Immigration Corner | Can I work while my son’s petition for me is pending?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

My son filed a Petition I-130 on my behalf on December 1, 2023. While the petition is pending, can I apply for permission to work in the United States? I have a visitor’s visa and reside in Jamaica.

JC

Dear JC,

The short answer is no. You cannot now apply for permission to work in America while your petition for alien relative is pending.

The law currently allows persons such as yourself – the parent of an American citizen – if in the United States pursuant to lawful entry to be able to apply for work authorisation. The law now allows that 90 days after being in the United States on a temporary basis, an immediate relative (spouse, minor child or parent of an American citizen) can apply to adjust their status to a permanent resident. Among the documents that are filed in the adjustment of status, is a request for work authorisation.

Currently, 80 per cent of I-130 petitions filed by a US citizen son take approximately 16 months to get approval. Once the petition is approved, the process will move to the National Visa Center for further processing and where the petitioner and beneficiary can have more control over the flow of the process.

At this time, even if you were to travel to the United States and try to convert your previously filed petition to an adjustment of status application, it would raise the spectre of intent to migrate when you entered as a visitor.

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