appleblossom

No, they can't refuse her entry with a valid green card. As said above, she may get in without any issue, or she may be referred for an immigration hearing for a decision on her status. But either way she'll be allowed in to the country, she has a right to a hearing (whatever you do, make sure you tell her NOT to sign a I-407 if the officer suggests she should!). She should take evidence of why she had to be outside the US for so long, and any evidence she can possibly find of any ties to the US - even something as simple as her keeping her bank account open will help. If she doesn't want to lose her LPR status, just get her back on the earliest possible flight, then once she's in the country get her to start building evidence of the US being her permanent home. Good luck.

One other thing to add to the excellent advice above, do keep an eye on the wait for an interview at Montreal. They've caught up on the backlog now, but it's not that long ago that spouses were having to wait well over a year for an interview once DQ'ed. So just check on that occasionally in case it increases again and becomes a factor in your decision on when to push the button and apply for the visa. Good luck.

So she has a decision to make. She either goes back asap and hopes she can keep her LPR status, but commits to living in the US. Or if she doesn't want to live in the US, she forgets the idea, gives up her GC and pulls the petition for her son. Her call, but she'll need to decide quickly.

So why hasn’t she returned already if her mother passed away in 2025? She’s either playing with fire and risking her status, or she’s not bothered about returning to the US - either way that’s not good for your sibling if he wants to try and pursue the F2B. She needs to just get on a plane (URGENTLY) and enter the US. She’ll either be admitted without issue, or she’ll be referred for an immigration hearing. But the longer she leaves it, the more likely the latter is to happen.

That makes it even more odd that the new WH ballroom will be built using foreign steel. Why not pay an American firm for it instead?

Evidence of family sickness isn’t relevant, any expat will have that at some point but most don’t leave their new country for 3 years. No income at all anywhere in that 3 years? Not just no income in the US? When is she planning on moving back? She needs to get back urgently if she has already been out for 3 years and has no evidence at all of ties to the US - it doesn’t look like her move to India was temporary if she didn’t keep a home etc in the US. Has she taken any trips at all to the US during that time? Even short ones will help. If she loses her LPR status then your sibling will have to wait for the F4. So if your family want to still try for the F2B your mother needs to move back to the US as a matter of urgency and hope she’s let in to the US without any issues (then stay there!). Does she have Global Entry? I assume her GC is still valid?

That's Table A on the Visa Bulletin, but Table B is what matters for the NVC process. Hence the letter you've received.

Where is your mother right now, and if she's outside the US, does she intend to try and return anytime soon? Why didn't she file taxes, and what other ties did she keep to the US during that time to show her intention was to return permanently (i.e. a home, a car, etc)?

This forum is invaluable. But as said above, if you can follow basic instructions and have a straightforward case, there’s really no need to use a lawyer. The whole process is set out step by step on the government website and if you follow that and read it all super carefully, I’m sure you’ll be just fine. Have a read of it and see what you think - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition.html Good luck.

If you don’t have documents then it’ll usually have to be a DNA test. Make sure you hold your Mom’s case at NVC until your fathers I-130 is approved if they want to move together.

1. Physical attendance during term time yes, but that's only half the year. My children are both at college studying degrees overseas, they are there 6.5 months of the year and come back home for 5.5 months of the year during school breaks. So where was he during school breaks and how can you prove that? 2. Agreed, but that's not enough for you to obtain citizenship through him. 4. Photos don't help, he could have been visiting. How about sworn affidavits from your siblings stating he was there for a certain amount of time? The issue you've got is that he could have got citizenship with only 30 months physical presence, but then wouldn't have been able to pass his citizenship on to you. So you need to find stuff that shows he was unequivocally in the US for the 5 years required, and what you have so far doesn't seem to do that. Again, how did he get citizenship? He must have been a green card holder so how was that obtained, do you know? And for the 'certificate of movement', how much time in the US does that show? Just trying to help with picking holes in it so that you can fill them if needed!

