Should I switch from an F4 to an F3 case to reduce the waiting time?

[Michael Le 0]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been sponsoring my brother under an F4 case for the past seven years. I also sponsored my mother at the same time. Now that my mother has U.S. citizenship, I’ve heard that the F3 case has a waiting time of 12 to 15 years. Can I switch to having my mother sponsor my brother and carry over the 7 years of waiting to the new case?

[appleblossom 2,173]

4 minutes ago, Michael Le said:

Hi everyone,

I’ve been sponsoring my brother under an F4 case for the past seven years. I also sponsored my mother at the same time. Now that my mother has U.S. citizenship, I’ve heard that the F3 case has a waiting time of 12 to 15 years. Can I switch to having my mother sponsor my brother and carry over the 7 years of waiting to the new case?

It would be a new case and the waiting starts from scratch. So either way it’ll be 15+ years before he’s eligible for a visa. 
 

But it would be sensible for your mother to petition him as well, two petitions so you always have one as back up is always a good idea if you can. 

[Michael Le 0]

16 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

It would be a new case and the waiting starts from scratch. So either way it’ll be 15+ years before he’s eligible for a visa. 
 

But it would be sensible for your mother to petition him as well, two petitions so you always have one as back up is always a good idea if you can. 

I was told that 6 years ago, when my mother still had a green card, she and I could have sponsored my brother with a shorter waiting period of around 12 years, instead of only me sponsoring my brother. I’m not certain if that’s true.

[Boiler 45,099]

3 minutes ago, Michael Le said:

I was told that 6 years ago, when my mother still had a green card, she and I could have sponsored my brother with a shorter waiting period of around 12 years, instead of only me sponsoring my brother. I’m not certain if that’s true.

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

 

On the basis of current numbers you application should come first but no harm in having 2 I 130's running.

[appleblossom 2,173]

13 minutes ago, Michael Le said:

I was told that 6 years ago, when my mother still had a green card, she and I could have sponsored my brother with a shorter waiting period of around 12 years, instead of only me sponsoring my brother. I’m not certain if that’s true.

Depends if he was married or not. Green card holders can only sponsor unmarried children. If he wasn’t married then yes, she could have petitioned him too. 

[SalishSea 17,619]

4 hours ago, Michael Le said:

Hi everyone,

I’ve been sponsoring my brother under an F4 case for the past seven years. I also sponsored my mother at the same time. Now that my mother has U.S. citizenship, I’ve heard that the F3 case has a waiting time of 12 to 15 years. Can I switch to having my mother sponsor my brother and carry over the 7 years of waiting to the new case?

Filing another petition in a different category does not "reset" the wait time, if that's what you mean.  Like others are saying, it is not a bad idea to have two petitions in the works, but either way he has years to wait.