Will my daughter be included in my petition?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

MY BROTHER is in the United States and filed for me in 2007. I am worried that my daughter, who is my dependent, will reach age 21 soon and age out of the immigration process.

Is there anything that can be done to mitigate against her ageing out?

–D

Dear D,

United States citizen can petition for their siblings. This petition is in the fourth preference category and is the one that takes the longest to come to fruition. Currently, in May 2020, visas are available for persons who were filed for prior to July 22, 2006. Normally, depending on when in 2007 your petition was filed, you would estimate that maybe a year to 18 months remain on your petition.

60-DAY BAN

However, Donald Trump on April 23, 2020, placed a ban on immigration for several persons who are in the immigration pipeline and your category (F4 - brother/sister) is one of the affected categories. The ban is for 60 days and stops interviews at US embassies/consulates. It is reviewable in 50 days. The reality is that all US embassies/consulates around the world stopped in-person interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic since mid- to late-March 2020; and they will reopen based on the US Department of State’s and the location governments’ guidelines.

If your daughter is 21 years old when your visa is available, she may age out. A calculation would have to be done under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) to determine if she would retain the status of a child for immigration purposes. The calculation cannot be done until your visa is available, i.e., when your priority date becomes current. As your daughter approaches 21, you can advise the National Visa Center and they may or may not be able to expedite the actual processing of the paperwork in your case. Even if they expedite the processing of the paperwork, nothing can be determined about her eligibility to migrate with you until your visa becomes available.

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.