Family Petitions of Permanent Residents
As of July 2019, permanent residents can request their spouses and children (under 21) in a "concurrent" manner. That means that an Immigrant Visa (the precursor of a Permanent Residence) is immediately available upon request.
An immigrant within the US can submit a request for adjustment of status established with the Family Petition, and an immigrant outside the US. You will be lucky that your path to Permanent Residence is much faster.
Family members who apply in this process are:
• Spouses (spouse) who are part of the F2A category
• Single children WHO ARE ALSO under the age of 21 who are also part of the F2A category
• Unmarried children over 21 years of age who are part of the F2B category, which is different from the F2A category; we will soon see why this is important It is worth mentioning that unlike American citizens, married children, brothers / sisters and fathers / mothers CANNOT be requested.
In order for the Permanent Resident to make a petition for their family member, they must:
• File form I-130 which is the Formal Immigration Petition, and then (or concurrently)
• Make the request for permanent residence.
- If the petitioner is WITHIN the United States, this form can be submitted together with the Permanent Residence application, form I-485.
- If the petitioner is OUTSIDE the United States, I-130 tends to be approved and then submitted to the “National Visa Center” with the immigrant visa application form; this process is called “Consular Processing” [DS260 form])
The great news is the wait times for the second stage, the Permanent Residence for Immigrants. This is important because since July 2019 there are NO waiting times for the F2A category. These waiting dates are determined and decreed by the American government and published through different official channels, for example: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html
That allows the process to be much faster, and in some cases it can be presented immediately while the immigrant is legally in the US. due to a temporary permit (for example student tourist visa, etc.)
It is IMPORTANT to take into account that immigration officers are ingrained to determine whether applications have several factors; for example, good faith, sincerity, honesty, and legality, among others. A rule in force since 2017 mentions that if the person who is temporarily on and in less than 90 days submits an application for adjustment of status or change of status, the rule says that the officer must consider bad faith and / or fraud, assuming that said person took advantage of an entry with a second premeditated intention.