Immigration Site

I am 10-year US green card holder. I would like to petition for my son who is in the US illegal. He came in the US when he was 13 with tourist visa. Now he is 16. I would like to know can I still file the petition I-130 for my son? I still have 4 more years to become US citizen. Do you know how long it will take to petition for my son.

I have look into the Visa Bulletin and my case should be in F2A category. So the cut-off date is Jan 2010. I dont know what thats mean.

Please help me. I am in dire situation.

Thanks

You should know that he is not eligible for an I-485, and must get his visa via consular processing. If he is still illegal after 18 he starts accumulating time towards the 3/10-year re-entry bars.

Check the visa bulletin for a rough idea of how long it will take. Why did you wait 3 years?

Thank you for replying to me. I just got my green card 1 year ago. Both my son and I came to the US under tourist visa. However, I got green card because my older son who is US Citizen petition for me. And I think because my older son is US Citizen, so my illegal status is forgiven when we applying for the Green Card.

Back to the question, what if my younger son who is 16 right now leave the US before he turns 18. Can I still apply for I-130 and get his visa via consular processing? I check the visa bulletin and the wait times for his category (F2A) is 8 months. I believe that if he leaves the country before 18, his illegal status will be forgiven as well.

Thank you for replying to me. I just got my green card 1 year ago. Both my son and I came to the US under tourist visa. However, I got green card because my older son who is US Citizen petition for me. And I think because my older son is US Citizen, so my illegal status is forgiven when we applying for the Green Card.

Back to the question, what if my younger son who is 16 right now leave the US before he turns 18. Can I still apply for I-130 and get his visa via consular processing? I check the visa bulletin and the wait times for his category (F2A) is 8 months. I believe that if he leaves the country before 18, his illegal status will be forgiven as well.

This is what you should do, your younger son can leave the US before he turns 18 yrs, his illegal status wont affect his green card application in the future. You can file for his I-130 now, and indicate consular processing. You should actually have filed for him the moment you got your green card, so that his priority date could be cooking in the USCIS pot while hes still here. However, all is not lost and just make sure he leaves before turning 18 years of age, I hope you clearly understand this issue. This is very important or it will affect his chances a great deal. Also, HE CANT GET HIS GREEN CARD IN THE US NOW, because he violated HIS initial tourist visa, consular processing is the only hope.