Question of the Day

     The lawyers at the Law Offices of Bryan Pu-Folkes are ready to answer any of your immigration-related questions, concerns and/or worries. The latest question received was about an I-130 Alien Relative Petition filed by a father for his son.  Please read the question and answer below:

QUESTION
"Hello, well my dad is a legal Resident (not Citizen) and submitted the I-130 Alien Relative Petition. Today I got the paper saying that I’m approved but I'm [not] eligible for adjustment of status. Why? My dad did this with my older sister and her petition didn't have any limitations or priority date.  By the I-485 instructions I’m ok to apply, there’s no problem. What can I do?  I got a 203 (a) (2) (A) INA.  I'm from Colombia and my priority date is May, 02, 2011. I don’t understand what to do or why I have to wait to apply?"

ANSWER

Dear M.G.,

Thank you for writing the Law Office of Bryan Pu-Folkes.  Congratulations on the approved I-130, Alien Relative Petition. 

The status of the petitioner (in this case your father) and the beneficiary (in this case you) will impact how long it will take for the beneficiary to apply for lawful permanent status (a green card).  Since your father is a U.S. lawful permanent resident and you are a child the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services puts you into category Family 2A.  See our  Visa Dates site.  As you can see from looking at the chart they are currently processing the priority date January 8, 2009.  Based on the current visa bulletin and your priority date (May 2, 2011) you will have to wait  approximately two years or so before your priority date is current and you can apply for your green card.  You can visit our website from time to time to check the visa bulletin (http://www.pufolkeslaw.com/). 

I am not certain why your sister didn't have to wait to apply.  If your father applied as a lawful permanent resident for your sister then she would also have to wait for her priority date to be current - it may be that at the time your sister's I-130 petition was approved the priority date was already current.

Please note, if you get married prior to your visa becoming current or prior to receiving lawful permanent resident status, then your approved I-130 petition will be automatically revoked.  That is because there is no category for a married child of a lawful permanent resident.  Your father would have to resubmit a petition on your behalf after he naturalized and became a U.S. citizen.

If you have any other questions please feel free to write back at  http://bryanpufolkeslaw.blogspot.com/ and thanks again for writing!

Law Offices of Bryan Pu-Folkes
**Please be advised that this response does not form an attorney-client relationship.  Electronic mail and Internet-based communications may not be relied upon as legal advice, unless expressly stated as such. If your case is similar to the one above, please be aware that each case has different information that makes a case unique in its own way. Please seek legal help or email us your actual information for advice.***
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Bryan Pu-Folkes
Law Offices of Bryan Pu-Folkes
78-27 37th Avenue (Suite 4)
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
tel: 718-205-5353
fax: 718-205-5133
email: bryan@pufolkeslaw.com
web:   http://www.pufolkeslaw.com/

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