My wife wants to bring her mother over.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

To promote family unity, immigration law allows U.S. citizens to petition for certain qualified relatives to come and live permanently in the United States. Eligible immediate relatives include the U.S. citizen's:

Spouse

Unmarried child under the age of 21

Parent (if the U.S. citizen is over the age of 21)

Immediate relatives have special immigration priority and do not have to wait in line for a visa number to become available for them to immigrate because there are an unlimited number of visas for their particular categories.

Don't read that to mean "an unmarried child under the age of 21 who is an immediate relative of a US Citizen"...

Read it to mean this: "Immediate Relatives of US Citizen for Immigration purposes means: Spouse of US Citizen, Unmarried Child of US Citizen under the age of 21 or Parent of US Citizen", a little distinction that makes a big difference.

One downside of the IR (Immediate Relative) category is that there are no derivative beneficiaries so each indented immigrant must have their own I-130 Petition which requires a Petition-able Relationship. This means that while the Parent would be in the IR category unfortunately the siblings of the US Citizen would be in the Family Preference Categories which have long waits.

[gretchen_darren 67]

The child is a minor. Once my wife gets her citizenship how can we petition both?

I did not think it was an option to do that.

From what I have read, we can only bring her parents. And only they can then petition for the minor children.

-p

AS an LPR, your wife can only petition for her own unmarried children and husband/wife. that is it. Nothing else as an LPR. LPR is very, very limited and is always at the back of the line. USC are given first priority so LPR's can expect an extremely long wait time.

AS a USC, your wife can petition for her children (married or unmarried), parents, AND brothers and sisters including step-sisters and step-brothers. Your wife has to be 21 or older for parents and sibling petitions. Read the I-130 instructions. the rules change for a USC. If you file BOTH petitions at the same time, USCIS will group them together because the child is a minor.

By adoption, you can then file as a USC for the minor child as your own child *yours plus wife's) once the USCIS agrees. It is not an easy process. but it has been done many times to bring minor children (brothers and sisters) of a wife's family. This really depends on the family. this does not happen often in Filipino families. This happens frequently in Russia, CIS, and India.

From USCIS website:

Certain immigrants who because of their close relationship to U.S. citizens are exempt from the numerical limitations imposed on immigration to the United States. Immediate relatives are: spouses of citizens, children (under 21 years of age and unmarried) of citizens, and parents of citizens 21 years of age or older.

see this link for siblings at USCIS:

siblings to USA

[sunandmoon 450]

AS an LPR, your wife can only petition for her own unmarried children and husband/wife. that is it. Nothing else as an LPR. LPR is very, very limited and is always at the back of the line. USC are given first priority so LPR's can expect an extremely long wait time.

AS a USC, your wife can petition for her children (married or unmarried), parents, AND brothers and sisters including step-sisters and step-brothers. Your wife has to be 21 or older for parents and sibling petitions. Read the I-130 instructions. the rules change for a USC. If you file BOTH petitions at the same time, USCIS will group them together because the child is a minor.

By adoption, you can then file as a USC for the minor child as your own child *yours plus wife's) once the USCIS agrees. It is not an easy process. but it has been done many times to bring minor children (brothers and sisters) of a wife's family. This really depends on the family. this does not happen often in Filipino families. This happens frequently in Russia, CIS, and India.

From USCIS website:

Certain immigrants who because of their close relationship to U.S. citizens are exempt from the numerical limitations imposed on immigration to the United States. Immediate relatives are: spouses of citizens, children (under 21 years of age and unmarried) of citizens, and parents of citizens 21 years of age or older.

see this link for siblings at USCIS:

siblings to USA

for US Citizen,siblings would not be an immediate relative. they would be in family preference category.

can you provide a link to backup your interpretation?

[sunandmoon 450]

By adoption, you can then file as a USC for the minor child as your own child *yours plus wife's) once the USCIS agrees. It is not an easy process. but it has been done many times to bring minor children (brothers and sisters) of a wife's family. This really depends on the family. this does not happen often in Filipino families. This happens frequently in Russia, CIS, and India.

Dareen, have you read about adoption from the links provided in this thread? at least you got one thing right, it is not an easy process.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Dareen, have you read about adoption from the links provided in this thread? at least you got one thing right, it is not an easy process.

It's the Oxycontin talking...

[sunandmoon 450]

It's the Oxycontin talking...

maybe he should refrain from posting on immigration topics until he's no longer under the influence. other topics, at least at times it's entertaining...