How long does a Petition for Alien Relative I-130 take?

Question

My Parents are US Permanent Residents and would like to apply for me to become a US Resident too. I would like to know how long the entire procedure takes. I am 25 years old and unmarried. What are the requirements on my part? Do I need a certain level of education or work experience to qualify?

Answer 1

i have a family member that was in the same situation as you.. my aunt became  a permanent resident (she's not from philipines nor mexico) in late 2001. she submitted the I130 for her daughter 22 years old and unmarried on jan 2002 (class 2B- permanent resident sponsoring child over 21 an not married).  on december 2006, my aunt became a us citizen, and her status changed from 2B to 1 (us citizen sponsoring child over 21 and unmarried).  in jan 2008, my cousin's priority date became current.  my cousin submitted her I485 (adjustment of status form for the greencard) then, got her work visa (valid 1 year) and her travelling documents.....and now is awaiting her greencard interview, which will hopefully be soon...  my cousin, throughout all this, has been on a student visa (from bachelors degree and masters degree), and after graduating applied for the H1B visa (which she is on now awaiting the greencard interview).  since she has the work visa, she can actually find another job, but she wants to stay on the H1b until her grencard gets hopefully approved.

so assuming you're not from the philipines nor mexico, and  your parents just submitted the I-130, that would take about 3 years before you get a notice of approval or denial of the I130. (yeah, even submitting a I130 needs a decision)...so you will probably get that letter in 2011.  if it is approved, you'll get your "priority date", and after that is a waiting game.. as you just found out by the above answerer, class 2b takes a long time...

btw, by "priority date" it is the date immigration received your I130 application.  ( you will find out when you receive the notice that your I130 is approved.)

now if your parents pass the us citizenship test while waiting for your date to be current, then (assuming you're not from mexico nor philipines) that would take at least 6 years from the time you submitted your I130 until a visa number is available (like my cousin).  you will then submit all paperwork for adjustment of status...

get to know this website and check back monthly as they update...the dates on the first table you see when you scroll down is when the priority date is current and you're able to submit your adjustment of status applications.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bullet...

now let me warn you that immigration do not have to increase the date exponentially as you check monthly.. they can stay on one date for monthsssssss or they can retrogress...

and btw, your requirements on your part (if you're in the us already) is to stay legal by any means..like on a student visa or some sort of working visa....you don't have to be on any educational nor work experience level...

let me add one more thing for you information...if the parent that is sponsoring you passes away during this process, unfortunately your visa will also be revoked...

good luck!

Answer 2

Well, if your parents file a petition for you at this point, your petition would fall under the F2b family preference category. Those have quite a wait before they are valid for use. For most nationalities  the priority date for F2b petitions is now 15 September 1999, or about a 9 year wait. This means that only petitions in this category filed on or before that date are valid for use. However, it's 2 years longer for Filipinos and 7 years longer for Mexican citizens. If you were to marry during this time while you were waiting, you would lose your eligibility and the petition would be revoked, unless your filing parent became a US citizen before you married. That would change your visa classification class and the priority date as well. Unlike other countries like Canada and Australia, the US doesn't care what your educational level is on family visas, or even if you can read or write. Same for work experience. Either you are the son of your parents or not. that's all that matters.