Immigration Corner | Should my mother upgrade my filing?

Good day Mrs. Walker-Huntington:

My mother filed for me (unmarried child over 21) in March 2018. She was a green card holder at the time. She recently became a US citizen. Does she need to notify USCIS that she became a citizen? And if she shifts my category from F2B to F1, would she need to file an I-130 for my daughter who was a derivative beneficiary in my case? Also, I recently had a child in the US, will that affect my F2B case?

I patiently await your response.

CS

Dear CS:

You did not indicate if you were living in the United States undocumented, or if you are residing outside of the US.

If you are in the US undocumented and are over 21 years old, your mother would not be able to adjust your status. You would need to have an immigrant visa interview outside the US, and you would require a provisional waiver before leaving the US to waive your unlawful presence and subsequent departure.

However, if you are living outside the United States you would proceed with consular processing of your immigrant visa. The F2B category – is the over 21-year-old, unmarried son/daughter of a Green Card holder and the F1 visa category is the over 21-year-old, unmarried son/daughter of a US citizen.

In March 2026, the Visa Bulletin issued by the US Department of State indicates that visas are available in the F2B category for persons with a priority date earlier than December 1, 2016, and in the F1 category for persons who were filed for prior to November 8, 2016. This timeframe varies and is the longest I can recall seeing in the more than 27 years that I have been practising law. The wait times in the preference categories can increase or decrease each month. Also from this month’s bulletin, you can see that it really does not matter much if your petition is upgraded from F2B to F1 – that is a matter of choice.

A grandmother cannot file for a grandchild. That grandchild if under age 21 when the visa is being processed and subject to the Child Status Protection Act – continues to remain a derivative of the parent’s visa application.

Having a child in the US is not unlawful, but if a non-immigrant receives public (Medicaid) funds to facilitate their medical expenses, it is a violation of a non-immigrant visa because the non-immigrant is deemed a public charge. The public charge issue is open to debate under the current administration and may factor in at the time of the immigrant visa interview – although it never was a concern in the immigrant visa context.

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 mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com