How long does it take to petition my father to come to the US to live?

Question

How long does it take to petition my father to come to the US to live?

Answer 1

The I-130 Petition is allocated. I think Immediate Family applications are limited to 65,000 annually. I've read on these boards that some visa applications being in the works for 10 years. In short, the government has clamped down on legal immigration and doesn't know what to do with illegal immigration. Preference goes to children of Residents.

Answer 2

The time depends on many factors. Are you a citizen or a green card holder?

Answer 3

Can you even do that?  I don't think that works anymore.

Answer 4

If you're a US citizen, you can file an I-130 immigrant visa petition immediately, in the IR-5. If you're not a US citizen, you won't be able to file. There are no numerical limitations on IR or immediate relative petitions. That's why they don't have priority dates unlike Family Preference petitions that are limited in number. The petition itself is valid for use once it's approved by USCIS, but  it takes them 6 months or more to process the petition and then send it over to the National Visa Center, where it goes through several months more processing and then on to the embassy overseas. Figure 8-12 months altogether. Check out uscis.gov for the forms and more information.