Petitioning for Stepdaughter, age 20, turns 21 in November

[sohappy2 1]

Hello everyone. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience petitioning a stepchild who is so close to aging out of the definition of stepchild. Originally my husband's daughter (now 20) was planning on finishing school in her native Colombia and was not included in our original petition. Now we would like to bring her over. My husband and I just received an RFE on the removal of conditions and sent in further evidence. We are waiting for his 10 year green card to be approved. Any advice/suggestions?

Furthermore (not to complicate the issue further) we would like to petition for his son (age 23) we know that he will not fall under the definition of child. Any experience with how long it takes for an adult child?

Thank you so much for your help on these two questions. It's so hard to have family so divided!

[aleful 1,905]

Hello everyone. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience petitioning a stepchild who is so close to aging out of the definition of stepchild. Originally my husband's daughter (now 20) was planning on finishing school in her native Colombia and was not included in our original petition. Now we would like to bring her over. My husband and I just received an RFE on the removal of conditions and sent in further evidence. We are waiting for his 10 year green card to be approved. Any advice/suggestions?

Furthermore (not to complicate the issue further) we would like to petition for his son (age 23) we know that he will not fall under the definition of child. Any experience with how long it takes for an adult child?

Thank you so much for your help on these two questions. It's so hard to have family so divided!

how old was she at the time of marriage, under 18?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

According to your timeline, it looks like you guys got married about a month before her 18th birthday. That would make her eligible for an immediate relative IR2 visa. You, the US citizen, must submit an I-130 to USCIS. It must be accepted before her 21st birthday in order to lock in her age for an IR2 visa. If you wait too long, or you mess up the petition package and it gets rejected, or for any other reason the petition isn't accepted before her 21st birthday then she wouldn't be eligible for an IR2 - the petition would automatically convert to a family preference F1. You'd be waiting about 7 years before a visa number would be available for her. Read the guides and the form instructions carefully, and make sure you get it right the first time.

You can't petition for the 23 year old son. You got married after he was 18, so he wouldn't be defined as your step-son under immigration law. If he's not married then your husband can petition for him. The visa category for an unmarried adult son or daughter of an LPR is F2B. After your husband sends the I-130 then it will be about 8 years before a visa number is available for his son. If his son is married then your husband can't petition for him until he becomes a US citizen.