Following to Join - Expiry time?

[scopar 0]

I'm new to this whole US immigration thing, so looking for some guidance from any wise heads here. Here's my situation.

Back in 2000/2001, my parents had an immigration petition filed on their behalf by my mother's brother (my uncle), who is a US citizen. At the time, I was 16/17, so I was a dependent on the application. We sort of forgot about the application (my uncle did it mostly because it was an option). Nonetheless, years have gone by and the whole process has been rolling through in the last 2 years. We (wrongly) assumed that, now that I am over 21, I was no longer on the application.

My parents got notice recently of their Interview appointment, with the NVC completing its process. Before the interview, we got a call from a friend who works at the US embassy that I was actually still on the application. Doing some research, it looks like I benefited from the Child Status Protection Act that prevented me from "Ageing Out".

Basically our friend advised that I fill out the DS-230 Part 1 form and have my parents bring it into their interview. My parents went to their interview, their visas are due to be issued shortly with their passports mailed back to them. Our friend advised that my application is now filed, and I am considered a "Follow to Join" on the original application.

Accordingly, my application is now with the local embassy, and all I need to do is let them know I am ready, and they will send me a "Packet 3" with a checklist to start the process. Apparently once I let them know I am ready, it'll take about 2 months to get the packet, and I'll have a year to complete the interview/checklist. However, as of now, I have no expiration date by when to contact the embassy to let them know I am ready.

Is anyone familiar with this situation that can confirm or provide advice if the above is accurate? Specifically, I want to confirm that by filing the DS-230 Part 1, that I have registered myself as a "Follow to join" and I don't have a specific time-frame to complete the process.

Any advice, or suggested reading, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Darnell 8,479]

unsure about yer visa designation, but for a K-2, for example, it's a year from the K-1 interview date.

[apple21 953]

OP is a derivative of F4 (Brothers and Sisters of Adult US Citizens).

[scopar 0]

OP is a derivative of F4 (Brothers and Sisters of Adult US Citizens).

Yup, believe this is an "F43".

[apple21 953]

MY thoughts are it would help if you know your CSPA age now because it could expire on your next birthday. If it did, then you no longer qualify as a follow-to-join.

[Boiler 46,125]

He is in his late 20's, CSPA is not going to apply.

[scopar 0]

He is in his late 20's, CSPA is not going to apply.

27 now - from my understanding of the CSPA, the I-130 approval would have had to be delayed around 6 years for me to meet the criteria.

Trying to get this information at this point, as I was not involved in the process and my parents didn't pay much attention to it.

[apple21 953]

27 now - from my understanding of the CSPA, the I-130 approval would have had to be delayed around 6 years for me to meet the criteria.

Trying to get this information at this point, as I was not involved in the process and my parents didn't pay much attention to it.

CSPA age is not your actual age. Maybe your "friend" from the US Embassy can compute for your CSPA age now. From there, you can determine if you're still qualified.

[scopar 0]

CSPA age is not your actual age. Maybe your "friend" from the US Embassy can compute for your CSPA age now. From there, you can determine if you're still qualified.

According to our friend, she did and that was the basis of telling us that my application was still active and us filing the DS-230 to keep state intent. I have an elder brother who was also a dependent at the time the application was filed, but apparently his age did not meet the requirement. I'm trying to substantiate what we are being told. This was all now, as the application was filed today (Monday) based on being informed on Friday (last week).

I guess my questions are two fold:

1. Calculation of the CSPA age (I need more information to do so)

2. Assuming that it is CSPA eligible, what is the "expiry" based on the fact that the intent has been made with the DS-230 Part 1 application.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Your cpsa age is your real age minus ( time from petition acceptance on NOA1 to petition approval )

[ndu26 114]

Your friend says you qualify and it appears you are going with this but want to know how much longer you can delay. From what you posted all that needs to be done is inform the consulate that you are ready but it appears you are not or want to know how kuch longer it can be delayed. any particular reasons why? school etc.

if not I would suggest you let them know you are ready so hey can send you the checklists etc ad have your interview done b4 you age out if not already.

[scopar 0]

Your friend says you qualify and it appears you are going with this but want to know how much longer you can delay. From what you posted all that needs to be done is inform the consulate that you are ready but it appears you are not or want to know how kuch longer it can be delayed. any particular reasons why? school etc.

if not I would suggest you let them know you are ready so hey can send you the checklists etc ad have your interview done b4 you age out if not already.

I moved to Canada and am at the end of the PR process there (probably about 2-3 months way from getting it done). Maintaining both will be tough to meet eligibility criteria on both sides - in an ideal world, I can delay this by about a year and work towards Canadian citizenship requirements, then figure something out.

It depends as well if my parents intend to move - they haven't decided yet. If they do move, I might be more inclined to follow through with the process and establish some residency in the US.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

I moved to Canada and am at the end of the PR process there (probably about 2-3 months way from getting it done). Maintaining both will be tough to meet eligibility criteria on both sides - in an ideal world, I can delay this by about a year and work towards Canadian citizenship requirements, then figure something out.

It depends as well if my parents intend to move - they haven't decided yet. If they do move, I might be more inclined to follow through with the process and establish some residency in the US.

Actually you can't maintain both, to be a premanent resident you have to spend most of your time somewhere and you can't claim both. You need to make a decision and follow it and stop playing immigration jackpot.

[scopar 0]

Actually you can't maintain both, to be a premanent resident you have to spend most of your time somewhere and you can't claim both. You need to make a decision and follow it and stop playing immigration jackpot.

You don't need to be accusational - definitely not trying to game the system. I found out about this literally 3 days ago, and obviously I need time to think about it. I have no intention of following through with it if I don't plan to move to the US.

My parents don't even know what they're doing yet, so that is a factor that I am dependent on as well.

[scopar 0]

Seems like the only information I'm missing is the I-130 approval date to recalculate the CSPA age - the priority date was 4/16/2001.

The only thing I have is the NVC case number, which started with a "2005" - is it fair to assume that the I-130 would be approved before the NVC case number is created?

Basically, based on my calculations and the info I have, the I-130 would have had to be approved sometime in late 2007, or later (6 years after it was filed) for me to meet the CSPA requirements - is this typical for an F4 application?

Edited March 12, 2013 by scopar