bringing family members to US

[krystl5003]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? florida

I am a US citizen. My wife comes from Poland and has passed her citizenship test and will be taking her oath soon. Her mother(57) father(55) and brother(11) are Polish citizens living in Germany and they all have 10 year tourist visas. We want to petition to have all 3 come to US to live permanently. I uderstand that to petition for mother and father is easy and shouldnt take long and it is her 11 year old brother that will have the problem. I have had free consultations and paid consultations about this issue.

I would gladly hire an attorney on retainer if they can come up with a way to have all 3 be allowed to come here at the same time. We are looking into a private school for her brother but that will get very expensive and not sure that is a possibility. Does anyone have any constructive ideas on how we can get around this unbelievable rule that tears the family unit apart? We are willing to explore any and all legal avenues we can pursue. Thanks

 

[candg918]

One alternative to investigate further would be for one parent to come on petition from your wife as planned. He/she could petition for the son and other parent in the F2A category (spouse and minor children of LPRs). Current F2A priority date is 01 MAR 2009 so the wait is not as long as sibling of citizen (F4 01 JUN 2004). (Note: dates assume Polish or ROW by birth for all.) Refer to the Visa Bulletin on the state.gov website for priority dates.

If both parents plan to work in the US, the older parent should come first so as to be better positioned to earn the required SS quarters for retirement and Medicare benefits. That also has the advantage that you would not need to provide immediate health insurance for all three; the first to arrive would be able to cover the others via health insurance from their employment.

While there have been a very few reports of humanitarian parole, I would have expected the attorneys to have mentioned it if it were a potential route to achieve your goal. Realistically, there is really no way for all three to come together.

 

[krystl5003]

That is a great response and I sincerly thank you. Does anyone know about how long that would take? If mother came here say Jan 1, 2011, how long until father and son could then come here also....no exact dates of course, just maybe a general idea if we are talking 6 months later, 1 year, 2 years, etc. thanks again

 

[candg918]

(note - references to "you" actually refer to your wife as the daughter and sister; I know that recent immigrants depend on their spouse's for assistance on legal issues - especially dealing with immigration problems )

Right now it is less than 2 years. You need to track the Visa Bulletin each month as it does not necessarily move the priority date 1 month per month. Some months it is faster, others slower. I think your Jan 1 date is a little optimistic for the first one to arrive; it should be less than a year. You can be collecting the information needed for the second filings while the first is in process, but get the info needed for your mother immediately.

Your country's processing dates are much faster than most posters in similar situations because they are generally from India, China, Mexico and Philippines which have much longer delays. That makes this approach a possible alternative. I suspect that the attorneys were locked into your desire for them to all immigrate at the same time.

Lana is an immigration attorney who posts to the forum on occasion. She has contact information on some of her posts. I suggest that you contact her or another attorney for an evaluation of the staggered approach to bringing them in case there are issues of which I am not aware that are roadblocks to that approach.

I will also mention that you could also file for your father as you will for your mother; there may be an advantage to doing that rather than having your mother file for your father. I suggested that your mother file for both to better time the approvals for your father and brother by being in the same category than possibly having your father's approved and your brother's delayed due to differing processing times. Remember that once they receive approval, they must enter within 6 months. An attorney with an active immigration practice has access to far more detailed information than is publicly available and will be able to advise you as to the most advantageous approach.

 

[candg918]

Another thought, check the SSA website to see if there are any retirement totalization agreements with Poland. This may assist in the qualification for retirement benefits in the US. Also check on the retirement benefit payments from earlier work. Remember, at this time a person over 65 who has been a LPR for 5 years can buy into Medicare in order to obtain health insurance. This type of planning is important since the economy has resulted in fewer employment options.

Another option that will allow them to immigrate together is to file for brother as a sibling; wait until his priority date is nearly current and then file for the parents as immediate relatives. This wait is currently 6-7 years.

Remember that a student visa is not typically issued to someone who has a pending immigration petition on file.