Bringing my Mom and her Son here in the US

[christal0611 0]

I am a US citizen and I want to petition my Filipino Mom so she can come here in the United States. I know I can use I-130 for that. She was also telling me she can do self petition because she is a widow of a US citizen my Dad and she said she can use I-360 but I think my brother cannot come with her if she do the self petition. My concern is my half brother is 16 y/o right now and will be 17 y/o this coming November. He is still minor so I want him to come also with my Mom.

What should I do?? I really do not know what to do right now.... Help

Thanks

Tal

Edited August 25, 2011 by christal0611

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I am a US citizen and I want to petition my Filipino Mom so she can come here in the United States. I know I can use I-130 for that. She was also telling me she can do self petition because she is a widow of a US citizen my Dad and she said she can use I-360 but I think my brother cannot come with her if she do the self petition. My concern is my half brother is 16 y/o right now and will be 17 y/o this coming November. He is still minor so I want him to come also with my Mom.

What should I do?? I really do not know what to do right now.... Help

Thanks

Tal

Did she remarry after your father died? If so then she can't file an I-360.

The exception for widows to self-petition is relatively new law. Generally, the I-360 has to be filed within two years of the death of the US citizen spouse. However, the law itself is less than two years old. If your father died before October 28, 2009 then your mom has until October 28, 2011 to submit an I-360. If he died after October 28, 2009, then she's got until 2 years after his death to file. After that, she won't be eligible anymore.

If she's eligible to file an I-360 then your brother would also be eligible as a derivative. Your brother would not be eligible as a derivative if you file an I-130 for your mom. You'd need to file an I-130 for your brother. It takes about 22 years to bring a sibling from the Philippines. It would be faster if your mom immigrated and then filed for him as an LPR. The wait for an F2A is about 3 years. If you add in the time it will take to get the IR5 visa for your mom, then it's about 4 years. That's cutting it pretty close to his 21st birthday, but if you factor in the CRBA adjustment then there's a pretty good chance he'd make it. You need to get moving quickly, though.

[christal0611 0]

My mom did not remarry.But my brother is using the last name of his dad. I'm just worried that if she uses the I-360 she will have a problem bringing my half brother because of her situation.

Regarding the I-360 my Mom went to the US military retiree activities office in the Philippines and she was told that she will be eligible for the I-360.

So best route will be I-360? Does my brother has to fill out I-360 too?

Thanks for your help... I really appreciate it

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

My mom did not remarry.But my brother is using the last name of his dad. I'm just worried that if she uses the I-360 she will have a problem bringing my half brother because of her situation.

Regarding the I-360 my Mom went to the US military retiree activities office in the Philippines and she was told that she will be eligible for the I-360.

So best route will be I-360? Does my brother has to fill out I-360 too?

Thanks for your help... I really appreciate it

The law isn't clear on this stuff. I presume you're a US citizen over the age of 21. I presume, also, that your half-brother was born out of a relationship that happened after your father died. If this is all correct then, technically, your brother has no relationship to your deceased father - he's not a son nor a step-son. This is why I asked if your mother remarried. If she had then she wouldn't be eligible to file an I-360. However, she didn't remarry but she did have another child with a different father.

Section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the INA says:

In the case of an alien who was the spouse of a citizen of the United States and was not legally separated from the citizen at the time of the citizen's death, the alien (and each child of the alien) shall be considered, for purposes of this subsection, to remain an immediate relative after the date of the citizen's death but only if the spouse files a petition under section 204(a)(1)(A)(ii) within 2 years after such date and only until the date the spouse remarries.

The law says that the alien spouse and their children will remain an immediate relative after the US citizen spouse dies. It isn't clear whether a child born after the death of the US citizen to a different parent would be classified as an immediate relative.

Unless your mother is talking to a qualified immigration lawyer then she should take any advice she gets with a heavy dose of salt. There are an awful lot of people who work for public and private agencies and organizations, and whose responsibilities include giving immigration advice, but who actually know very little about the law or the processes involved. Surprisingly, many of the most misinformed people answer the phones for USCIS.

