Immigration Corner | Should my mother or my sister file for me?

Dear Mrs. Walker-Huntington:

Thanks for all the information being given out. I am presently in a situation where my sister is an American citizen, my mother is a green card holder, and I am married but I want to live in the USA and take my wife and children. What is the best option for me? I applied for a community college in New Jersey because most of my family lives there. Can you tell me the best way forward?

– R.J.

Dear R.J.:

As a Green Card holder, your mother is not eligible to file for you because you are married. Only an American citizen can petition for a married son/daughter. You didn’t say how long your mother has been a Green Card holder – if she is eligible, she should immediately apply to become a US citizen. Once she is a US citizen, she can submit an application for you to become a Permanent Resident of the United States. Your wife would be added to the petition on the Consular processing stage, and so will your children – if they are under 21 years old, and if they are older, whether they could still be classified as children for immigration purposes.

Parent filing for married son/daughter takes quite a while and is the second longest waiting category for US family petitions. In March 2026 it is taking approximately 14 plus years (2011) for a visa to become available in the parent/married son or daughter (F3 preference) category.

WAITING PERIOD

A US citizen can petition for their sibling, and it does not matter if the sibling is married or unmarried. The sibling’s under 21-year-old children are also eligible for immigrant visas if they are classified as children for immigration purposes when the visa becomes available. The sibling preference category (F4) is the one that takes the longest for a visa to be available – currently taking 18 years (2008).

The waiting period for immigrant visas in these various categories fluctuates and you should not let the waiting period be a deterrent. Your file is submitted and you continue to live your life in your home country, working and educating yourself and your family where applicable so that when you do migrate you are equipped to begin a new life or to retire with your family if that is your intention.

In the meantime, you can apply to attend college in the United States to gain an education in your chosen field. The student visa is a non-immigrant visa and one where you must convince the Consular Officer that you intend to return home after your period of study and work experience in America.

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