Bringing Brother-in-Law to US

[Elghazi2008 4]

I have been browsing through this forum a little bit and I was wondering if anybody can tell me whether there is any possibility that bringing a sibling to the US would take LESS than ten years. My husband will be applying for citizenship next year and immediately after he gets citizenship, we plan to petition for his little brother, who is a Moroccan Citizen and will be 18 next year. We hadn't realized that there was such a long waiting period and our situation is kind of urgent, so I'm starting to wonder if we should seek other methods of bringing him here that would save time. I just wasn't sure if anybody had seen/had an experience where the wait wasn't so long... It's really important that we explore faster options...

[milimelo 4,508]

I have been browsing through this forum a little bit and I was wondering if anybody can tell me whether there is any possibility that bringing a sibling to the US would take LESS than ten years. My husband will be applying for citizenship next year and immediately after he gets citizenship, we plan to petition for his little brother, who is a Moroccan Citizen and will be 18 next year. We hadn't realized that there was such a long waiting period and our situation is kind of urgent, so I'm starting to wonder if we should seek other methods of bringing him here that would save time. I just wasn't sure if anybody had seen/had an experience where the wait wasn't so long... It's really important that we explore faster options...

Student visa - non-immigrant, DV lottery - gets him immigrant visa IF he is selected (has to be 18+ to apply and at minimum high school diploma).

Sorry, you can't speed up the FB4 petition for sibling - it is what it is - millions others are waiting in line already. 10+ years current wait times - check out the visa bulletin on travel.state.gov webpage.

Why the urgency if you don't mind telling us?

[aaron2020 11,651]

I have been browsing through this forum a little bit and I was wondering if anybody can tell me whether there is any possibility that bringing a sibling to the US would take LESS than ten years. My husband will be applying for citizenship next year and immediately after he gets citizenship, we plan to petition for his little brother, who is a Moroccan Citizen and will be 18 next year. We hadn't realized that there was such a long waiting period and our situation is kind of urgent, so I'm starting to wonder if we should seek other methods of bringing him here that would save time. I just wasn't sure if anybody had seen/had an experience where the wait wasn't so long... It's really important that we explore faster options...

There is not a faster option based on his relationship to his brother. There is only one option for a US citizen to petition a brother - it's the F4 family preference category which has a current wait of 10+ years.

There are non-immigrant options which requires him to return home after his permitted time in the US is up. The most common is a student visa.

For an immigration visa, he could file for the Diversity Visa. However, it is extremely hard to win the visa. For 2007-2012, the chances of someone from the African continent winning is between 1.3% and 2.4%. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity_Immigrant_Visa#Winning_chances

If he marries a US citizen, that would be another path to the US.

Edited February 22, 2012 by aaron2020

[Elghazi2008 4]

There is not a faster option based on his relationship to his brother. There is only one option for a US citizen to petition a brother - it's the F4 family preference category which has a current wait of 10+ years.

There are non-immigrant options which requires him to return home after his permitted time in the US is up. The most common is a student visa.

For an immigration visa, he could file for the Diversity Visa. However, it is extremely hard to win the visa. For 2007-2012, the chances of someone from the African continent winning is between 1.3% and 2.4%. http://en.wikipedia....Winning_chances

If he marries a US citizen, that would be another path to the US.

We are hoping for a more permanent move, so a student visa wouldn't get us where we ultimately need to be... Once he turns 18, we are going to have him start submitting applications for the visa lottery they have in Morocco. We aren't even going to get into the marriage route, especially with 17-year old. lol. If/when he does get married, we want it to be a relationship thing so he feels that he can marry regardless of citizenship, not an immigration thing. Thanks for your help.

[Elghazi2008 4]

Student visa - non-immigrant, DV lottery - gets him immigrant visa IF he is selected (has to be 18+ to apply and at minimum high school diploma).

Sorry, you can't speed up the FB4 petition for sibling - it is what it is - millions others are waiting in line already. 10+ years current wait times - check out the visa bulletin on travel.state.gov webpage.

Why the urgency if you don't mind telling us?

Well, I suppose the shortest way to tell it is like this: Little brother is turning 17 next month, the father abandoned the family in 2008, mother died in 2009 after a long illness, and big brother is struggling with drug/money issues... My husband, being the middle brother, wants to bring little brother here where he can keep an eye on him and make sure he's safe. It's a sad situation, to say the least, and big brother can't be trusted to provide little brother with books, food, etc. Big brother will not allow little brother to get a job because he wants him to focus on school, which would be fine except that big brother isn't able to provide for little brother's needs. It's just a cruel circle...

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

We are hoping for a more permanent move, so a student visa wouldn't get us where we ultimately need to be... Once he turns 18, we are going to have him start submitting applications for the visa lottery they have in Morocco. We aren't even going to get into the marriage route, especially with 17-year old. lol. If/when he does get married, we want it to be a relationship thing so he feels that he can marry regardless of citizenship, not an immigration thing. Thanks for your help.

For the DV loettery he has to have the right age, the correct eduational background. If he doesn't pass the education/work requirements even if he is in the 2% that get a chance at an interview he will be denied.

[aaron2020 11,651]

We are hoping for a more permanent move, so a student visa wouldn't get us where we ultimately need to be... Once he turns 18, we are going to have him start submitting applications for the visa lottery they have in Morocco. We aren't even going to get into the marriage route, especially with 17-year old. lol. If/when he does get married, we want it to be a relationship thing so he feels that he can marry regardless of citizenship, not an immigration thing. Thanks for your help.

There are no quick way then for him to immigrate to the US. It will be a 10-12 years wait to immigrate through his US citizen brother. He will be extremely lucky to win the DV lottery with only a 1-2% chance of winning.

Edited February 26, 2012 by aaron2020

[Boiler 45,730]

He would be 30 before he entered the US, best to look at other options.

[ceadsearc 516]

If I were you, I would look into a student visa. That would at least get him here for now and potentially several years. If he is lucky (and depending on his major), perhaps he will be able to get a work visa afterwards.

[jaycali 415]

Yep, if it's urgent, go for the student visa. It's not cheap, and it's not permanent, but short of immediate family, it's probably the most common way to «get a foot inside». Many immigrants have previously been I'm the US with an F-1 student visa.

First it allows him to go to college or university in the US. He may then stay for however long his program lasts, most commonly 4 years for a bachelors degree. During this time, he may work up to 20 hours a week as long as it's an on-campus job.

After graduation, he'll be eligible for Optional Practical Training, a one year work permit which allows him to work in a field related to his field of study.

You'll have him there for 5 years. If he gets a good job while on OPT, many employers are willing to further sponsor OPT employees for an H-1b visa, which will allow him to work, and perhaps, later make him qualify for an employment based green card.

Who knows? It's not uncommon for students spending the better part of a decade in the US to fall in love and get married (personal experience).

There's no quick way to a green card, but if he gets an F-1 visa, that's usually the clearest non-family based path. He may not however, get a student visa with immigrant intent. But if he qualifies for a student visa, who knows what may happen!

Edited February 26, 2012 by jhsm85

[Elghazi2008 4]

Yep, if it's urgent, go for the student visa. It's not cheap, and it's not permanent, but short of immediate family, it's probably the most common way to «get a foot inside». Many immigrants have previously been I'm the US with an F-1 student visa.

Thank you, we will discuss this and try to get some decisions made... I appreciate everybody's opinion and I'll definitely consider them all.