Filed I-130 for an over 21 as a sibling - should I have my father refile?

[mozplay 29]

Hi.. I filed with a receipt date of July 5, 2016 for my brother and his wife. They are both over 21 and they are both in the UK.  My parents were not citizens yet, and my mother has since died.  My father did gain his citizenship in 2022 though.  When I filed, I thought it was 7-9 years or so until processing was complete.  Turns out I was wrong. In all my years of submitting paperwork for visas, I did not know about the visa bulletins (my K1, AOS and then citizenship and then my parents I-130 visas and father's citizenship )- I always came here for timeline discussions.  Now I'm hearing that it takes more like 15-20 years.  The bulletin that someone linked to, sates that as of September 2023, they are completing F4 I-130 petitions from April of 2007 - so a 16 year wait, which would mean that if all things stay the same, then my petition for my brother won't see the light of day until at least 2032. 

 

Would it be better to have my father send in a new petition for my brother instead?  Do I have to repeal my I-130 in order to do that or can I just change the category (F4 to F3)?  And I don't mean to sound morbid, but what if my father dies before my brother's I-130 gets approved? 

 

I can't seem to find processing times for any of these things on the USCIS processing times website/page.  It all says "See Notes". And if I enter the receipt date on the USCIS processing times page under "When can I ask about my case?", the message that pops up is that I can't ask before July 14, 2029. So is that their anticipated processing date for the F4 I-130?  I think that is a parent filing for a married child is a F3 visa. Are they really processing 14 years out as well?  Heck!  I don't even know if I'm reading the bulletin right!  This is what I'm looking at.  https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/family-preference-cut-off-dates/Cut-off_Dates_Worldwide_Online_FY23.pdf
 

Thanks for any help you guys can give. I thought I was a real pro at all of this stuff, lol, but so much time has passed that now I feel like a total newbie. 

[Boiler 45,442]

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2025/visa-bulletin-for-october-2024.html

 

Here is the latest Bulletin, it does not progress month for month.

 

Yes your Father can file for them under F3 and see what comes first, where was your Brother born?

 

 

[appleblossom 2,437]

1 hour ago, mozplay said:

 

so a 16 year wait, which would mean that if all things stay the same, then my petition for my brother won't see the light of day until at least 2032. 

 

 

Sorry to say but it won't stay the same - as @Boiler said, it's not linear. The current date on this month's Visa Bulletin is August 2007 for F4 applicants, but if you go back 2 years to the September 2022 bulletin you'll see the date then was March 2007, so it's only moved 5 months in 2 years. 

 

The I-130 being approved isn't necessarily helpful as there's still a long wait until a visa becomes available, so I wouldn't worry about that - and in fact you want it to take as long as possible if your brother has children.

 

You can't change the category of your petition, but your father can file a new one. It would be very sensible for him to, there's no problem having two in the system at the same time from different people. Yes, F3's that were filed 14.5 years ago only now have a visa available to them. But again, that's not linear so I'd expect that to take longer if you're just filing one now. 

 

Put bluntly, through either you or your father, your brother is probably at least 15 years away from a visa. So if there is any other route available to him, i.e. employment, I'd suggest you explores that if he wants to move sooner rather than later. 

 

Good luck.

[mozplay 29]

On 9/30/2024 at 9:50 PM, appleblossom said:

 

Sorry to say but it won't stay the same - as @Boiler said, it's not linear. The current date on this month's Visa Bulletin is August 2007 for F4 applicants, but if you go back 2 years to the September 2022 bulletin you'll see the date then was March 2007, so it's only moved 5 months in 2 years. 

 

The I-130 being approved isn't necessarily helpful as there's still a long wait until a visa becomes available, so I wouldn't worry about that - and in fact you want it to take as long as possible if your brother has children.

 

You can't change the category of your petition, but your father can file a new one. It would be very sensible for him to, there's no problem having two in the system at the same time from different people. Yes, F3's that were filed 14.5 years ago only now have a visa available to them. But again, that's not linear so I'd expect that to take longer if you're just filing one now. 

 

Put bluntly, through either you or your father, your brother is probably at least 15 years away from a visa. So if there is any other route available to him, i.e. employment, I'd suggest you explores that if he wants to move sooner rather than later. 

 

Good luck.

Thank you very much for your reply.  It answers a lot of questions.

 

On 9/30/2024 at 9:41 PM, Boiler said:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2025/visa-bulletin-for-october-2024.html

 

Here is the latest Bulletin, it does not progress month for month.

 

Yes your Father can file for them under F3 and see what comes first, where was your Brother born?

 

 

Thanks for the reply.  My brother was born in Trinidad and Tobago but is living in the UK with a UK passport.