Bringing wife's parents here in order to get her little sister here

[TiklingGuy 211]

My wife who is a citizen now wants to get her little sister here who is under 18. My questions are, what is the best way? File for her parents, bring them here and then they file for her to come? Or does my wife just file directly for her little sister?

 

My biggest question, if we bring her parents here, how long do they have to be here to file for her little sister, which is there daughter? So it would be a permanent residence file for their underage child basically. Is there a time limit? or as soon as they cross the gate, can they file for her?

 

Thanks for any answers you could provide

[Alabamak1 688]

a USC bringing a brother/sister takes many years to get approved. currently something around 15+ years and that depends on the country. Through the parents would be much faster. Not an expert in that matter, but someelse can answer that part

[aleful 1,905]

who will stay with her sister? once they are here, they can file file for her but the process will take 2 years

 

also, do the parents want to come here to live permanently?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, TiklingGuy said:

My wife who is a citizen now wants to get her little sister here who is under 18. My questions are, what is the best way? File for her parents, bring them here and then they file for her to come? Or does my wife just file directly for her little sister?

 

My biggest question, if we bring her parents here, how long do they have to be here to file for her little sister, which is there daughter? So it would be a permanent residence file for their underage child basically. Is there a time limit? or as soon as they cross the gate, can they file for her?

 

Thanks for any answers you could provide

They can file for her immediately but it will take about 2 years before she can come and they will have to show all the usual things sponsors need to (income etc). Do they want to live in the US? They can’t just come, file and leave, that won’t work.

[Boiler 45,501]

Only one needs to immigrate to the US.

[TiklingGuy 211]

41 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

They can file for her immediately but it will take about 2 years before she can come and they will have to show all the usual things sponsors need to (income etc). Do they want to live in the US? They can’t just come, file and leave, that won’t work.

Basically thats what we were thinking. Bringing her mother and father here, get them green cards and then they file for their daughter, which is my wifes little sister. They would leave and we would take care of her little sister. So you are saying that is not possible? 

32 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Only one needs to immigrate to the US.

If it was up to me, it would just be her mother for now so she could file for her daughter which is my wifes little sister.

[aleful 1,905]

no, not possible, the sponsor just like your wife will have to prove to the government that the beneficiary won't become a public charge. he or she has to live here.

 

the green card is for family reunification, to live together in the US. they are responsible for their daughter, not her sister

 

your wife will be responsible for her parents

 

 

 

[Boiler 45,501]

Yep you would be filing immigrant visa's, not cheap, not quick.

[TiklingGuy 211]

27 minutes ago, aleful said:

no, not possible, the sponsor just like your wife will have to prove to the government that the beneficiary won't become a public charge. he or she has to live here.

 

the green card is for family reunification, to live together in the US. they are responsible for their daughter, not her sister

 

your wife will be responsible for her parents

 

 

 

Gotcha. That sucks. By the time all of this would be put together her sister will be 18 anyways. So, if we file for her parents to come here, how long would it take for them to become US citizens?

[KeratNY 76]

3 hours ago, TiklingGuy said:

My wife who is a citizen now wants to get her little sister here who is under 18. My questions are, what is the best way? File for her parents, bring them here and then they file for her to come? Or does my wife just file directly for her little sister?

 

My biggest question, if we bring her parents here, how long do they have to be here to file for her little sister, which is there daughter? So it would be a permanent residence file for their underage child basically. Is there a time limit? or as soon as they cross the gate, can they file for her?

 

Thanks for any answers you could provide

Take a look at the visa bulletin:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2018/visa-bulletin-for-may-2018.html

 

So for siblings (F4), you're looking at 14 year wait (or 20+ year if sibling is from Mexico or Philippines)

So yes you can bring her parents here faster, and then once they are PRs then the wait is another two years if she is still a minor. If not, that's more like 7 years.  

 

But there are a lot of potholes here. Plan it out with a lawyer if you go this route. 

[KeratNY 76]

39 minutes ago, aleful said:

no, not possible, the sponsor just like your wife will have to prove to the government that the beneficiary won't become a public charge. he or she has to live here.

 

the green card is for family reunification, to live together in the US. they are responsible for their daughter, not her sister

 

your wife will be responsible for her parents

 

 

 

this only matters if one were to use any public means-tested benefit. OP has not indicated this could be the case

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  And all this assumes that chain migration hasn't been killed by the current administration. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

3 hours ago, TiklingGuy said:

Gotcha. That sucks. By the time all of this would be put together her sister will be 18 anyways. So, if we file for her parents to come here, how long would it take for them to become US citizens?

5 years IF they meet the continuous residence and physical presence requirements, as well as pass the English and civics tests. 

 

if one or both sponsors the kid they will have to show domicile in the US so re the previous question they definitely can’t file and leave. If they do that then apart from the domicile issue being a problem down the line,  their green cards will probably anyway have been deemed abandoned as they would have been out the country longer than a year before the daughter’s petition is anywhere near to being adjudicated. And obviously if they’ve lost permanent resident status they will be unable to complete the petition. 

 

As for “that sucks”, well yes but then again many of us realize that when we leave our home countries to choose to immigrate to the US, we leave family members behind. It’s a choice we make, it’s not up to uscis to enable us to bring everyone over - as it is the US is already far more generous with how far family visas extend than just about any other country I am aware of.  

 

 

Edited May 18, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[issea 43]

Why not the parents come and stay until the younger sister gets the GC, meanwhile the OP and his wife are co-sponsoring the younger sister. If so, the younger sister won’t be public charge even after the parents leave for good. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

9 minutes ago, issea said:

Why not the parents come and stay until the younger sister gets the GC, meanwhile the OP and his wife are co-sponsoring the younger sister. If so, the younger sister won’t be public charge even after the parents leave for good. 

Lol if the parents have nothing to do but put their lives on hold for two years, sure that’s a good option