Bringing Siblings to the US, please help

[Mastarain 0]

Hello,

My wife will be a US citizen (thru me, a US citizen) soon and she has a brother (age 17) and sister (age 13) that she wants to bring along with her parents. My question is, which is the best way to bring them? Apply for her siblings and parents at the same time and wait? Or apply for parents first, have them come, and then apply for their children? I am under the impression that the latter is more efficient since sponsoring for siblings takes a lot longer. Another question is, does it take the same time frame to bring US citizen's siblings no matter what age they are (under or over 21)? And how long does it take for LPRs to bring their children, since my wife's parent's will be LPRs once they immigrate?

Thanks a lot to any advice.

[YuAndDan 153]

Best thing to do is petition for the parents, and when the parents enter the country the parentents imediatly petition for their own children.

US Citizen petitioning for a parent gets an immediate visa number as part of the Unlimited visa class.

US Citizen petitioning for sibling, has to wait A LONG TIME for a visa number for siblings as Family fourth class, talking up to 20 years is some cases.

Parent LPR petitioning for child gets Family second class and the wait time is much shorter.

In either case it will be some time before siblings will be able to immigrate.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/ty...types_1306.html

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin...letin_1360.html

[Dakine 26]

Best thing to do is petition for the parents, and when the parents enter the country the parentents imediatly petition for their own children.

US Citizen petitioning for a parent gets an immediate visa number as part of the Unlimited visa class.

US Citizen petitioning for sibling, has to wait A LONG TIME for a visa number for siblings as Family fourth class, talking up to 20 years is some cases.

Parent LPR petitioning for child gets Family second class and the wait time is much shorter.

In either case it will be some time before siblings will be able to immigrate.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/ty...types_1306.html

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin...letin_1360.html

Dan "hit the nail on the head".

Also as you can see it's better if the children don't marry.

[Mastarain 0]

Thank you both. One other thing is that if her parents come and apply for her siblings, do they take into account the children's ages at the time of application, time of receiving the visa, or time of entry to the USA? This is because her brother might become over 21 in regards to the processing dates listed here: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/Processtim...eviceCenter=VSC

Thanks again.

[YuAndDan 153]

Thank you both. One other thing is that if her parents come and apply for her siblings, do they take into account the children's ages at the time of application, time of receiving the visa, or time of entry to the USA? This is because her brother might become over 21 in regards to the processing dates listed here: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/Processtim...eviceCenter=VSC

Thanks again.

PER DOS age of children of LPR doesn't matter, marital status of the children does cause a problem.

Family Second Preference (F2): Spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (over age 20) of lawful permanent residents.

Minor children = under 20, and if older than 20 they have to be un-married.

If married then things become longer, parents have to first naturalize (5 years after they get LPR status) and then file I-130 and the married children will get F-3 status. Again A LONG TIME.

Family Third Preference (F3): Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and children.

Edited October 22, 2007 by YuAndDan

[Mastarain 0]

Thank you both. One other thing is that if her parents come and apply for her siblings, do they take into account the children's ages at the time of application, time of receiving the visa, or time of entry to the USA? This is because her brother might become over 21 in regards to the processing dates listed here: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/Processtim...eviceCenter=VSC

Thanks again.

PER DOS age of children of LPR doesn't matter, marital status of the children does cause a problem.

Family Second Preference (F2): Spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (over age 20) of lawful permanent residents.

Minor children = under 20, and if older than 20 they have to be un-married.

If married then things become longer, parents have to first naturalize (5 years after they get LPR status) and then file I-130 and the married children will get F-3 status. Again A LONG TIME.

Family Third Preference (F3): Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and children.

Thanks, but looking at the processing dates here for bangladesh, it does matter, http://dhaka.usembassy.gov/current_priority_dates.html

Since unmarried sons/daughters of LPR get less priority than children of LPR. I am assuming that they mean under 20 when they say "children." Please let me know what you think.

[YuAndDan 153]

Thanks, but looking at the processing dates here for bangladesh, it does matter, http://dhaka.usembassy.gov/current_priority_dates.html

Since unmarried sons/daughters of LPR get less priority than children of LPR. I am assuming that they mean under 20 when they say "children." Please let me know what you think.

You got it correct, the consulate breaks the F-2 class up into two different priority classes (F2a and F2b)

[Mastarain 0]

Thanks, but looking at the processing dates here for bangladesh, it does matter, http://dhaka.usembassy.gov/current_priority_dates.html

Since unmarried sons/daughters of LPR get less priority than children of LPR. I am assuming that they mean under 20 when they say "children." Please let me know what you think.

You got it correct, the consulate breaks the F-2 class up into two different priority classes (F2a and F2b)

So returning to my question of whether the age of the siblings is counted at the time or filing the application or at the time of receiving the visa? This makes a big difference according to the dates here http://dhaka.usembassy.gov/current_priority_dates.html

Thanks

[jula 0]

So returning to my question of whether the age of the siblings is counted at the time or filing the application or at the time of receiving the visa? This makes a big difference according to the dates here http://dhaka.usembassy.gov/current_priority_dates.html

Thanks

Cut off age for F2A is 21. Whether is one in F2A or F2B category is determined by a formula:

age for immigration = age at the time priority date becomes current - (minus) the time I-130 had been pending

If one is 22 at the time visa becomes available, but I-130 had been pending (approval date - filing date) for 2 years, category is F2A. If I-130 had been pending for less than a year, category is F2B. This is a situation where you want USCIS NOT to approve I-130 fast.