My advice would be to cover all of your bases. Let your mom file an I-360 and try to include your half-brother as a derivative. You should also file an I-130 for your mom. There's no problem having multiple immigrant visas filed for the same person as long as they qualify for each category in which a petition has been submitted. If the I-360 falls through then your mom can apply for a visa based on your I-130 petition. When she comes to the US then she can file an I-130 for your half-brother. In the worst case, you should be able to get everyone here within about four years.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

I would think if the half brother is 17 they have seriously missed the 2 year window

[christal0611 0]

The law isn't clear on this stuff. I presume you're a US citizen over the age of 21. I presume, also, that your half-brother was born out of a relationship that happened after your father died. If this is all correct then, technically, your brother has no relationship to your deceased father - he's not a son nor a step-son. This is why I asked if your mother remarried. If she had then she wouldn't be eligible to file an I-360. However, she didn't remarry but she did have another child with a different father.

Section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the INA says:

In the case of an alien who was the spouse of a citizen of the United States and was not legally separated from the citizen at the time of the citizen's death, the alien (and each child of the alien) shall be considered, for purposes of this subsection, to remain an immediate relative after the date of the citizen's death but only if the spouse files a petition under section 204(a)(1)(A)(ii) within 2 years after such date and only until the date the spouse remarries.

The law says that the alien spouse and their children will remain an immediate relative after the US citizen spouse dies. It isn't clear whether a child born after the death of the US citizen to a different parent would be classified as an immediate relative.

Unless your mother is talking to a qualified immigration lawyer then she should take any advice she gets with a heavy dose of salt. There are an awful lot of people who work for public and private agencies and organizations, and whose responsibilities include giving immigration advice, but who actually know very little about the law or the processes involved. Surprisingly, many of the most misinformed people answer the phones for USCIS.

My advice would be to cover all of your bases. Let your mom file an I-360 and try to include your half-brother as a derivative. You should also file an I-130 for your mom. There's no problem having multiple immigrant visas filed for the same person as long as they qualify for each category in which a petition has been submitted. If the I-360 falls through then your mom can apply for a visa based on your I-130 petition. When she comes to the US then she can file an I-130 for your half-brother. In the worst case, you should be able to get everyone here within about four years.

Thanks Again...=)

[christal0611 0]

I would think if the half brother is 17 they have seriously missed the 2 year window

I saw this on the website

Widow(er)s of Deceased U.S. Citizens

If you are the widow(er) of a U.S. citizen, a recent change in the law may affect your ability to immigrate. Section 568© of Public Law 111-83 amended the Immigration and Nationality Act so that you may be eligible to immigrate, even if you and your deceased spouse were married for less than 2 years when your spouse died. This change took effect on October 28, 2009, when the President signed the new law. As a result, you may now file Form I-360 for Special immigrant classification as a widow/widower, even if you were married less than 2 years when your spouse died.

You must still file your Form I-360 no later than 2 years after the citizen’s death. If your spouse died before October 28, 2009, however, and you were married for less than 2 years, you can file a Form I-360 for Special Immigrant Classification as a widow/widower, so long as you do so no later than October 28, 2011. ( This is the category where my Mom falls. My dad died May 20,1984 and they were married September 15,1983 and I was born on Feb 9, 1984.

Your eligibility to immigrate as the widow(er) of a U.S. citizen ends if you remarry before you immigrate.

This page can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/i-360

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I would think if the half brother is 17 they have seriously missed the 2 year window

I covered this in my first post. The law only went into effect on October 28, 2009. Any alien whose US citizen spouse died before that date has until October 28, 2011 to file a petition.

The law previously wouldn't allow an alien to self-petition as a widow unless they had been married to the US citizen for two years. The new law eliminates the two year marriage requirement, and it's retroactive to give everyone a two year window to apply.

[SimpleGrace 0]

Hello,

I just filed the I-360 for myself via Consular processing based on widow of US citizen. I have been looking around in this forum for those in similar situation as me but I cannot seem to find any.

Does anyone know the processing time for I-360 based on widows. I filed it about 3 weeks ago and got a call from the Consular officer who asked me a some questions about my marriage to my late husband. Then she asked me to send her my biographic page of my passport and my visa for the country where I am living (outside the US).

I sent it to them about 2 -3 weeks ago but I have not heard back or received any receipt letter from them.

Does anyone have an idea how these works? What to expect?