Petition sister who is U.S as J-1

[Brightstar 0]

Hello all,

I am not sure if this is the right place to post my question but hopefully some of you can help me out. A little background: My sister is here in the U.S as an au pair. She is currently holding J-1 visa. After her J-1 is expired, she is planning to apply for F-1 visa to study in the U.S. I am a U.S citizen and planning to petition my sister so she can stay in the U.S. (I know it will take at least 10-12 years for the whole process).

My questions are

1) Should I wait until AFTER she gets F-1 visa before I start the paperwork to petition her? I want to start the process as soon as possible but I don't want to jeopardize her case when she is transferring her J-1 to F-1.

2) Is she allowed to stay in the U.S after she completed her study in the U.S as F-1 visa?

Thank you all!

[Anh map 2,098]

Yes, you can start now. No, she cannot wait here for the 10-12 years to pass. She needs to leave the country when her J or F visa expires.

[Penguin_ie 5,992]

Yes, you can start now. No, she cannot wait here for the 10-12 years to pass. She needs to leave the country when her J or F visa expires.

Unless you have a lot of money and can pay for her F1 visas for 12+ years, she will need to go home. Unless she ends up getting a work visa or similar of course.