Ways to get green card for sister quicker

[quistarrok 51]

Hi Community - 

 

Hope all is well.

 

Here is a situation. I am a USC. I have a sister (>21 yo). I understand that I can sponsor her by filing I-130 under the F4 category, which is currently at ~18 years wait time. Another way - could be sponsoring my mom first and then my mom can sponsor sister (her daughter) under F2B category which is currently at 8 years wait time. But my sister is married. Does this disqualify her from the F2B category? What if she divorces - will she qualify for F2B then, and will F2B provide her < 21-year-old children with a green card as well? For my mom (once she gets a green card) to sponsor her daughter - does mom have to be in the US for the entire time of her daughter's green card process? 

 

Is my math fair below for each scenario for SISTER?:

 

F4: 18 years to wait for the visa to become available + ~1.5 years to get consular processing/come to the US. All in ~20 years.

 

F2B: 2 years to get a green card for mom + 8 years for immigrant visa to become available for sister + ~1.5 years to get consular processing/come to the US. All in ~12 years.

 

I hope for detailed advice. Thank you.

 

[Boiler 45,443]

Those timelines are looking backwards.

 

Which Country was your sister born in.

 

How old are her children

 

US Citizens can sponsor married children not Green Card holders,

[appleblossom 2,438]

15 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Hi Community - 

 

Hope all is well.

 

Here is a situation. I am a USC. I have a sister (>21 yo). I understand that I can sponsor her by filing I-130 under the F4 category, which is currently at ~18 years wait time. Another way - could be sponsoring my mom first and then my mom can sponsor sister (her daughter) under F2B category which is currently at 8 years wait time. But my sister is married. Does this disqualify her from the F2B category? What if she divorces - will she qualify for F2B then, and will F2B provide her < 21-year-old children with a green card as well? For my mom (once she gets a green card) to sponsor her daughter - does mom have to be in the US for the entire time of her daughter's green card process? 

 

Is my math fair below for each scenario for SISTER?:

 

F4: 18 years to wait for the visa to become available + ~1.5 years to get consular processing/come to the US. All in ~20 years.

 

F2B: 2 years to get a green card for mom + 8 years for immigrant visa to become available for sister + ~1.5 years to get consular processing/come to the US. All in ~12 years.

 

I hope for detailed advice. Thank you.

 

 

I think your maths is off because you're using the current processing time and assume it will be the same going forward, but it's likely to be much longer. For example, F4 category is currently at June 2007. Two years ago (March 2022), it was at March 2007. So it's only moved 3 months in 2 years and therefore the wait times are likely to be MUCH longer than those who applied back in 2007. 

 

Yes, your sister cannot be sponsored by your mother now if she's married. The only way for your mother to sponsor her is for her to become a citizen first. Yes, your sister could qualify under F2B if she is divorced (genuinely divorced - she couldn't then remarry and try to sponsor her spouse!), whether her children would get a visa or not will depend on if they age out of the category. How old are they now?

 

So realistically, you're looking at 8 years or so for your mother to become a citizen if she's not even got her GC yet , then current wait time for F1 category is current 9 years - but again, assuming it isn't going to be linear (that category has only moved 2 months in 2 years), I'd guess at maybe 25 years in total.

 

For you to sponsor her, I'd guess much longer than 18 years unfortunately. But the best thing to do would be for you to petition for her asap, get her place in the line. And then for your mother to do the same whenever she's able to. Both of you can petition her no problem, and then it's just a case of who gets there first.

 

Does she have any other route to a visa? Specialist skills that would mean she would get an employer to sponsor her perhaps? DV Lottery?

 

 

Edited March 12 by appleblossom

[SalishSea 17,801]

2 hours ago, quistarrok said:

Hi Community - 

 

Hope all is well.

 

Here is a situation. I am a USC. I have a sister (>21 yo). I understand that I can sponsor her by filing I-130 under the F4 category, which is currently at ~18 years wait time. Another way - could be sponsoring my mom first and then my mom can sponsor sister (her daughter) under F2B category which is currently at 8 years wait time. But my sister is married. Does this disqualify her from the F2B category? What if she divorces - will she qualify for F2B then, and will F2B provide her < 21-year-old children with a green card as well? For my mom (once she gets a green card) to sponsor her daughter - does mom have to be in the US for the entire time of her daughter's green card process? 

 

Is my math fair below for each scenario for SISTER?:

 

F4: 18 years to wait for the visa to become available + ~1.5 years to get consular processing/come to the US. All in ~20 years.

 

F2B: 2 years to get a green card for mom + 8 years for immigrant visa to become available for sister + ~1.5 years to get consular processing/come to the US. All in ~12 years.

 

I hope for detailed advice. Thank you.

 

You are grasping at straws here.   There are no loopholes to the wait times, which are only getting longer due to the sheer volumes of petitions filed.

[quistarrok 51]

2 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

I think your maths is off because you're using the current processing time and assume it will be the same going forward, but it's likely to be much longer. For example, F4 category is currently at June 2007. Two years ago (March 2022), it was at March 2007. So it's only moved 3 months in 2 years and therefore the wait times are likely to be MUCH longer than those who applied back in 2007. 

