My friend's brother filed a I-130 (Immigrant Petition for Relatives) for her and it has been approved since 5.

Question

years ago, but she didn't know what should be next. So she stay and didn't do nothing. She was already in the U.S. when the I-130 was approved. So today I was reviewing some papers and found out that she was approved for so long. shouldn't her next step be to file for I-485? Is it too late?

Answer 1

The visa number should become available for your friend to apply I-485. She was given the priority date (PD) on her I-130 approval notice and that date should be current according to the Department of State Visa Bulletin. She can check if her PD is current, meaning she has available visa, at http://travel.state.gov/visa. As of today, the current PD date is on or before June 22, 1997. Siblings of US Citizen is the 4th preference with fewer visa numbers each year. I would guess your friend's PD year is 2002. Now you can do the math that she has to wait for long time. My husband waited for 11 years for his PD to be current. Good luck.

Answer 2

That depends. Where is your brother currently located? If he is in the US, what type of visa is he here on? Has he had a US visa in the past? Well, then he is in the US illegallly. You can't petition him for a visa while he is in the United States. He has to go back to his home country and petition from a consulate. Hopefully he hasn't turned 18 years in 6 months yet, because if he hasn't he could still do all of this without facing a mandatory ban for 3 years plus. That's why the letter said " The petition indicates that the person for whom you are petitioning is in the United States and will apply for adjustment of status. The evidence indicates that he or she is not eligible to file an adjust of status application. This determination is based on the information submitted with the petition and any relating files."

Answer 3

Yes, it sounds like it is about five years too late. Sorry.