Immigration Corner | Can my petition be expedited?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

While it is well known that the F4 immigrant filing category (siblings) has the longest wait time, will there be any reduction to the wait time soon? I’ve read many things in the past about this category, including its possible discontinuation during the Trump presidency. I’ve even read that with the attempt by the US to clear visa backlogs, one can pay additional fees to expedite the filing process. Does the F4 category applies?

My spouse had her sibling, a US citizen, file a petition almost three years ago and we haven’t even as much as heard from the embassy that a petition has been submitted. Is there any improvement on the horizon? As it is, wait times are minimum 15 years; our child is seven years old.

Look forward to your response.

— Concerned

Dear Concerned,

The F4 sibling category takes such a long time because there are only a specific number of visas available each year and thousands more applicants. The United States Congress, by legislation, has set 65,000 visas to be made available yearly in the F4 preference category. The fact that visas are available in March 2023 for persons who were filed before March 22, 2007, indicates that hundreds of thousands of petitions are waiting in the line for a visa to become available.

The sibling category has been placed on the chopping block by politicians in the discussions on immigration overhaul for years. However, a US citizen can still file for a sibling, and anyone who is eligible for this benefit and wants to migrate should submit a petition.

There is no opportunity to pay to expedite a family petition. If, however, a visa is available for a beneficiary and there is a reason why the petitioner needs the beneficiary in America, there can be a request to expedite the interview at the US Embassy, i.e., the file would be placed at the head of the line for an interview. Likewise, if a petition is in a current category and there are valid reasons for it to be handled expeditiously, a request can be made for same with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the initial stage.

With your petition of three years, you should go to the USCIS website and check processing times for the specific processing centre to see how long they are taking to process the initial petition in the F4 sibling category. Your petitioner should have received a receipt notice (Notice of Action) acknowledging receipt of the filing.

Your seven-year-old may or may not be eligible for a visa once one becomes available, depending on his age at the time of availability. If he is over 21 years old when the visa is available, he would have to undergo a Child Status Protection Act calculation to determine if he could still be considered a child for immigration purposes.

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