Still eligible for follow-to -join benefits?

[PositiveVibes 1]

Hi, am hoping for some help and clarification with a child of legal resident/green card holder.

My husband came to the U.S. his on a I-129F in May of 2010, we got married and filed for adjustment in July 2010. His child was listed on the initial I129F petition. He received his AOS status and Green Card in October 6, 2010. We would like to bring his daughter here for college, but not until 2013. So, we didn't file for her now, because we thought we had plenty of time. But now, I am wondering because we did not file for her now (within one year of AOS approval), will the wait for her to get a visa be years for her to come? I am of course now concerned that we screwed up and the processing and wait times for her visa, won't even make college in the U.S. a possibility for her.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

Hi, am hoping for some help and clarification with a child of legal resident/green card holder.

My husband came to the U.S. his on a I-129F in May of 2010, we got married and filed for adjustment in July 2010. His child was listed on the initial I129F petition. He received his AOS status and Green Card in October 6, 2010. We would like to bring his daughter here for college, but not until 2013. So, we didn't file for her now, because we thought we had plenty of time. But now, I am wondering because we did not file for her now (within one year of AOS approval), will the wait for her to get a visa be years for her to come? I am of course now concerned that we screwed up and the processing and wait times for her visa, won't even make college in the U.S. a possibility for her.

The follow-to-join is only useful for up to a year after the beneficiary came to the US. Your fears are correct; she will not be able to come by doing the follow-to-join since it has been over a year already. You and your husband should file for a I-130 or she can try to obtain a student visa rather than do the family petition instead.

[sib 7]

How old is the daughter?

She is considered your child (step child) and as long as she was under 18 when you married her father you can file an I-130 as immediate relative for her until she is 21! Don't get it too close to her 21st birthday. I think she needs to be under 21 before she enters US.

There are a couple of threads regarding that issue.

Sib

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

How old is the daughter?

[PositiveVibes 1]

How old is the daughter?

She just turned 16. So if I filed an I-130 how long is the wait approximately?

[PositiveVibes 1]

How old is the daughter?

She is considered your child (step child) and as long as she was under 18 when you married her father you can file an I-130 as immediate relative for her until she is 21! Don't get it too close to her 21st birthday. I think she needs to be under 21 before she enters US.

There are a couple of threads regarding that issue.

Sib

Thanks for your reply. I saw that on a few threads and it seems like if the US citizen files for the step parent it is a bit quicker-- so maybe that is the best route for us. She is only 16 so, she has quite a while before turning 21. What I can seems to understand is the how long the process is for filing for a step child? I am confused in one forum I thought I read up to five years and then on another I thought I read about a year.

Any ideas?

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Excellent. Because you got married to her dad before she turned 18, you are her stepmom under immigration law and can file for her without a waiting period. You will file the I-130, rather than your husband (because it';s quicker for you as a US citizen to file than for him as a greencard holder), and the process will take somewhere between 6 months to a a year, then she has 6 months to use the visa.

[PositiveVibes 1]

Excellent. Because you got married to her dad before she turned 18, you are her stepmom under immigration law and can file for her without a waiting period. You will file the I-130, rather than your husband (because it';s quicker for you as a US citizen to file than for him as a greencard holder), and the process will take somewhere between 6 months to a a year, then she has 6 months to use the visa.

THANK YOU! That is great news and you helped clarify what I was trying to figure out from other threads. I am so relieved, I was worried that I misunderstood filing information that would have resulted in one crushed stepdaughter, as well as crushing the hopes for my husband and myself of bringing us all together.

I appreciate your help.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

THANK YOU! That is great news and you helped clarify what I was trying to figure out from other threads. I am so relieved, I was worried that I misunderstood filing information that would have resulted in one crushed stepdaughter, as well as crushing the hopes for my husband and myself of bringing us all together.

I appreciate your help.

As a US citizen stepparent, you can petition for your stepdaughter because you established the stepparent/stepchild relationship before her 18th birthday. It will be quicker for you to petition for your stepdaughter than her LPR parent.

If you petition for her (file the I-130) before her 21st birthday, you will "freeze" her age and she will be processed as an Immediate Relative. This process will take about 6-12 months.

If you petition for her after her 21st birthday, it would be an F1 family preference case which would take about 7 years.

[PositiveVibes 1]

As a US citizen stepparent, you can petition for your stepdaughter because you established the stepparent/stepchild relationship before her 18th birthday. It will be quicker for you to petition for your stepdaughter than her LPR parent.

If you petition for her (file the I-130) before her 21st birthday, you will "freeze" her age and she will be processed as an Immediate Relative. This process will take about 6-12 months.

If you petition for her after her 21st birthday, it would be an F1 family preference case which would take about 7 years.

Thank you Jojo92122. I will definitely file for her before she is 21. We hope to bring her here when she is about 17, after she completes High School.

Thanks again

[kennym 275]

Not that is matters at this point, but simply for anyone else who might find themselfs in this situation in the future...

My wife and I just finished the Follow-to-Join visa as the dirivative of my wifes original k1.. In our case, we werent sure of the deadlines. We know it was one year, but one year from when? We later found from talking to the Chief of the IV Section at the Bogota Embassy, that the one year starts at the time the original K1 Visa is printed..

The interview was last month for the daughter, (9 yrs old) so my wife flew to Bogota and attended the interview and it was approved.. but, just wanted to add in our findings and what we learned so if anyone else is going this route, they will have some idea of the real deadlines..

Kenny

[kennym 275]

Edited October 16, 2011 by kennym

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Not that is matters at this point, but simply for anyone else who might find themselfs in this situation in the future...

My wife and I just finished the Follow-to-Join visa as the dirivative of my wifes original k1.. In our case, we werent sure of the deadlines. We know it was one year, but one year from when? We later found from talking to the Chief of the IV Section at the Bogota Embassy, that the one year starts at the time the original K1 Visa is printed..

The interview was last month for the daughter, (9 yrs old) so my wife flew to Bogota and attended the interview and it was approved.. but, just wanted to add in our findings and what we learned so if anyone else is going this route, they will have some idea of the real deadlines..

Kenny

To add to your digression, the K-2 route can be very helpful when there is a foreign stepchild between 18 & 21.

A K-2 is a derivative visa for the unmarried child under age 21 of the K-1 visa holder. It can only be issued one year after the K-1 is issued.

A K-2 holder must travel to the US before his/her 21st birthday in order to adjust and get a green card. The K-2 holder has to be under 21 when entering. It is okay to file to adjust after the K-2 visa holder's 21st birthday. Age is relevant when entering the US, not when adjusting.

A US citizen stepparent who is marred to the foreign stepchild's parent can only petition for a stepchild if the legal relationship was created before the stepchild's 18th birthday. If the marriage occurs after the stepchild's 18th birthday, the US citizen stepparent can never petition for the stepchild. If there is a child between over age 18 when the marriage occurred, only the LPR parent can petition and it takes 3-8 years (F2a or F2b).

If the US citizen petitions for a fiancee, the K-1 visa holder's unmarried children under 21 can get K-2s. A stepchild who is between 18-21 would be able to get a K-2.