Sarasota, FL asked in Immigration Law for Florida

Q: Can my wife petition her sisters and mother all in one process? Her mother has a 13 year old and a 4 year old

Wife came with K-1 visa. Got married in 2015 soon will apply for citizenship. I know she can petition her mother but what about het two sisters? And what about is she were to petition just one of her sisters?

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Once your wife naturalizes, she can file separate petitions for her mother and sisters. Her mother will not be subject to the quota system that does exist for certain other family members, like siblings. In other words, so long as her mother does not have any negative past criminal history or negative past immigration history of her own, that case should move along according to normal processing times. For her sisters, the line to immigrate based on a petition filed by a U.S. Citizen sibling is about 13 years, and longer if the siblings are citizens of certain other countries (e.g., India, Mexico, Philippines). One can monitor that line by reviewing each month's Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. Department of State, available here: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin.html

Your inquiry about petitioning for 1 vs. 2 sisters, that is her prerogative, but if both think that one day they may wish to immigrate, it may be best to just file petitions for each of them.

To get more detailed responses, consider scheduling a consultation with a competent immigration attorney. Some law offices, like mine, offer telephone or online (Skype) consultations for those who are not able to come in person.

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