Immigration Corner | Can my 18-year-old daughter file for me?

Dear Mrs Walker Huntington,

The purpose of this email is to ask for your help. My daughter lives in the United States and would like to file for me to go to America. However, she is only 18 years old.

I was recently told by a family friend that my daughter could start the filing process before she turns 21 as her (family friend’s) stepdaughter started the filing process for her mom, and she is 19 years old.

I wanted to know if this is possible and what I would need to do to get started.

Also, I want you to know that I love what you are doing ... you are doing excellent work! I read your articles all the time so continue to do what you are doing.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

NW

Dear NW

Thank you for being a regular reader of this Gleaner column, it is truly appreciated.

Only an over 21-year-old citizen of the United States can petition for their parent to migrate to America. No one under 21 years of age can file for their parents. A person can file a petition – as in your friend’s daughter who is 19 years old, but that petition will not be approved. If by chance it is erroneously approved by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, it will be discovered along the pipeline. And, if by some miracle the beneficiary parent slips through and is given a green card – that green card is void and can be revoked at any time.

Persons eligible to file for family members are:

1. US citizens: spouses, children (under 21 years old), sons/daughters (over 21 years old) – married and unmarried; parents and siblings (must be 21 years old)

2. Green card holders: spouses, children (under 21), sons/daughters (over 21) – unmarried.

I am happy that you reached out via The Gleaner to clarify your situation because you would have wasted your filing fees. Your email indicating what a friend told you is indicative of people in our community who dispel immigration/legal advice without being competent to do so. This misinformation causes loss of financial resources and sometimes even permanently prevents persons from migrating or legally remaining in the United States.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com