Immigration Corner | When will my sons’ petitions be approved?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I am a US citizen and I filed for my adult unmarried sons and their children from October 2023. I have been advised that nothing is outstanding at this time.

I have no idea or time frame when anything will be done. Please advise. Thank you.

CJ

Dear CJ,

A US citizen filing a petition for an adult, unmarried son is an F1 preference category petition. That is the first preference after immediate relatives of American citizens. Immediate relatives are processed as soon as US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the National Visa Center (NVC) can process the applications, and the petitioner and beneficiary respond with their documents, fee payments and forms. Immediate relatives are spouses, parents and minor children of American citizens.

The availability of green cards for non-immediate relatives depends on when the priority date of the filed petition is current. The priority date is normally the date the petition is received. The green card availability is the time it takes to process the visa applications, based on the total number of petitions received and the number of visas available in a specific category for a calendar year.

In December 2025, the priority date that is current in the first preference category is November 16, 2016. This means that it is now taking approximately nine years for a visa to become available in the first preference category. This processing time can increase or decrease.

The person who is petitioned for is the direct beneficiary and, where applicable, spouses and-or minor children are derivative beneficiaries. In the first preference category, the only derivative beneficiaries can be under 21-year-old unmarried (minor) children. This gets tricky, as some children are under 21 years old when the petition is initially filed, and are over 21 years old by the time a visa is available. The Child Status Protection Act can sometimes protect the derivative beneficiary through its formula and find them to be a child for immigration purposes and allow them to travel with their parent.

When it is closer to the priority date becoming current, USCIS will process the initial petition and, once approved, it will be forwarded to the NVC for visa processing and appointment 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 mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com