Question about bringing my brother

[carlos7 3]

Howdy!

 

My brother is thinking about coming to the US to study and after to work. He is under 21 so before I even see if it is an option for my brother to come to the US I have a couple questions that I couldn't find anywhere.

If my brother comes to the US with an F-1 visa and then once here I file for the i-130. Knowing that he falls under category F4 how long would it take before he can apply for a green card. I found two completely opposite answers so I am not sure. The fist one is that the i-130 takes 10 years, the other answer that I found was that takes less than a year to just to get approved the i-130.

The other question is, if he comes to the US and gets the green card because my mother asks for him, since he is under 21, will the green card be base on my mother, meaning if my mother leaves the US for more than 6 months my brothers green card will get revoked as well?

 

Thank you so much for the help and Happy Sunday!

[aaron2020 11,651]

If you are a US citizen, it would take about 14 years for your brother to be eligible for an immigration visa or to be eligible to adjust status.  USCIS approving the I-130 is only the first step in the immigration process.  In the F4 category, USC petitioning a sibling, your brother would need to wait for his Priority Date to become current before he's eligible for an immigration benefit.  Furthermore, in order to adjust status in 14 years, your brother would need to be in status; meaning if he overstays his visa, he will not be eligible to adjust status.  

 

Once your brother has a green card, it doesn't matter what his petitioner does.  If his petitioner leaves the US forever, he still gets to keep his green card.  

Is your mother a USC or green card holder?  Are you just thinking about petitioning for her so she can petition for your brother?  What's your brother's exact age?  

[carlos7 3]

Hi Aaron, we are looking into being able to have my brother come over here to study and potentially stay here in the states. He is currently 17 years old and another idea i had was to try to petition my mother so she can petition my brother.

[Boiler 45,519]

Does she want to migrate?

 

Probably take a year or two for her to move what sort of timeline is your brother looking at?

[SalishSea 17,833]

36 minutes ago, carlos7 said:

Hi Aaron, we are looking into being able to have my brother come over here to study and potentially stay here in the states. He is currently 17 years old and another idea i had was to try to petition my mother so she can petition my brother.

He won't be able to come to stay.  Student visas are non-immigrant, and there will not be a family preference visa available to him for the 14 years.

[aaron2020 11,651]

4 hours ago, carlos7 said:

Hi Aaron, we are looking into being able to have my brother come over here to study and potentially stay here in the states. He is currently 17 years old and another idea i had was to try to petition my mother so she can petition my brother.

To get a student visa, your brother would need to be accepted at a school, show he has money to pay for tuition and living expenses, and show that he has a home outside the US that he intends to return to when he finishes his education; meaning he must have non-immigrant intent.  Wanting to potentially stay here would be a quick denial of a student visa.

If you petition your mother, it would take 12-24 months.  Once she is a green card holder, it would take another 18-24 months for your brother to immigrate.  Is your mother willing to live in the US for 2 years or more?  

Edited May 10, 2021 by aaron2020

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

6 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

 

If you petition your mother, it would take 12-24 months.  Once she is a green card holder, it would take another 18-24 months for your brother to immigrate.  Is your mother willing to live in the US for 2 years or more?  

...could even possibly be more like 7 years, if he ages out of F2A during this process, in which case he might have to leave the US in the interim anyway after his student visas run out.

[carmel34 3,633]

12 hours ago, carlos7 said:

My brother is thinking about coming to the US to study

In addition to the non-immigrant requirement of an F-1 visa, with evidence that he will go back to his home country after completing his degree, a big challenge, for some, an even bigger challenge, is the cost of tuition and fees, books, supplies, housing, food, for foreign students in the US, even at public colleges and universities the annual cost can easily be $20,000 - $30,000 per year or more, so for a four-year degree he'll need $120,000.  Does your brother have that kind of money?  And keep in mind, that if you "sponsor" him by helping pay for tuition, and subsidize his housing if he lives with you, that will show immigrant intent and make it nearly impossible to get an F-1 visa.  Even if your mother immigrates and files a petition for her son to immigrate later, that will take three years or more.  Good luck!

