Immigration Corner | Can I still travel with my family?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I am 23 years old and just received news that my case has been submitted to the US Embassy and I am to attend an interview at the end of the year. However, upon further review I realised that my family did not pay my IV fee, which has resulted in me not having access to the DS-260 application form or being able to submit my civil documents in order to attend the interview.

When finally looking at my case, I realised that nothing at all was done for me. I wanted to know if it is possible to change my status from ‘Follow later’ to ‘accompany’ and, also, if I’ll be able to pay those fees and submit my documents on the day of the interview?

Please, I am in desperate need of assistance as time is against me.

Your respectfully,

ZB

Dear ZB,

If you did not pay your immigrant visa fee and complete the visa application (DS260), have an Affidavit of Support submitted on your behalf and produce civil documents (including a police record), you would not be scheduled for an immigrant visa interview.

It appears that you might not be a direct beneficiary but a derivative beneficiary (the son/daughter of the direct beneficiary). If the portal was not opened for you to pay the visa fee and do all the steps outlined above, it is possible that you ‘aged out’ of the filing, meaning that you turned 21 years old during the process and are no longer considered a derivative beneficiary. I would not be able to tell you that casually, a calculation based on the Child Status Protection Act would have to be done to see your age for ‘immigration purposes’.

It is also possible that the primary/direct beneficiary may have opted not to have you processed at the same time they were being processed, but instead ‘follow to join’. If that is the case and you wish to have your case processed at the same time, it may be too late for that now as the beneficiary is already scheduled for an interview. You cannot pay your visa fee at the time of the interview – that would need to be done to facilitate the ‘portal’ being opened to allow you to submit your visa application and civil documents. However, the petitioner or primary beneficiary could try to contact the US Embassy – Immigrant Visa Section, to see if they would accommodate your visa processing now, in conjunction with the National Visa Section, and schedule your interview at the same time as the direct beneficiary. This would only be possible if you are still qualified for the immigrant visa.

Even if your appointment is not at the same time as the primary beneficiary, if you are successful in being granted the immigrant visa you could still travel with the primary beneficiary to the United States. Once the immigrant visa is approved at the US Embassy, most persons are given six months to wrap up their business and migrate.

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