Him doing a degree at US university doesn't show physical presence for the required time. He could have just been there for term time and living in Egypt the rest of the time. And naturalisation doesn't require 5 years of continuous presence either. It just needs 2.5 years of actual physical presence, and then the 5 years can be visiting every 6 months. So I don't think you have enough to show he was physically in the US for the required amount of time personally. Do you have anything else? Did he have a job whilst there? Medical records? Rental contracts? Affidavits from neighbours or similar? How did he actually get US citizenship? It's not clear from your post as you only mention him being a student in the US and nothing else?

Ah, sounds like that is the one that this all referring to - makes more sense now! The F4 petition is still at least a decade away from being current. So if the mother is in India, you'll need to inform NVC that that application isn't being pursued (or just ignore the notice, but I think I'd let them know). Then wait for the Welcome Letter for the F4 instead. Good luck.

Now I'm really confused. Is there a typo with the PD?

That's odd, as the Welcome Letter isn't usually sent until it's current on Table B. What is the PD and which country of birth?

Ok, your timeline says CR-1/IR-1 and you’ve also posted in that forum, hence the confusion!

If you're from one of the 75 banned countries then why did you think you'd be approved? You can't get a visa at the moment. Unless you have dual nationality? You're long past the I-130 if you've had your interview so that's not relevant now (but it's not 58 months for spouses anyway, just for the sake of anybody reading). The I-485 also isn't relevant to you if you've applied for a CR/IR-1 visa.

Or just that they prioritised other visa categories in April, such as immediate relatives, as they had more of those to get through. What is your PD? Please fill in your timeline.

Where are you filing it from? Where to send it depends on various factors, use this page to determine that - https://www.uscis.gov/forms/all-forms/direct-filing-addresses-for-form-i-360-immigrant-petition-for-amerasian-widower-or-special-immigrant Did you tick the box in Part 10 to say you’d want an EAD? And are you in the US now? Follow the instructions super carefully and step by step - https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-360instr.pdf And file with the recent policy changes in mind too - https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20251222-VAWASelf-Petitioners.pdf Best of luck to you.

I’d guess older than that if he’s got a 17 year old now. I have many friends with similar age kids who are in their mid-late 50’s already! If family based sponsorship is the only option and he’d be approaching retirement age by the time he gets a visa (with associated US healthcare costs), plus would have to leave his sons behind, he may decide it’s not worth moving at that point. But as you say, file it and see what the situation is when his turn rolls around.

Is your husband Egyptian? If so, does he have any other nationality? If not, just checking you’re aware he won’t be approved at the interview as Egypt is on the banned country list? I’m sure you are, but just wanted to check so you weren’t horribly disappointed on the day.

That's because spouses of USC's are immediate relatives, so always given priority and have no wait, unlike spouses and children of LPR's. Her PD isn't current yet either, it will be in the May bulletin - so another two weeks to go until a visa is available to her. I would still strongly suggest your husband applies asap for his US citizenship if possible, even once a visa is available to her and she's been DQ'ed it could make a BIG difference in the overall processing time. If you look at the current wait for an interview, for family preference categories it's 2.5 years, whereas for immediate relatives it's only 4 months. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/iv-wait-times.html Although of course, even then, she can't get a visa as Colombia is on the list of banned countries, but hopefully by the time she's in line for an interview that restriction will have been lifted. Good luck.

It's always been accurate from what I've seen, not sure why it wasn't accurate for the person you know - what category/consulate/PD/DQ date were they? Were you maybe looking at the immediate relative category instead? That was 2025 until recently and it's now 2026, it's much quicker than family preference.

Yes, of course. As advised above and in your previous threads, if he was a citizen then she'd be an immediate relative and so no wait for a visa number to become available.

Shouldn't be an issue at all. But he should also explore employment based sponsorship if he's a pilot - it may also mean his sons could come (with their mother's permission, if she's alive) if he went down that route rather than you petitioning him.