Islandgurl

Long story short...I'm a naturalized US cit, and filed for my parents so they can get their green card. They are retired, my brother's wife passed away a couple of years ago from pancreatic cancer, and he is raising his 9yr child that she left behind. Since parents have their green card, they can turn around and file for my brother and niece, correct, since he is widowed? I'm trying to figure out how to read the monthly visa bulletins but the avg time for this process since he is over 21 is about 8yrs? Any faster options? Should both parents file? My parents are elderly, just don't know what happens to an application if one of them passed away during the process..

ian-mstm

I hesitate to draw a distinction between "not married" and "widowed", but in my mind they aren't the same thing. That said, other than the filing fee, they lose nothing by filing.

As a USC, you also can petition for your brother and niece.


No.


Yes, they can each file independently.


That application would die with them... which is why they should both file independently of each other.

Ian