US green card sponsorship

matt-dublin

we're looking at moving to the states. My brother is a permanant resident and is applying for us citizenship this year.

we know he will definitly be able to sponsor me but not my girlfriend. Wen intend on getting married and likely before we move but what im wondering is can my brother sponser her too or whats the best way to go about it?

silja

Yes, once you are legally married, your then-wife (and any minor kids) can be included in the petition, just needs to happen before the interview. Keep in mind the waitinglist for siblings-of-US citizens is currently 11.5 years, a lot can happen in that time.

matt-dublin

how do all the koreans manage to get over there within 18 months?

silja

*** Moving from US Travel to USA (living/ visas) ***

All Koreans, or Korean siblings of US citizens? Do you have a link or a case I can comment on? If you are being sponsored by a spouse it takes less than a year; if you are the spouse or minor child of a greencard holder, about 2 years. So the case(s) you have heard about is probably one of those. Or wrong second hand info.

matt-dublin

Was a lady in a nail salon in california managed to get het whole family in in inder 18 months

Cushie Butterfield

matt-dublin wrote: »

Was a lady in a nail salon in california managed to get het whole family in in inder 18 months

You will always hear of someone who got what you want to get, but 99.9% of the time their circumstances will be different to yours. In the Korean woman's case the possibility is that her family members fell into a different category than you do. It's always best to do your research from official sources, & not get your hopes up in any way, shape or form by relying on what you heard someone say in a nail salon. I don't mean that to sound harsh but unfortunately that's just the way it is.

There are two categories of family based immigrant visas: Immediate Relative Immigrant Visas (Unlimited), and Family Preference Immigrant Visas (Limited)

You would be in the category of what is classed as Family Fourth Preference (F4). There are approximately 65,000 F4 based visas made available per year, & even then there's a limit percentage wise of how many can go to applicants from any one country (up to 7%) Your initial approved application is given a priority date.

To get an idea of the timeframe you're looking at: As per the August 2012 Visa Bulletin the current cut off date that is being processed for the F4 category is 15th February 2001. In other words if you were given a priority date of February 2001 when you filed your application processing would only be starting now. That's the main gist of things anyway.

Have a look at the USCIS, US Dept of State, Dublin US Embassy websites.

matt-dublin

booo, thats totally not what i want to hear.

do we have any other options?
(to put into perspective I don't have a degree but working in IT for 11 years, my OH has a degree in sports management and is just finishing a higher dip in phsycology)

silja

You can try the DV lottery. Depending on what you do in IT, a work visa may be possible, but you'd need to find an employer to sponsor you.

matt-dublin

Wheres the DV lottery direct application, all of the online jobbers want you to pay and send thousands of annoying emails.

also has anyone here been a successful applicant of the DV lottery? whats the end to end process?

BuffyBot

dvlottery.state.gov

The process has been described in the sticky at the top of this forum about the DV lottery.