Immigration Corner | Can a lawyer expedite my filing?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington

I have seen the great work you have been doing and how informative your advice on immigration matters are in your column in The Gleaner.

I am in the F3 category with an October 2012 priority date.

My mom, who is 65 years old and wants to retire, has suggested we use an attorney to expedite the process.

Please advise what role an attorney plays and whether by using one, it will expedite the process and help us to get an earlier visa appointment date.

Thanks in advance.

DJ

Dear DJ,

Thank you for your kind words.

The F3 preference category in a US immigration petition is that of a United States citizen filing for their married son or daughter. This category has always been among the ones that take the longest for a visa to become available. However, since the prior US administration and the COVID-19 pandemic, the processing times have increased dramatically.

In October 2024, visas are available for persons who were filed for prior to April 1, 2010. Each month, you should check the US State Department’s Visa Bulletin at www.travel.state.gov/visabulletin to see what priority dates are current. While you may be 30 months away from the priority date that is now current, it does not mean that each month that passes you will be a month closer. In some months there is no movement in the priority dates.

Congress allocated 23,400 visas in this category and it is taking a little over 14 years for a visa to become available in the F3 category. This means that there are over 300,000 people waiting in this category for a visa.

Your mother may retire if she wishes. If she is retired when the time comes for the affidavit of support to be processed, she can either use assets to make up the difference between what her retirement income is and what the income guidelines are, or you can get a joint sponsor to do an additional affidavit of support.

Hiring a lawyer will not expedite the process, you must wait for a visa to become available before you can be scheduled for an immigrant visa interview.

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