How can my daughter be added to my filing?
Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,
I am wondering if you will be able to assist me with a few questions. My mother began filing procedures for me in 2017. To date, she has not heard anything as to where the filing is or how long it will be before she gets any word. I am 46 years old, not married, and have one daughter who is now 17 years old.
My mother has tried on numerous occasions to find out what is happening with the filing, but up to now, she has not yet received any word. The problem I am having is that my mother only added me to the filing and not my daughter. I don’t know what the procedure is where she is concerned because she will be turning 18 next year.
Will it be too late to add her when my filing comes through, and also, how long will it take? When my filing comes through, how long will it take for my daughter’s filing to come through?
Awaiting your response. Thank you in advance.
CH
Dear CH,
If your mother is a US citizen, you are in the first-preference category, and visas are available for those filed for before December 15, 2014. If your mother is a permanent resident, you would be in the F2B category, and September 22, 2015, is the priority date for current visas. Your mother should have received a Notice of Action that is a receipt notice that would have a number. With that receipt number, you or your mother can go to www.uscis.gov and check your case status. Once you determine your case status (most likely the application is being processed), you can then check the processing times for the petition at the service centre that has your case.
The processing time will give you an idea of how much longer you have for your case to be transferred to the National Visa Center (NVC) for processing.
Your minor daughter is a derivative beneficiary of your petition and should have been listed as your child. When the petition is ready for visa processing, the notification should have your daughter’s name on the case. If she is not listed, you must notify the NVC of her existence by sending her birth certificate and passport with an explanation for her omission from the initial filing. If that explanation is accepted, she will be added to the file and a request for the necessary filing fees.
From the current visa availability dates, you may have two and a half to three and a half years left to wait for a visa. If you are scheduled before your daughter is 21 years old, she will be able to migrate with you. If the interview happens after she is 21 and she is not added to the file before your interview, you can make a request at your embassy interview for your daughter to be added to the file. The embassy will conduct a Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) calculation to determine if she can be considered a child for immigration purposes. If the ruling is not in your favour, you can have the CSPA calculated privately, and if it is different from the embassy, share the results with the embassy and request a reconsideration. The embassy makes the final determination on whether your daughter is eligible for CSPA.
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