Permanent Residency (Green Card) application for Sister

[mbhatia]

Hello,

I am a US citizen and would like to file a Permanent Residency (Green Card) application for my sister. Appreciate if you could provide inputs on the following questions:

1) Is it OK to file the I-130 application on my own or should it be done via a lawyer?

2) What documents need to be submitted with the application?

3) Typically how long does the processingt take?

Tx,
Mbhatia.

[nkk]

Permanent Residency (Green Card) application for Sister

Hello Mbhatia,

You could apply using I-130 by yourself. You will require Birth certificate for you and your sister showing one parent's name. you can refer to your 10th /12th certificate that usually have father's name (recent ones now have mother's name as well) if you don't have this info on your 10th /12th board certificate then go to Municipal office and get one made from them.

provide all the necessary info. on the form and make sure you keep a copy of the same so you have a record of what you are submitting. double check her address/marriage dates (if applicable) names of children etc...

regarding the processing times go to uscis.gov > processing times tab
fyi...uscis is currently processing applications from February 11th 2010

[rayb]

NKK, MBHATIA,

You may be misinterpreting "processing time," petitions being approved by USCIS, with State Department Priority dates

A sibling petition is an application for an F4 visa. The current timeframes for F4 petitions (siblings) being eligible for visas are as folllows (per State Dept Visa Bulletin):

All except China India Mexico Philippines
F4 01OCT01 01OCT01 01OCT01 01NOV96 01JUL90

The soonest an F4 petition will be eligible for a visa is 01OCT01, i.e., 12 years.

--Ray B

You could apply using I-130 by yourself. You will require Birth certificate for you and your sister showing one parent's name. you can refer to your 10th /12th certificate that usually have father's name (recent ones now have mother's name as well) if you don't have this info on your 10th /12th board certificate then go to Municipal office and get one made from them.

provide all the necessary info. on the form and make sure you keep a copy of the same so you have a record of what you are submitting. double check her address/marriage dates (if applicable) names of children etc...

regarding the processing times go to uscis.gov > processing times tab
fyi...uscis is currently processing applications from February 11th 2010[/QUOTE]