Help! I'm a US citizen, want to get a green card for my sister who is a student in the US

[kazakh 0]

Hi,

My sister has an F-1 Visa, which will be valid for another year. I want her to get a green card and to be able to stay here and work. She is a citizen of Kazakhstan. I am planning to file I-130 and I-485 concurrently.

Questions:

1) My understanding is that once I file for her, she will not be able to travel outside of the US, because on the way back the customs officers may deny her entry based on the fact that she has an immigration intent. Is that correct?

2) Is there any point in filing I-485 and I-130 concurrently? Is that even allowed for a sibling? I know it's allowed for immediate family, but for a sibling? no idea.

3) Once her current F-1 visa expires in a year, will she still be allowed to go to school and/or work here in teh States? While her I-130 and I-485 are pending? From what I saw, it may take two years just for the I-130 to be approved. And then another god knows how many years for her green card to be issued. Would she be stuck here in the US unemployed and illegal after the F-1 visa expiration?

[katgrl 14]

Hello, you cannot file the I-130/I-485 concurrently for your sister. That is for spouses, parents, and children under 21. I-485 is to adjust status. As there is not a visa immediately available for sibling petitions, she will not be able to adjust status until there is a visa available. You are looking at about 10 years minimum for your I-130 petition to be approved. So she can finish her F-1 visa and then go back home to wait out the rest of the 10 or so years until the I-130 is approved. She cannot wait out the time in the U.S. and be eligible to adjust status once the I-130 is approved. If she stays in the US after her F-i visa is expired, she will then become "out of status" and a visa overstay. Once she becomes an overstay, if/when she leaves the country, there will be a ban imposed depending on the length of time she overstayed, either 3 year or 10 year ban. Also, is she working right now?

EDIT: Check out my timeline for my husband. He went through the same thing. His sister petitioned for him, and he was ultimately ineligible to adjust status once the I-130 was approved due to his overstay. He is eligible to adjust status now due to marriage.

Edited November 30, 2010 by katgrl

[kazakh 0]

Thank you for reply. So, if she finds an employer while here, and while I-130 is pending, will she be allowed to come back on an H1B visa? Or will that outstanding I-130 cause issues for her at Point of Entry?

Also, if her current visa expires in a year, but she still needs to stay and study for another year, wouldn't she need to leave the US to get a new visa and then risk being denied entry? Or can she just stay here and get her I-20 renewed at the university, without getting a new visa.

[katgrl 14]

Unfortunately I don't know much about the specifics on any visas. Hopefully someone else will chime in and you get the answers you need. You might also try posting in a different forum specifically for the visas. Best of luck to you and your sister!

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

If she wants to continue to study, gets accepted and gets a new I-20, she can continue studying.

An H1B requires going to the process of labor certification. The potential employer has to show that basically nobody among the 308,700,000 American citizens and residents, of which about 34 million are unemployed, are willing and able to do what your sister can do, at a fair wage. If they can pull this off, she can stay.