Get my son a visa to USA

[Gwfilam 5]

Hello.  We are former K1 visa applicants that brought a K2 to the USA from the Philippines but didn’t bring our son as K2 because he was already 21.  It’s been three years since we married in July of 2019.  He’s listed as a son on the i129f form.  How do we get him a visa now and how long would this take to get him here?  He isn’t married. Sorry we’re sort of out of the loop now.  Mom is a permanent resident now and will be citizenship eligible in September of 2022.  Thanks

[SalishSea 17,969]

6 minutes ago, Gwfilam said:

Hello.  We are former K1 visa applicants that brought a K2 to the USA from the Philippines but didn’t bring our son as K2 because he was already 21.  It’s been three years since we married in July of 2019.  He’s listed as a son on the i129f form.  How do we get him a visa now and how long would this take to get him here?  He isn’t married. Sorry we’re sort of out of the loop now.  Mom is a permanent resident now and will be citizenship eligible in September of 2022.  Thanks

She can petition him as an unmarried child over 21.  AFAIK, she can petition him now, and then convert the petition when she becomes a citizen.

 

It will take a couple of years.

[Gwfilam 5]

Okay just petition as I-130?

 Might take 2 years from petition filing to visa granted?

 

 Thanks

[Boiler 45,730]

Just now, Gwfilam said:

Okay just petition as I-130?

 Might take 2 years from petition filing to visa granted?

 

 Thanks

More like 12, yes she petitions him.

 

Currently a few months quicker is she naturalises but that can change.

[Gwfilam 5]

Seriously 12 years?  We can’t seem to get a straight answer.  Can we call uscis to clarify? Thanks

[Boiler 45,730]

None of us are prescient and certainly USCIS isn't.

 

Might be longer, I think it a reasonable assumption.

[PaulaCJohnny 713]

45 minutes ago, Gwfilam said:

Seriously 12 years?  We can’t seem to get a straight answer.  Can we call uscis to clarify? Thanks

You can call all you want but they will answer you with the same information that is available online.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2022/visa-bulletin-for-july-2022.html

 

Here you can see the latest Visa Bulletin. The F1 visa is showing that they are processing cases from March of 2012 from the Philippines.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by PaulaCJohnny

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

If the mom will be eligible to file for citizenship in Sept 2022, she’s been a LPR for what, around  2.5  years already? Why didn’t she file for him as soon as she became a LPR and at least she would got a couple of years of the queue out the way?

 

1 hour ago, Gwfilam said:

Okay just petition as I-130?

 Might take 2 years from petition filing to visa granted?

 

 Thanks

Ok so, the issue here is not the same as K1 or CR1 where you get put in the visa queue as soon as the petition is approved.  Over 21 children (whether of LPRs (F2B) or citizens (F1)) are in “family preference” categories, and these are by law, limited by quota each year. But the queues are way, way longer than the quotas so there is a wait; and then for countries like the Philippines which have a large number of immigrants to the US, the queue is further constrained by the portion of immigration law that states that no country can take more than 7% of available immigrant visas in one year. This is why the wait in the visa bulletin that was posted above, is so long both in general and longer for Filipinos in particular. 
 

She can upgrade the petition from F2B to F1 when she becomes a citizen , but she can also choose to retain the F2B priority date - sometimes the relative moves in the queues make it a more advantageous date. A decision on that won’t need to be taken for years.

 

Also note to benefit from these categories he must remain unmarried. Once his mom becomes a citizen he won’t lose the petition if he marries, but he would move to the F3 (married children of citizens) category. As you can see in the post with the visa bulletin above, the wait for that is even longer - visas currently available only for those petitions filed some 20 years ago.

 

As an indication, the last numbers released (annual report, November last year) had:

F1: queue of 291645 with a quota 23400  per year per year

F2B: queue of 408591 with a quota of 26260 per year

F3: queue of 638590 with a quota 23400  per year per year

 

 

[Gwfilam 5]

Does it matter if he was under 21 when we did the i129f but in April of 2019 he turned 21.  Mothers K1 visa was issued in June 2019.

 We thought he could get his visa within a year of filing once his mother became a citizen?

 

12 years is way too long to ask him to wait.  We’ll be spending 6 months a year in the Philippines beginning in 2027.

 

 Thanks

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

4 hours ago, Gwfilam said:

Does it matter if he was under 21 when we did the i129f but in April of 2019 he turned 21.  Mothers K1 visa was issued in June 2019.

 We thought he could get his visa within a year of filing once his mother became a citizen?

 

12 years is way too long to ask him to wait.  We’ll be spending 6 months a year in the Philippines beginning in 2027.

 

 Thanks

No, unfortunately it doesn’t, either he was eligible to follow-to-join or not, if not he doesn’t get any benefit from what his age was at the time. His age at the time of filing the i130 is what matters.

 

Not sure where you got the information about waiting for citizenship then getting the visa in a year. She never had to wait beyond getting her green card to file, and it would never have been within a year (even before covid) once he turned 21.

 

My opinion, 12 years is long yes, but file it anyway. At least you/he will have the option in 12 years to decide if he wants to come.

Edited July 21, 2022 by SusieQQQ

[Gwfilam 5]

What if he marries?  After we file?

 

 Thanks

[Boiler 45,730]

If his mother has not naturalised the case is abandoned

 

If his mother has naturalised he moves to the F3 category.

[powerpuff 6,744]

25 minutes ago, Gwfilam said:

What if he marries?  After we file?

 

 Thanks

That was explained earlier by @SusieQQQ

 

8 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Also note to benefit from these categories he must remain unmarried. Once his mom becomes a citizen he won’t lose the petition if he marries, but he would move to the F3 (married children of citizens) category. As you can see in the post with the visa bulletin above, the wait for that is even longer - visas currently available only for those petitions filed some 20 years ago.

 

[Gwfilam 5]

This is very sad to learn. 🥲🥲🥲

 Could a lawyer get or K1 i129f looked at and adjusted to include him possibly?

 

 

[jan22 3,056]

44 minutes ago, Gwfilam said:

This is very sad to learn. 🥲🥲🥲

 Could a lawyer get or K1 i129f looked at and adjusted to include him possibly?

 

 

No.  You already stated that he was not qualified under that petition because he was already over 21 at the time of the vIsa interview.  He can't retroactively qualify for it now because you want him to be able to immigrate more quickly.  More to the point --  even if he qualified under the original I-129f petition, the "follow to join" provision for a K2 derivative is only valid for one year from the date the K-1 was issued.

Edited July 21, 2022 by jan22