Bringing wifes son to the U.S.

[Drlong 1]

Hello everyone,

My wife who is a permanent resident and I are beginning the paperwork for her oldest son Angelou who is now 19. I married his mom in 2009 when he was 17 years old and am wondering what would be the best way to do his petition. I have been told that since we were married when he was 17 I can petition him or we can have my wife petition him and I be the joint sponsor. I have a good job and easily meet all the requirements to sponsor, she on the other hand has a good job too but only started in January of this year so no past income taxes for the last 3 years. Any thoughts on this?

Thank you,

Dave and Grace

[aleful 1,905]

Hello everyone,

My wife who is a permanent resident and I are beginning the paperwork for her oldest son Angelou who is now 19. I married his mom in 2009 when he was 17 years old and am wondering what would be the best way to do his petition. I have been told that since we were married when he was 17 I can petition him or we can have my wife petition him and I be the joint sponsor. I have a good job and easily meet all the requirements to sponsor, she on the other hand has a good job too but only started in January of this year so no past income taxes for the last 3 years. Any thoughts on this?

Thank you,

Dave and Grace

you have to petition him so the wait doesn't go over 21, because it will take a very long time.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

You petition him, it'll be much faster.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello everyone,

My wife who is a permanent resident and I are beginning the paperwork for her oldest son Angelou who is now 19. I married his mom in 2009 when he was 17 years old and am wondering what would be the best way to do his petition. I have been told that since we were married when he was 17 I can petition him or we can have my wife petition him and I be the joint sponsor. I have a good job and easily meet all the requirements to sponsor, she on the other hand has a good job too but only started in January of this year so no past income taxes for the last 3 years. Any thoughts on this?

Thank you,

Dave and Grace

It's faster for you to petition for him.

You qualify to petition him because he was under 18 when you married his mom. Your marriage established a stepparent/stepchild relationship before he was 18.

You will file Form I-130. This will be an Immediate Relative case since he is 19. His age will freeze when USCIS receives the I-130, and he will remain 19 for immigration purposes. It will take about 6-12 months for him to get an immigration visa.

It will take 2-3 years (or longer) for his LPR mother to petition for him. A case filed for her will be an F2a family preference case (LPR petitioning an unmarried child under age 21). It takes 2-3 years for an F2a case to be processed. However, his age will not freeze when USCIS receives the I-130. If he turns 21 and the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) does not help him, he would move to the F2b category (LPR petitioning an unmarried child over 21) where the wait is 7-8 years for an immigration visa.

This is probably a longer explanation than you wanted. Hope it will help you and others who in similar positions.

--------------

On the I-864 issue.

If you petition, you file Form I-864 with your income. Your wife can file Form I-864a as a household member to add her income to yours to meet the 125% poverty level.

If your wife petition, she files Form I-864 with her income. You can file Form I-864a as a household member to add your income to hers to meet the 125% poverty level.

As you can see, it doesn't matter who petitions for him. Your combined household income can be used in either case.

Edited April 24, 2012 by aaron2020