Filing I-130 for Parent

[swapdude 3]

Hi,

 

I am a US Citizen. My mom passed away a little while ago and I have my dad staying in India. I want to bring my dad over to USA to stay with us . He used to visit us every year or we will visit India abut COVID and staying alone has made it difficult and we think it's time for him to come and stay with us. Given the massively long processing times, I had a few questions and seek advice. 

 

- He is planning to fly to USA in the next ~30 days. Should I file for I130 now or wait for him to be in the US? (I want to make sure there is no confusing on intent). 

- Can I / Should I file for his I485 when he is here? With a visitor visa, he has 6 months to say before going back. When I file for I485, can he stay here till processing is done?

- Is it possible to expedite based on health reasons? I could not find anything online but thought it's worth asking. 

- He is a unique case in the sense, he had a GC that he officially surrendered (did not abandon). The GC required him to travel frequently to the US to maintain it and it made him difficult to operate his business in India. Now that he is retired, it does matter. When he surrendered his GC, they have him a 10-year visa (which is still valid). Does having an existing lawfully abandoned GC help?

 

Thanks in advance

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

I am sorry for your loss.  Losing a parent is hard.

You can file the I-130 at any time.  

He can visit, but he cannot enter the US via his tourist visa with the intent to adjust status via an I-485.  That is visa fraud.  There is no legal way to bypass the wait times.

You can apply to expedite his I-130, but I wouldn't be optimistic.

His past possession of a Green Card will neither help nor hurt his I-130.

 

He should realize that a Green Card if for living in the US, not for "traveling frequently to the US to maintain it".  It sounds as if he was using his previous Green Card as a visitor visa while actually living in India.

Good Luck.

Be aware that IR-5 visas are suspended until next year at the earliest, but USCIS is still processing I-130s.

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[HRQX 4,145]

13 minutes ago, swapdude said:

- He is planning to fly to USA in the next ~30 days. Should I file for I130 now or wait for him to be in the US? (I want to make sure there is no confusing on intent). 

- Can I / Should I file for his I485 when he is here? With a visitor visa, he has 6 months to say before going back. When I file for I485, can he stay here till processing is done?

That's planning visa fraud (i.e. plans to file I-485 in upcoming tourist visit). Don't be surprised if CBP determines him to be inadmissible for being an intending immigrant without a visa that permits immigrant intent; INA 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I).

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

You already received great advice from the above posters. If you have all the documentation I don’t see a need to wait to submit the I130 as the longer you take to submit it the longer the wait is for him. Immigration is not quick and there is no way for your dad to get his green card faster. If your father has health conditions this will actually complicate the process so no, his health complications are not a valid reason to expedite and will actually hurt his case. Health care for the elderly is very expensive in the US and you can expect to spend approx $800 a month in premiums. This information is not needed now during the petition but something to think of as his interview date nears closer.

[swapdude 3]

48 minutes ago, HRQX said:

That's planning visa fraud (i.e. plans to file I-485 in upcoming tourist visit). Don't be surprised if CBP determines him to be inadmissible for being an intending immigrant without a visa that permits immigrant intent; INA 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I).

Apologize. I have no intent of committing any fraud here. Just trying to understand the best path forward for my dad. 

 

1 hour ago, Lucky Cat said:

I am sorry for your loss.  Losing a parent is hard.

You can file the I-130 at any time.  

He can visit, but he cannot enter the US via his tourist visa with the intent to adjust status via an I-485.  That is visa fraud.  There is no legal way to bypass the wait times.

You can apply to expedite his I-130, but I wouldn't be optimistic.

His past possession of a Green Card will neither help nor hurt his I-130.

 

He should realize that a Green Card if for living in the US, not for "traveling frequently to the US to maintain it".  It sounds as if he was using his previous Green Card as a visitor visa while actually living in India.

Good Luck.

Be aware that IR-5 visas are suspended until next year at the earliest, but USCIS is still processing I-130s.

 

Again, no intention to do anything wrong. Just trying to understand my option better. He has all intentions of permanently moving as opposed to frequently traveling. 

