerned, everything looks good. Spouse is on their systems, they assured me she will be eligible for derivate status. My daughter, though, who was born in Canada is going to need to have her birth certificate mailed in.

On a side note, I found NVC's customer service to be far superior to that of USCIS (BCIS).

[Ali-Hasnain 0]

AHA!! I did some research and think I know what happened.

My mother lives in Chicago. She filed I130 to the NE Service Centre. Around 2006, the petition was moved to the CA centre because, temporarily, NE had stopped processing I130's. If you look at the CA processing times, it's taking forever. A couple of things might have happended. The "files that had come in from Nebraska" were treated in some type of priority, resulting in "early" approval of the I130. Or perhaps, the petition was simply sent back to Nebraska when they re-started processing I130's. Nebraska's F3 processing time is 5 months.

OK maybe I'm thinking about this way too much. Its all irrelevant now anyways. Now I'm visiting the visa bulletin site more frequently, praying for faster processing by NVC!

Ali

[trailmix 77]

That's easy enough to do with immigration!

Well, I wish you a very speedy approval