[carlos7 3]

Thank you guys, so the avenue of coming with a visa and then ask for him and wait for the i-130 to get approve is out of the picture.

The only option would be to ask for my mother and then my mother ask for my brother.

My mother is ok with staying in the US for more than 6 months every year.

Since he is under 21 (17 years old) is it about the same waiting time (18 to 24 months) for him to be able to come to the US? 

We would be looking at a process of 4 years from beginning to end correct?

In reference to the timeline, which would be the fastest? Asking for the green card or citizenship for my mother? Since I am worried about my brother aging out during the process.

[aaron2020 11,651]

2 minutes ago, carlos7 said:

Thank you guys, so the avenue of coming with a visa and then ask for him and wait for the i-130 to get approve is out of the picture.

The only option would be to ask for my mother and then my mother ask for my brother.

My mother is ok with staying in the US for more than 6 months every year.

Since he is under 21 (17 years old) is it about the same waiting time (18 to 24 months) for him to be able to come to the US? 

We would be looking at a process of 4 years from beginning to end correct?

In reference to the timeline, which would be the fastest? Asking for the green card or citizenship for my mother? Since I am worried about my brother aging out during the process.

A green card is not for visiting the US.  Your mother must actually live here and file US taxes, etc. to maintain her green card.

Four years would be a good estimate.  

The potential problem is your brother aging out when he turns 21.  It's taking a while for US consular posts to issue visas in IR5 cases because of COVID and Trump's ban which has created a backlog in processing theses cases.  Furthermore, while the F2a category is current right now, it doesn't mean that it will be that way in 4 years.  There is the risk that your brother would age out into the F2b category where it would take your mother about 7 years to petition for him.  To avoid this as much as possible, you should file immediately for your mother. Then prepare to have your LPR mother submit a petition for your brother on the day she immigrates to the US.  

[Boiler 45,519]

Just 17 or nearly 18 could be a critical difference.

[carlos7 3]

In order to maintain the green card she has to spend more than 181 days in the US and of course file taxes. He will be 17 in November, but I can not file for my mother yet because I am still waiting for my N-400 interview...When i complete my interview i will file for her.

What about the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)? I was reading that it applies to children under 21 unmarried that is under a i-130 process, from what i read he would be protected and still be considered under 21 if the filing takes too long. 

[Boiler 45,519]

So he is 16

 

You need to naturalise not be interviewed

 

She will not be a 

 

USC

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, carlos7 said:

In order to maintain the green card she has to spend more than 181 days in the US and of course file taxes. He will be 17 in November, but I can not file for my mother yet because I am still waiting for my N-400 interview...When i complete my interview i will file for her.

What about the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)? I was reading that it applies to children under 21 unmarried that is under a i-130 process, from what i read he would be protected and still be considered under 21 if the filing takes too long. 

The protection is equivalent to the amount of time it takes uscis to process the petition. If F2A is still current all those years down the line, he will be protected as long as he is under 21 when it is filed. However, if it reverts to a priority date required to be current, as is more normal, then it is a guessing game right now as to whether or not he ends up protected. 

How long ago did you apply n400 and what FO are you at?

[carlos7 3]

2 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

The protection is equivalent to the amount of time it takes uscis to process the petition. If F2A is still current all those years down the line, he will be protected as long as he is under 21 when it is filed. However, if it reverts to a priority date required to be current, as is more normal, then it is a guessing game right now as to whether or not he ends up protected. 

How long ago did you apply n400 and what FO are you at?

Ok I understand. 

From the USCIS website it says it been around since 2002 so hopefully with COVID they extend it for a couple more years.

I applied back in December of 2020, they reused my fingerprints, so all I am doing is waiting for the interview and I will go from there.

West Palm, FL is my FO, on the uscis website the estimate time is 9 to 14.5 months and in my specific case it gave me July 2021 as when I would be done, but for some reason now it says your N-400 personalized processing time is down for maintenance. So all I can do is wait at this point. 

Thank you guys for all the help.