 

Yes, your sister cannot be sponsored by your mother now if she's married. The only way for your mother to sponsor her is for her to become a citizen first. Yes, your sister could qualify under F2B if she is divorced (genuinely divorced - she couldn't then remarry and try to sponsor her spouse!), whether her children would get a visa or not will depend on if they age out of the category. How old are they now?

 

So realistically, you're looking at 8 years or so for your mother to become a citizen if she's not even got her GC yet , then current wait time for F1 category is current 9 years - but again, assuming it isn't going to be linear (that category has only moved 2 months in 2 years), I'd guess at maybe 25 years in total.

 

For you to sponsor her, I'd guess much longer than 18 years unfortunately. But the best thing to do would be for you to petition for her asap, get her place in the line. And then for your mother to do the same whenever she's able to. Both of you can petition her no problem, and then it's just a case of who gets there first.

 

Does she have any other route to a visa? Specialist skills that would mean she would get an employer to sponsor her perhaps? DV Lottery?

 

 

Thank you very much for your advice. Sister's kids are 23 and 17 now. She has applied for the DV lottery every year for the past 10+ years. No luck yet. She is an entrepreneur. I know she can do an investor visa, but she does not have the funds available.

 

Separately - once I file I-130 - will I need to do fingerprints or biometrics at the USCIS location?

[appleblossom 2,438]

8 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you very much for your advice. Sister's kids are 23 and 17 now. She has applied for the DV lottery every year for the past 10+ years. No luck yet. She is an entrepreneur. I know she can do an investor visa, but she does not have the funds available.

 

Separately - once I file I-130 - will I need to do fingerprints or biometrics at the USCIS location?

 

OK, so kids won't be getting visas through you/your Mom then, they'll have aged out either way. 

 

If she has her own business then L1, or E2 maybe? Depends on if she could invest in a business in the US and how many staff she has though, but worth looking at.

 

You don't need to do fingerprints or biometrics at all, you're the petitioner. 

Edited March 12 by appleblossom

[Boiler 45,443]

10 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

OK, so kids won't be getting visas through you/your Mom then, they'll have aged out either way. 

 

If she has her own business then L1, or E2 maybe? Depends on if she could invest in a business in the US and how many staff she has though, but worth looking at.

 

You don't need to do fingerprints or biometrics at all, you're the petitioner. 

Entrepreneur covers many things, I could use it along with influencer etc. Seems money is an issue.

 

And of course E2 depends on Country. 

[appleblossom 2,438]

11 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Entrepreneur covers many things, I could use it along with influencer etc. Seems money is an issue.

 

And of course E2 depends on Country. 

 

Yes, just chucking out suggestions for her to look at, they'll need to work out themselves what she may be eligible for (if anything) and then perhaps speak to a lawyer to confirm. 

[Redro 4,611]

55 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you very much for your advice. Sister's kids are 23 and 17 now. She has applied for the DV lottery every year for the past 10+ years. No luck yet. She is an entrepreneur. I know she can do an investor visa, but she does not have the funds available.

 

Separately - once I file I-130 - will I need to do fingerprints or biometrics at the USCIS location?

Are the kids interested in moving to the US? If either kid is interested in studying in the US, that’s another avenue… have kids study in the US… Maybe if they like it they can stay pursue a GC through employment and once citizens they can sponsor mom and dad. 
Otherwise mom should keep on playing the lottery and maybe maximize her finances and apply for entrepreneur GC. 

Edited March 12 by Redro

[quistarrok 51]

9 minutes ago, Redro said:

Are the kids interested in moving to the US? If either kid is interested in studying in the US, that’s another avenue… have kids study in the US… Maybe if they like it they can stay pursue a GC through employment and once citizens they can sponsor mom and dad. 
Otherwise mom should keep on playing the lottery and maybe maximize her finances and apply for entrepreneur GC. 

Thank you. Yes, both kids will likely try to pursue education in the US via F1 visa. What are green card categories for entrepreneurs?

Edited March 12 by quistarrok

[Boiler 45,443]

EB5 gets you a Greencard

[quistarrok 51]

27 minutes ago, Boiler said:

EB5 gets you a Greencard

Thanks. In Form I-130 for consular processing, it says that the US embassy outside the beneficiary's country of residence may not accept/process an immigrant visa. My sister currently lives in a country different from the one where the US embassy is. Should this be a concern? 

[appleblossom 2,438]

1 minute ago, quistarrok said:

Thanks. In Form I-130 for consular processing, it says that the US embassy outside the beneficiary's country of residence may not accept/process an immigrant visa. My sister currently lives in a country different from the one where the US embassy is. Should this be a concern? 

 

Nope. If she's resident elsewhere, the consulate will usually accept the case.Too soon to worry about details like that anyway - if she has no other route other than through you, who knows where she'll be living in a few decades anyway.

 

Where is she from?

[appleblossom 2,438]

35 minutes ago, quistarrok said:

Thank you. Yes, both kids will likely try to pursue education in the US via F1 visa. What are green card categories for entrepreneurs?

 

EB1A or EB2 NIW are the self sponsored employment based categories, or EB5 for investment, but that's a huge amount of money ($1.8M IRRC).

[Boiler 45,443]

EB2 NIW is very popular.