Step-son issues and I-130

[KevinNelson]

I just realized my step-son turns 21 this coming May. I was planning to file the I-130 in a few weeks for my wife only. He is half-way through his third year of university studies. We were not planning to include him right now for the purposes of immigration; we were planning on just getting my wife her green card.

 

So, now I am faced with a situation. Do I have to include my step-son in the process? Or can he be left, as originally planned, in China, to finish his studies?

[Randy W]

I just realized my step-son turns 21 this coming May. I was planning to file the I-130 in a few weeks for my wife only. He is half-way through his third year of university studies. We were not planning to include him right now for the purposes of immigration; we were planning on just getting my wife her green card.

 

So, now I am faced with a situation. Do I have to include my step-son in the process? Or can he be left, as originally planned, in China, to finish his studies?

 

 

If I can read between the lines a little bit here - if your plan is to bring him to the U.S. when he graduates in June, 2016, you may wish to file a petition for him before his 21st birthday in May. Basically, you need to preserve his status by filing an I-130 for him before he becomes 21 years old.

 

That assumes that you were married before he turned 18 - he is not considered your "child for immigration purposes" otherwise. But if not, if she arrives in the U.S. before May, she can petition for a class F2A child of a permanent resident - see the Visa Bulletin

 

If you wish to file AFTER that date, your wife will have to petition for him. As an over-21 child of an LPR, the process will take much longer.

 

No, he does not have to be included in your wife's process.

[dnoblett]

There is no derivative visa for step child, a separate visa petition needs to be filed for step child.

 

Yes, the Key is how old stepson was when you married his mother, the critical age is 18.

 

• If stepson was less than age 18 when you married his mother, you can file an I-130 for stepson before age 21
• If stepson was age 18 or older at the time of marriage, then your wife needs to file the I-130 after she has immigrated to the USA and has green-card status.

[newacct]

 

That assumes that you were married before he turned 18 - he is not considered your "child for immigration purposes" otherwise. But if not, if she arrives in the U.S. before May, she can petition for a class F2A child of a permanent resident - see the Visa Bulletin

But even if she does that, it will soon get converted to F2B, when he turns 21 (even adjustment by CSPA won't help because the petition approval time will still be shorter than the visa number wait time), because there is ~2 year wait for F2A.

[dnoblett]

 

 

That assumes that you were married before he turned 18 - he is not considered your "child for immigration purposes" otherwise. But if not, if she arrives in the U.S. before May, she can petition for a class F2A child of a permanent resident - see the Visa Bulletin

But even if she does that, it will soon get converted to F2B, when he turns 21 (even adjustment by CSPA won't help because the petition approval time will still be shorter than the visa number wait time), because there is ~2 year wait for F2A.

 

You may want to check out Marc & Rosie's F2A timeline for daughter, turned out much shorter than estimate, and daughter did not seem to age out.

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46179-uscis-says-i-130-approved/