I-130 questions

[pthan]

Hello
I am a US citizen and want to file for my brother to become a permanent resident.
so I submitted I-130 back in 2019 and received a letter confirm that they received my application with the payment.
now, I would like to know what to do next.
someone says I should wait for I-130 to be approval then file for I-485.
someone says I can go-ahead and file for I-485 right away no need to wait for I-130 approval.
please advise
Thanks

[newacct]

Those are both wrong. You need to wait until a visa number is available, or close to being available, for his category and priority date, before he can proceed to the next steps. For family-based categories, the priority date is the date when the I-130 was filed. Siblings of US citizens are in the F4 category. According to next month's Visa bulletin F4 category visa numbers are now available for petitions filed in Dec 2006, i.e. 14.5 years ago (or even earlier for people born in India, Mexico, or the Philippines). So, if the backlog remains constant, that means a visa number will be available for your brother's petition around 2033 or 2034 (or later if he was born in India, Mexico, or the Philippines). Of course the length of the wait will change over time so this guess may be off by a few years.

The I-130 will likely be approved in the next few years, but the I-130 approval doesn't allow him to do anything -- he still must wait another decade until a visa number is available, before he can do either Adjustment of Status in the US (if he is in the US and in status at that time) or Consular Processing abroad (otherwise). It is very unlikely that he will happen to be in the US and in status when his visa number becomes available, so most likely he will do Consular Processing. I-485 is the form for Adjustment of Status; Consular Processing does not involve I-485.

If your brother is unmarried and will remain unmarried for a few years, and you have a parent who would like to live in the US, another way would be for you to petition your parent to immigrate first -- they would be in the Immediate Relative category with no wait for visa numbers, so they can immigrate in a year or two. And then as soon as your parent enters the US, they would petition your brother, as an unmarried child of a permanent resident. I don't know how old your brother is. An unmarried under-21 child of a permanent resident is in the F2A category with currently no wait for visa numbers. An unmarried over-21 child of a permanent resident is in the F2B category with currently currently a 6-year wait for visa numbers (longer for people born in Mexico or the Philippines).

[pthan]

Thank you so much "newacct" for your advice.
so now my next step would be to wait for visa number to become available , could be about 13 years from now.
and uscis will notify me when the number is available and they will let me know if i need to file for I485 at that time or not.

[newacct]

Like I said, your brother is unlikely to be in the US and in status 13 years from now, so he will likely do Consular Processing, which does not involve I-485. As long as you selected a consulate for Consular Processing on the I-130 you filed, you just wait for NVC to notify the two of you regarding what materials they need at that time. Nobody will notify him to file I-485.

If your brother happens to be in the US and in status 13 (or however many) years from now when a visa number becomes available, he can file I-485 himself without waiting to be notified.

[pthan]

newacct, you just gave me another idea. It seems like my mother who has green card can apply I-130 for her son too?
I thought only us citizens can do.
Would it be any different between green card holders and us citizens petition my brother?

[newacct]

newacct, you just gave me another idea. It seems like my mother who has green card can apply I-130 for her son too?
I thought only us citizens can do.
Would it be any different between green card holders and us citizens petition my brother?

One of the main differences is that citizens can petition married and unmarried children, whereas permanent residents can only petition unmarried children. So under this route, your brother would have to be unmarried, and remain unmarried until he gets his green card.

[pthan]

So mom with green card can petition for unmarried son regardless of his age ?
do you know how long with it take ?

how long mom with US citizenship can petition for her children?

can mom with green card petition for her widow son including his 2 kids ?

thanks so much

[newacct]

Yes, widowed or divorced is unmarried. (He just can't marry again during the process.) Yes, a permanent resident can petition for unmarried child regardless of age. The wait for unmarried child of citizen is not much different from unmarried child of permanent resident (in fact, sometimes, the unmarried over-21 child of citizen category is actually slightly slower than the unmarried over-21 child of permanent resident category). How old is he and what country was he born in?

[pthan]

He is 45 and was born in Bangkok Thailand. He has 2 kids. His wife was recenly passed away. I am a US citizen and planing on petition my 76 year old mom then she could petition my brother.

[newacct]

You can look at the Visa bulletin https://www.immihelp.com/june-2021-visa-bulletin/
to estimate the wait. Unmarried over-21 child of permanent resident is in the F2B category. Currently visa numbers are available in F2B, for people born in countries other than Mexico or the Philippines, for petitions that were filed about 6 years ago. Unmarried over-21 child of citizen is in the F1 category. Currently visa numbers are available in F1, for people born in countries other than Mexico or the Philippines, for petitions that were filed about 6.5 years ago. It's hard to predict how many years it will be until a visa number is available for a petition filed now, but this gives you an idea. Keep in mind that your mom can only petition your brother after your mom immigrates, so there's a year or two before the petition for your brother can be filed. Also, your mom would have to live in the US and stay a permanent resident for those years until your brother immigrates. Also, you can pursue both routes (both you petitioning your brother directly and your mom petitioning him) to be safe, if you are okay with the extra filing fee. Someone can be the beneficiary of multiple petitions and they do not conflict.