Can I delay I-485 after I-130 approval?

[scyg-2000 1]

Hi, 

 

My parent is not in US now but they hold B visa. For some their personal reason they cannot come to US till some time in 2023. I plan to apply green card for them. Considering the uncertainty of I-130 approval time, I'd like to submit the i-130 right now. The ideal situation is that the i-130 got approved, they use their B visa to enter US then we file I-485 at that time. 

 

I don't have full confidence of the plan as I don't know the answer of these questions:

- If I-130 approval is faster than I expected and they are not able to enter US at that time, will that be a problem to file i-485 after a while? say, a few months until they arrive US?

- Once I-130 approved, can they use their B visa to enter US? Or they have to follow the consular process instead of i-485 status adjustment? 

- Is there any other things that I may missed? 

 

Thank you in advance. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

You do realize that what you are proposing is contrary to immigration law, right? Just let them do consular processing and come in properly once they have an immigrant visa,

[JeanneAdil 6,498]

u need to understand the process 

File I 130 outside the US 

she may hold a tourist visa but a CBP officer may not allow her into the US as they  would assume immigrant intent when they pull up the info on computer

 

if  I 130 is approved u do not file I 485 as she is not adjusting her status here

 

If u plan for her to come on the tourist visa and to file I 485 ,  that is fraud and when she is at the POE the CBP will ask about this

Don't take any chances

file the I 130 and go thru the legal process to 

[scyg-2000 1]

Ah, thanks for the reply, no I did not realize it's contrary to the immigration law. So it seems I should just follow the consular process. Thanks. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

If she only wants to come in 2023 that doesn’t even delay anything either. Suggest you file now, most processing centers are somewhere between 8-14 months to process i130 for parent  (average seems around a year), then add a few months for NVC process plus interview schedule. 

[JoJoJoJo 170]

Must the parents apply for the immigrant visa as soon as I130 is approved according to the current law?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 hours ago, JoJoJoJo said:

Must the parents apply for the immigrant visa as soon as I130 is approved according to the current law?

Nothing on your side happens “as soon as the i130 is approved”. It then goes to NVC. On current timeframes https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html it takes NVC a couple weeks to create a case, then they will request documents from you, then it takes them (again,  currently) around 2.5 months to process those documents after you have submitted those (you can delay submission of these a bit to slow down if you want to). Then it gets sent to the embassy and puts in the queue for an appointment. Depending on the embassy, that could be weeks or months before she gets an appointment. Then she has a visa valid for up to 6 months. 

[scyg-2000 1]

1 minute ago, SusieQQQ said:

Nothing on your side happens “as soon as the i130 is approved”. It then goes to NVC. On current timeframes https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html it takes NVC a couple weeks to create a case, then they will request documents from you, then it takes them (again,  currently) around 2.5 months to process those documents after you have submitted those (you can delay submission of these a bit to slow down if you want to). Then it gets sent to the embassy and puts in the queue for an appointment. Depending on the embassy, that could be weeks or months before she gets an appointment. Then she has a visa valid for up to 6 months. 

Thank you, this is really helpful. 

[Redro 4,611]

11 hours ago, JoJoJoJo said:

Must the parents apply for the immigrant visa as soon as I130 is approved according to the current law?

They have 1 year from I-130 approval to submit the DS260. 

You can read this thread for some tips on delaying the case at NVC stage:

One should also be aware of DQ to interview for the country you interview out of. 

Maybe in 2-3 years the backlog for most countries will clear. 

But, these days people (out of Pakistan, Uganda, Nigeria and maybe Australia) are waiting up to 18 months for interview after DQ. 

[Redro 4,611]

13 hours ago, scyg-2000 said:

Hi, 

 

My parent is not in US now but they hold B visa. For some their personal reason they cannot come to US till some time in 2023. I plan to apply green card for them. Considering the uncertainty of I-130 approval time, I'd like to submit the i-130 right now. The ideal situation is that the i-130 got approved, they use their B visa to enter US then we file I-485 at that time. 

 

I don't have full confidence of the plan as I don't know the answer of these questions:

- If I-130 approval is faster than I expected and they are not able to enter US at that time, will that be a problem to file i-485 after a while? say, a few months until they arrive US?

- Once I-130 approved, can they use their B visa to enter US? Or they have to follow the consular process instead of i-485 status adjustment? 

- Is there any other things that I may missed? 

 

Thank you in advance. 

Please fill out your profile... if we know the country your parents are from. We can tell you when could possibly receive the IV from the consulate. 

[scyg-2000 1]

5 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

Please fill out your profile... if we know the country your parents are from. We can tell you when could possibly receive the IV from the consulate. 

My parents are from China, I am living in Seattle area. I tried to query the processing time on USCIS website but the time of processing i-130 is very different based on different USCIS center. Appreciate if you can share any data points of the processing time. 

s 

[Redro 4,611]

Just now, scyg-2000 said:

My parents are from China, I am living in Seattle area. I tried to query the processing time on USCIS website but the time of processing i-130 is very different based on different USCIS center. Appreciate if you can share any data points of the processing time. 

s 

Have you filed an I-130?

Processing times differ depending on the service center you are sent to but I would plan for 12 months. 

If the I-130 is approved before they are ready to move you can delay the process at NVC stage. 

Check the awesome post @seekingthetruth made. I linked above.

The NVC stage without delay is currently taking 76 days... then your parents will wait for DQ and interview. 

There aren't a lot of IR5 cases coming out of China but most recent interview from VJ vaults happened May 2021.

Case was complete at NVC June 2020... But, we should remember this was during corona.

 

You should also be aware of the rumors coming out of China.

With the frequent lockdowns happening. Depending on when your parents are scheduled for interview. They might not be able to leave their city or the country. 

[scyg-2000 1]

11 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

Have you filed an I-130?

Processing times differ depending on the service center you are sent to but I would plan for 12 months. 

If the I-130 is approved before they are ready to move you can delay the process at NVC stage. 

Check the awesome post @seekingthetruth made. I linked above.

The NVC stage without delay is currently taking 76 days... then your parents will wait for DQ and interview. 

There aren't a lot of IR5 cases coming out of China but most recent interview from VJ vaults happened May 2021.

Case was complete at NVC June 2020... But, we should remember this was during corona.

 

You should also be aware of the rumors coming out of China.

With the frequent lockdowns happening. Depending on when your parents are scheduled for interview. They might not be able to leave their city or the country. 

Thank you so much for the detailed information. I am preparing the I-130 and have not submitted it. The post above is really really helpful!

 

Yes, we are aware of the risk, but it's completely out of our control so I guess I can just start the process anyway.

 

Side question, during the I-130 processing time (or after approval), can my parent enter  US for short period of time using their B visa?

[Redro 4,611]

6 minutes ago, scyg-2000 said:

Thank you so much for the detailed information. I am preparing the I-130 and have not submitted it. The post above is really really helpful!

 

Yes, we are aware of the risk, but it's completely out of our control so I guess I can just start the process anyway.

 

Side question, during the I-130 processing time (or after approval), can my parent enter  US for short period of time using their B visa?

Yep! 

They can visit. But, being admitted to the US is never guaranteed... 

This is a sticky for spousal visas. 

But, as long as your parents have strong ties to China and plan on returning after their visit they should be fine. 

You can also read posts in the Tourist Visa Forum to read current experiences of people with pending I-130s visiting the US. 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by ROK2USA