Can I file for my boyfriend?

Good day Mrs Walker-Huntington,

IKINDLY seek your assistance in this matter. My boyfriend’s father filed for him approximately eight years ago. However, my boyfriend is not able to get any information from his father as to the status of the filing after constantly asking his father, nor has he got any correspondence from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

I’ve been waiting patiently to see what would happen, but nothing seems to be happening. I currently am a US permanent resident and was wondering if we could just get married and I proceed with filing for him, as his father has not been forthcoming.

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

– D.B.

Dear D.B.,

If your boyfriend’s father is a US citizen, your boyfriend would be in the F1 preference category and it is taking approximately six and half years for a visa to become available. If the father is a permanent resident, it is taking around the same length of time.

A couple things delayed the processing of those visas: (1) the closure of US Embassies because of the COVID19 pandemic, and (2) the 2020 Presidential ban on immigration. These two occurrences in 2020 resulted in a huge backlog of visa applicants who would normally have been processed during 2020. This has caused the availability of visas to be decreased and the waiting times increased. Without knowing the actual status of your boyfriend’s filing – the petitioner father should have received a Receipt Notice and a subsequent Approval Notice from USCIS. Once the petition is approved, your boyfriend should have been notified by the National Visa Center that they received his file and that he would be contacted when they were ready to process the visa application. If none of the normal procedures have been met, then enquires need to be made to the relevant agency as to the status.

As a permanent resident of the United States, you most certainly can marry your boyfriend and file for him as your spouse in the F2A visa category – which is current. It normally takes about a year for an interview in this category, but due to pandemic-induced delays, it may take somewhat longer. Please know that once you marry your boyfriend, his visa availability based on his father’s petition will change. If the father is a green card holder, the petition will be voided; and if he is a US citizen, your boyfriend’s category will switch to the F3 preference category – that will take years longer. The changes will be moot once you file for your boyfriend, as there is no prohibition against having more than one petition in the pipeline.

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