Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

Hi, everyone, My name is Linda and I have a complicated situation, both personally and for my family as well.

I came from HK originally and our family flew to US legally but overstayed our visitor vistas. I was only 14 at the time and thus, as I just turned 31 earlier this year, I was able to apply and granted DACA as well as SSN number. My brother wasn't that luck as he is 34 years old this year and same goes with my older sister, which even worst for her as she has a mental illness and diabetic and can not support herself. And we all live in AZ. The even more complicated part is that she got involved with the law last year (she and I fought outside our condo and police was involved). Now she was exposed and had a pending immigration court case against her, which we hired an attorney for.

Meanwhile, my question is this. I am seeing a US citizen and likely will tie the knot early next year, so I wanted to find out if I can petition for my sister when my status changed to just resident? or do I have to wait until I become citizen? My mom (who is a widow as my dad passed away of a stroke years back) is considering marriage and we wonder if it would be faster for her to get the paper because she is much older (63 years old) and the spouse is America-Born US citizen (my bf was born in HK but got naturalized 10 years ago). And if it's is faster and easier for her to petition for my sister than myself?

And once last question, which is also very important , is that regardless of who this petition would come out of (myself vs my mother for my sister), during the petition, can my sister allow to apply and receive SSN or any paper? Right now as we live in AZ and given the immigration climates, she is not receiving any services at all and it's been very hard for us as family to try to provide for her.

I greatly appreciate any feedback in advance. Thank you, everyone!!!


Linda

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

You can only adjust your sister status after you have become a citizen and family petitions takes years. Best of luck Linda.

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

You can only petition for siblings if you are a citizen, and you can only get citizenship three years after you get a green card from that marriage. On top of that, the approximate wait time until an F4 family-based visa becomes available for Hongkong is 12 years. So, that's about 15 years at the minimum.

Your mom can help faster if she becomes an LPR. Right now the wait time for unmarried children of permanent residents from HK is about 7 years. Depending on the case against your sister, a good lawyer and a sympathetic judge might be able to drag it on for several years, until your sister can finally adjust status to LPR.

Your sister isn't entitled to receive anything until she can submit an adjustment of status application (I-485). She can't file to adjust status until your mom's I-130 petition on her behalf has been approved and a visa number becomes available (after about 7 years). Even when she eventually becomes LPR, IIRC she's not entitled to social security or medicaid until five years have lapsed from the beginning date of her LPR.

I'm sorry. Perhaps you would consider moving into a more immigrant-friendly state, like California, Illinois, Washington, etc.

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

One more thing: if your sister can prove her disability and illness that makes her unable to support herself, she can (with the help of a lawyer) ask for deferred action based on humanitarian grounds. This is the original deferred action, not DACA. USCIS is not inclined to deport a helpless person that has nobody in her home country. Just like DACA, if she's approved she can get EAD, which enables her to get SSN and state ID.

Oh wait, you're in Arizona and Brewer is not gonna let her get an ID. Scratch that one.

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

Sorry but I don' have good news. Consider yourself very lucky that you won the age lottery because your siblings have no shot unless the laws change. You also can't petition them until you're a citizen so if you get married next year, 3 years after that you can apply to be a citizen so in 4-5 years roughly, if everything goes as planned, you can petition them.

What does that mean? Currently it takes about 10-15 years from most countries not named the Philippines for a citizen sibling. At the current rate and current laws, it will take your siblings about 20 years then to get their green card. You should still file when you can though.

For me, I was petitioned for just before 2006 (which is considered my priority date) That was about 7-8 years ago. Right now, they are just now giving green cards to those who applied in August of 2001. I still have another 5 years (give or take) to wait. Maybe I'll have a life after that or maybe I'll get married after that (though with my personality I doubt if that will happen). It's a shitty system but that's how it is. Tell your siblings to hit the gym and get married. That's the only thing that wills save them if no law are passed.

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

Hmm, you said her mom(if she's a green card holder) can help her adjust status. My mom holds a green card. And i overstayed my visa 6 years ago. Can i adjust status or no?

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

After a second look, I realized that adjustment of status as adult unmarried sons/daughters of LPR is only available if they are still in status (the visa is still valid). Only citizens can adjust the status of their out-of-status adult sons & daughters.

How long has your mom been an LPR? She can file for citizenship after 5 years. If you're a Mexican the wait is about 20 years, 12 years for Filipinos and 7 years for the rest of the world. That sucks, but if you still want to move forward your mom can file the petition now and put you in line. When she becomes citizen several years later, she can upgrade the petition while still keeping your spot in the line. When your 'priority date' becomes 'current' you can then adjust status.

Take a look at the Visa Bulletin in my sig. Unmarried sons and daughters of citizens is family-based 1st preference, or F1 for short.

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

she became LPR(marriage), a year ago. SO that means there is no hope to adjust status if you're out of status(unless you get married or one of your parents becomes a citizen.)

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

Yes. It's not a bad idea to file the petition though. Think of it as sort of an insurance, if you find yourself unmarried a couple of decades from now at least you'd have a green card. The sooner you save a spot in line, the better.

Re: Complicated situation!!! Please help!!!
 

Unless the petitioner is a USC immediate relative to your sister, she will have to leave the country as current immigration laws stand. The issue then becomes re-entry and the possible 10-year ban. In your sister's case, the only immediate relative to her would be a spouse (or a child over 21).