scasc

Hi all - I had a quick question I wanted to ask.

My in-laws are in the US and have applied for their US passports. I’ve heard that they can sponsor my wife and as a result myself and the kids too once their passports arrive.

If this did happen how long would it take roughly for our entry/immigration visa to arrive?

thanks in advance.

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

Approximately 12 years going on current processing times.

You can check it out on the Visa Bulletin, it's updated monthly. You would be category F3 and you can see that they are currently processing applications received in March 2008 for that category. Bear in mind that it may change, the time could go up or down, but it gives you an idea at least.

Depending on how old your children are, they may 'age out' by the time you are at the front of the queue, so that's something to look in to.

HTH, best of luck.

scasc

Many thanks for letting me know. Ironically the in-laws applied under category 4 and it took 7 years in total. I’ll check the link out. Kids are quite young at this stage.

Noorah101

As long as the in laws are USCs, they can file the I-130s. They don't need to wait until they have US passports.

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

F4? that is a lot longer than 7 years. Times vary depending on your Nationality. Well country of birth.

civilservant

That was many years ago by the sounds of things. The F preferences are oversubscribed and continue to get further backlogged every year.

scasc

Hi All - thanks for the comments.

The application came through about 4 years ago. Agreed around country of birth etc. Application was from Pakistan and for whatever reason I dont know, it took 7 years in total.

I have also been told that despite the backlog, its country dependent so the queue in Britain is less than say India/China etc. Again, just something I heard, not sure how accurate. Lets see how things go.

civilservant

It's true that the 'rest of the world' is not as bad as some (your examples are 2 that are indeed further backlogged)

According to the latest visa bulletin, 3/2008 is the current month that is being worked on for 3rd preference, 'rest of the world' chargeability. So assume at least 12 years. Expect it to get worse over time, not better.

scasc

Duly noted - thanks for the info.

christmasoompa

If they got immigrant visas only 4 years ago, they wouldn't have been eligible to apply for citizenship this soon, and if they applied under F4 approx 11 years ago i.e. 2009, they should still be in the queue and not even have a green card yet (applications from the UK being processed from 2006). It obviously doesn't make any different to your own application, but I think the timeline for your in-laws app is off somewhere. Just don't want you thinking it's likely to be quicker than the time predicted in the visa bulletin, when the reality is it's likely to be longer if anything.

scasc

Thanks for bringing to my attention. Quite possible many factors in play which I am not privy too, was only told the bare bones, but appreciate that its highly likely that this process will take some time to complete.

christmasoompa

I guess all you can do it submit and then try and forget about it. Or look at another visa route over if you did want to move sooner.

Best of luck.

scasc

Thanks again. Regarding another visa route - only other one I can think of is the H1B route - however when speaking with employers in the US this is pretty difficult as they dont sponsor. Especially if you are not in the country. I think people who go on student visa's try to get this converted to H1B.

civilservant

Depending on your career, an L1 can be a good route also if you can find an employer that is either US based or at least has a significant US presence. This can take some time, but might be quicker than the 12-15 years you are looking at right now.

That said, have your in laws file the I130 ASAP to secure your wifes place in the line.

christmasoompa

Depending on various things i.e. your job, education level, net worth etc, you may qualify for other visas, or none at all. You can see them all in this Wiki article - https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulas...ork_in_the_USA

HTH.