I-130 for my son, I’m a permanent resident

[mama-of-3 0]

Does anyone know what the quota for visas for permanent residents is?is it an annual thing? Is it based on country? How does it work? I am a permanent resident trying to get a visa for my son and have been told that there aren’t any visas available right now  TIA

[JFH 12,190]

Permanent residents can only petition unmarried children. How old is your son? If he's under 21 then the process takes around 2 years. If he's over 21 it takes around 7 years (currently, likely to increase) and he must remain unmarried throughout the entire time. Note that you can only bring him, not his girlfriend/boyfriend/partner/fiancé, etc. So if during the 7-year wait he meets the love of his life and doesn't want to be apart, he may chose not to move after all. 

 

Some countries have longer waiting times but Australians don't need to worry about that. Only Mexicans, Chinese, Indians and Filipinos are affected. 

 

The only way for a visa to become available to your son is for you to file a petition and join the queue. Each month the Visa Bulletin is updated with which filing dates they are working on. Currently they are working on the cases for the people who filed petitions in the first half of November 2010. So they have waited 7 years.

 

Why the long wait? This category is considered low priority as most adults have their own lives and families and don't need to live near their parents. Also note that this a category that could be scrapped completely under the next round of immigration reform. Chain migration is something number 45 is not keen on. 

Edited November 23, 2017 by JFH

[Unlockable 7,314]

56 minutes ago, mama-of-3 said:

Does anyone know what the quota for visas for permanent residents is?is it an annual thing? Is it based on country? How does it work? I am a permanent resident trying to get a visa for my son and have been told that there aren’t any visas available right now  TIA

Immigration manages visas so, yes, there are limit to certain visa categories. This is to ensure that those who are in greater need of a visa receives it over others. As @JFH pointed out, a child that is 5 years old needs a visa more than a son or daughter that is over 21 who can take care of themselves. Also, US citizens gets first priority of visas over permanent residents. So if you were a US citizen it would take 1 year to bring over your child rather than 2.

 

Hope the explanation JFH and I gave helps you understand why the process is so long for some. JFH also made mention of chain migration. There used to be a time many years ago where immigration was come one, come all. Times are changing and we can already see the door to that type of immigration is slowly closing.