 

Looks like I-130 and then waiting through the normal process makes sense. I'd apply for expedition to see if anything happens. The wait times recently are unprecedented. 

 

Filling I-130 should not make it difficult to travel on a visitor visa right? The two intents are still conflicting. 

[Just Paul 4,595]

1 minute ago, swapdude said:

Filling I-130 should not make it difficult to travel on a visitor visa right? The two intents are still conflicting. 

No issues.  Just needs to have sufficient ties back to India so that the Immigration Officer doesn't think he is intending to adjust.   This is just like all non immigrant visa holders at the Port of Entry.

[Lil bear 4,217]

We were in the same position regarding relinquishing GC after 10 years in the US. It does not create any issue for a new petition. What may help though is how close he is to 40 SS quarters from his previous time in the US. If he has 40 already .. or close to it and is going to be able to do whatever work he can get to complete the 40 quarters, that goes well when the IO considered the support needed. If he has 40 quarters he does not need a sponsor to meet those requirements 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

38 minutes ago, swapdude said:

 

 

Looks like I-130 and then waiting through the normal process makes sense. I'd apply for expedition to see if anything happens. The wait times recently are unprecedented. 

 

Filling I-130 should not make it difficult to travel on a visitor visa right? The two intents are still conflicting. 

Actually some people have been reporting extremely fast approvals of parent IR5 petitions recently. The main problem is the ban on the visas. 

 

No one can say for sure. It will be up to CBP to decide on entry. If they see any sign that he is intending to stay and adjust from a tourist visa they will probably refuse him entry. If he can show reasonable evidence that he will return to India after a temporary stay they will probably allow him in. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[Crazy Cat 41,881]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

Actually some people have been reporting extremely fast approvals of parent IR5 petitions recently.

Do i remember correctly that someone reported an approval in just a couple days?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

11 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Do i remember correctly that someone reported an approval in just a couple days?

Yup, for one parent, and I think the other parent had been a few weeks. Super fast.

[SalishSea 17,833]

6 hours ago, swapdude said:

Apologize. I have no intent of committing any fraud here. Just trying to understand the best path forward for my dad. 

 

Again, no intention to do anything wrong. Just trying to understand my option better. He has all intentions of permanently moving as opposed to frequently traveling. 

 

Looks like I-130 and then waiting through the normal process makes sense. I'd apply for expedition to see if anything happens. The wait times recently are unprecedented. 

 

Filling I-130 should not make it difficult to travel on a visitor visa right? The two intents are still conflicting. 

Yes, the wait times are long, and you should also know that this visa category is currently banned, so the backups will compound in the foreseeable future.

 

That said, please do not entertain the notion of bringing him over to try and adjust on a tourist visa.  This is absolutely fraudulent and only serves to hurt legitimate travelers from India.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Here is the thread with very recent very fast approval of i130s for parents 

 

 

[Orangesapples 1,954]

59 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Here is the thread with very recent very fast approval of i130s for parents 

 

 

It looks like it was just one very lucky person. Are there more people having their own petitions get approved so quickly? 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

32 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

It looks like it was just one very lucky person. Are there more people having their own petitions get approved so quickly? 

Two separate petitions for that person, one a couple of days but one a few weeks, so both very fast by historical standards. I have seen a few others talking of a few months for IR petitions rather than the year or so that had been common (and seen 8 months or so for F2s which had previously usually been 18 months- 2 years), so it seems Covid actually freed up time at uscis for significantly faster approvals. A few months is all OP needs considering the ban makes anything sooner impractical anyway. If it were me I’d file ASAP anyway because who knows what happens next.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

38 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

It looks like it was just one very lucky person. Are there more people having their own petitions get approved so quickly? 

Here’s another pretty quick one vs history 

 

On 5/9/2020 at 7:05 AM, AudiRS6 said:

Applied for both parents on 2/11, got approval for mom on 5/6 (Nebraska), received NVC email on 5/9, and completed AOS & IV payments on 5/9. Still waiting on dad's.

There are a few threads on parent filings that people can browse if they want to see other reports.