May 2010 promises to be a very good month for persons born in the Philippines who wish to immigrate to the U.S. through their relatives.
Of course, when you are born in a country with some of the longest waiting times in the world for family-based immigration, "good" is a relative term. Want to immigrate through your parents who are U.S. citizens? The waiting times range from 15 to over 17 years depending on whether you are single or married. How about through your U.S. citizen brother or sister? The wait is a staggering 22 years!
If you were born in any other country in the world (except Mexico which also has long waiting times), the wait would be more than cut in half. Is this fair? Probably not. Is it the law? You betcha!
So what's the good news?
According to the State Department's May 2010 Visa Bulletin, each of the family-based categories for Filipinos is scheduled to advance between two and eight months at the beginning of next month. This may not sound like much, but for some of our clients, May 1st will be a very important day in their lives. We are busy preparing applications for adjustment of status through section 245(i).
Oh, and by the way, we are preparing to submit our legal brief next week which argues very persuasively (in my opinion) that the government is misinterpreting the "automatic conversion" clause of the Child Status Protection Act in a way which separates parents from their sons and daugthers. We will post our brief online as soon as it is filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
If we are successful, many thousands of "aged-out" sons and daughters will be able to immigrate together with their parents rather than waiting 10-20 years to do so.
Hello,
Is this advancement for Filipinos only or we should expect some good news for the rest of family categories as well such as F3?
Posted by: Mike | 04/18/2010 at 09:07 PM
can I petition my cousins from the Philippines Son of my fathers cousin?
Posted by: Maria Guinn | 04/19/2010 at 05:20 PM
Any good news is great news for the Filipinos at the moment. Nurses are being held back by retrogression. This is a welcome development
Posted by: Homer Alinsug | 05/04/2010 at 04:14 AM
I DID NOT KNOW THAT I WAS US CITIZEN. THE US EMBASSY IN MANILA FINALLY SAID THAT I AM A US CITIZEN AT BIRTH AND ONLY GOT MY US PASSPORT IN 2007 WITH MY ELDEST SON ALREADY 25. I FILED AN I-130 ALREADY FOR HIM IN 2008. CAN HIS IMMIGRANT VISA READILY BECOME AVAILABLE INSTEAD OF WAITING YEARS FOR INS TO PROCEESS BECAUSE I DID NOT KNOW I WAS A US CITIZEN?
Posted by: LORENZO NOLAN | 07/14/2010 at 02:34 PM
Nurses are being held back by retrogression. This is a welcome development
Posted by: NFL Jerseys | 08/16/2010 at 06:01 PM
All of this really has me thinking about, and viewing, the trees in my life in a different way.
Posted by: NFL shop | 06/09/2011 at 01:55 AM