Immigration Corner | My family is devastated!

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

Your articles are always informative and helpful. My common-law husband got his green card last December after almost 12 years of waiting on the filing by his mother after she attained her citizenship. We never got married because we were waiting painfully for this process to be completed. From my understanding, even if we marry now, my ability to join him and my son will take another five years to be processed. These situations destroy families.

FG

Dear FG,

An unmarried son’s petition should never take 12 years to a visa appointment – that is an anomaly. Currently, the waiting periods for immigrant visas (non-immediate relatives) are taking the longest that I have seen in my over 25 years of practice. However, a green card holder filing for an unmarried, adult son/daughter currently takes approximately eight years; and a US citizen petition for an unmarried, adult son/daughter is almost nine years.

I want to clearly state again in this column that green card holders can file for their unmarried, adult son/daughter. So, many unmarried adults wait unnecessarily for their parent to become a US citizen before filing. Being a citizen filing for your adult son/daughter is only necessary if the son/daughter is married, because a green card holder cannot file for a married son/daughter.

As soon as the beneficiary of a parent’s unmarried petition makes an entry into the United States under their parent’s sponsorship, they are cleared to marry and begin the filing process for their partner. A beneficiary must first enter the United States as unmarried if they were approved for an immigrant visa as unmarried son/daughter.

In your case, your unmarried partner should have already entered the US. He is then clear to return to Jamaica, marry you and begin your migration process as a green card holder spouse filing for his wife in Jamaica.

The filing for the spouse of a green card holder would be placed in the F2A category, and that category is currently taking a little less than three years. Only the US Department of State has control over the visa availability and dates, and one should not guess. The waiting period can be longer or it can be shorter. The only way for a person such as yourself to be reunited with your family is to marry your partner and have him file the petition.

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