K4: Green Card for Sister and Her Family

[quistarrok 51]

Hello - I am a US citizen. I aim to apply for green card for my sister. She has a husband, a son (age below 21) and a daughter (age above 21). 
 

Question: can I apply for green card for all of them? If not (specifically - daughter who is above 21 yo) - do I need to file only one I-130 or each family member has its own I-130? A bit confused. 
 

Also waiting time for F4 category is more than 14 years now. By that time the son will be way older than 21 yo. Will he still get the green card?

 

Thank you. 

Edited February 27 by quistarrok

[appleblossom 2,437]

7 hours ago, quistarrok said:

Hello - I am a US citizen. I aim to apply for green card for my sister. She has a husband, a son (age below 21) and a daughter (age above 21). 
 

Question: can I apply for green card for all of them? If not (specifically - daughter who is above 21 yo) - do I need to file only one I-130 or each family member has its own I-130? A bit confused. 
 

Also waiting time for F4 category is more than 14 years now. By that time the son will be way older than 21 yo. Will he still get the green card?

 

Thank you. 

You file one I-130. Both the children will have aged out.
 

You’re looking at far longer than 14 years - if you look at the Visa Bulletin you’ll see that it’s currently at May 2007 (meaning those who applied nearly 17 years ago only now have visas available to them), but go back a couple of years and look at the bulletin from February 2022. You’ll see that it was at March 2007 for that category, so has only moved forward 2 months in 2 years. At that rate it’ll be at least 25 years before they can get a visa. 
 

But all you can do is file and see what happens. If your sister or her husband have any other route to a visa (i.e. employment), they be wise to explore that. 

Edited February 27 by appleblossom

[Dashinka 24,479]

I agree with @appleblossom, but would add if they are in a country that is open, they can look at the diversity visa.

 

Good Luck!

[quistarrok 51]

4 hours ago, appleblossom said:

You file one I-130. Both the children will have aged out.
 

You’re looking at far longer than 14 years - if you look at the Visa Bulletin you’ll see that it’s currently at May 2007 (meaning those who applied nearly 17 years ago only now have visas available to them), but go back a couple of years and look at the bulletin from February 2022. You’ll see that it was at March 2007 for that category, so has only moved forward 2 months in 2 years. At that rate it’ll be at least 25 years before they can get a visa. 
 

But all you can do is file and see what happens. If your sister or her husband have any other route to a visa (i.e. employment), they be wise to explore that. 

Thank you. 
 

For children: to ensure I understand correctly, does a child have to be <21 yo at time the visa becomes available or a child needs to be <21 at time of filing I-130? To clarify: nephew is 17 and niece is 24. Understand that niece is not eligible. But what about nephew who is 17 now?

 

Also please remind me: do I file I-130 first only or I file both I-130 and I-485 simultaneously? I frankly forgot how I did it for myself long time ago. 

Edited February 27 by quistarrok

[appleblossom 2,437]

7 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you. 
 

For children: to ensure I understand correctly, does a child have to be <21 yo at time the visa becomes available or a child needs to be <21 at time of filing I-130? To clarify: nephew is 17 and niece is 24. Understand that niece is not eligible. But what about nephew who is 17 now?

 

Also please remind me: do I file I-130 first only or I file both I-130 and I-485 simultaneously? I frankly forgot how I did it for myself long time ago. 

 

It's more complex than that - child must be under 21 by the time the visa is available, but there is the CPSA which can sometimes help. But it won't in this case, as it will just take too long. So both of the children will definitely have aged out by the time a visa is available.

 

Just I-130. I-485 isn't relevant for your sister. 

 

Good luck.

Edited February 27 by appleblossom

[quistarrok 51]

30 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

It's more complex than that - child must be under 21 by the time the visa is available, but there is the CPSA which can sometimes help. But it won't in this case, as it will just take too long. So both of the children will definitely have aged out by the time a visa is available.

 

Just I-130. I-485 isn't relevant for your sister. 

 

Good luck.

Thank you. Which option: consular or “in the US” processing is preferred and/faster? Sister and her family are outside of the US. Understood, one can change between the two in the future but will it cause additional delay? 

Edited February 27 by quistarrok

[Crazy Cat 41,806]

14 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you. Which option: consular or “in the US” processing is preferred and/faster? Sister and her family are outside of the US. Understood, one can change between the two in the future but will it cause additional delay? 

The ONLY option is consular processing.  

[SalishSea 17,801]

8 hours ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you. Which option: consular or “in the US” processing is preferred and/faster? Sister and her family are outside of the US. Understood, one can change between the two in the future but will it cause additional delay? 

Incorrect.  There is no way they could ever adjust status within the US.  They'd have to be in status for like 25 years.

[quistarrok 51]

9 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

The ONLY option is consular processing.  

Thank you. 
 

What about I-130 for parents (father and mother)? Understood their 1st priority and visas are available. 

[OldUser 6,603]

4 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you. 
 

What about I-130 for parents (father and mother)? Understood their 1st priority and visas are available. 

Yes, it's possible for them. But immigrant visa might be easier for them. AOS means they cannot leave the US for 6-18 months (depending how long GC takes and whether Advance Parole is approved and when). Also it only works if they're in the US already. They cannot come with intent of adjusting as this is fraud.

Edited February 28 by OldUser

[quistarrok 51]

57 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Yes, it's possible for them. But immigrant visa might be easier for them. AOS means they cannot leave the US for 6-18 months (depending how long GC takes and whether Advance Parole is approved and when). Also it only works if they're in the US already. They cannot come with intent of adjusting as this is fraud.

Thank you. To ensure I get it: what form do I need to fill out aside from I-130 - is it still I-485 for consular processing i.e. immigration visa? Asking as I did I-485 for myself while being in the US all time. I am not aware of how it is done through consular processing. Thank you again. 

[OldUser 6,603]

6 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you. To ensure I get it: what form do I need to fill out aside from I-130 - is it still I-485 for consular processing i.e. immigration visa? Asking as I did I-485 for myself while being in the US all time. I am not aware of how it is done through consular processing. Thank you again. 

For consular processing you do not need I-485, nor I-131 / I-765

 

You certainly need I-130 and I-864. There may be few other forms for which you can follow Spousal Visa (CR-1) guide on VJ. The forms are going to be pretty much the same.

Edited February 28 by OldUser

[quistarrok 51]

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

For consular processing you do not need I-485, nor I-131 / I-765

 

You certainly need I-130 and I-864. There may be few other forms for which you can follow Spousal Visa (CR-1) guide on VJ. The forms are going to be pretty much the same.

Thank you. I am sponsoring not a spouse but sister and parents. So wondering what form do I need to file for them to “adjust the status” if they do consular processing. 

[OldUser 6,603]

Just now, quistarrok said:

Thank you. I am sponsoring not a spouse but sister and parents. So wondering what form do I need to file for them to “adjust the status” if they do consular processing. 

Adjustment of status and consular processing are two different routes of getting green card.

 

Adjustment of status is only for people who are already in the US and have visa available.

 

Consular processing is for people outside of the US.

 

 

Since your parents are outside of the US they cannot adjust status, they can go through consular processing route.

 

That route doesn't have I-485, I-131 and I-765 forms.

[Dashinka 24,479]

 

6 hours ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you. To ensure I get it: what form do I need to fill out aside from I-130 - is it still I-485 for consular processing i.e. immigration visa? Asking as I did I-485 for myself while being in the US all time. I am not aware of how it is done through consular processing. Thank you again. 

This may be helpful.

 

Good Luck!