Immigration Corner | How long does it take a son to file for his parent?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I have a question: How long would it take for a son/daughter to file for their married mother or father in Jamaica?

Can a person get married while on filing?

Thank you for responding. Blessings.

– S.G.

Dear S.G.,

A son/daughter must be a 21-year-old (or older) United States citizen to file for a parent to migrate to the US. A green card holder cannot file for their parent. The US citizen son/daughter petition is considered an immediate relative which means that a visa is immediately available for the parent – there is no need to wait on a priority date to become current for a visa to be available in this category. The length of time for the immediate relative process is guided by how long it takes to process the application with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and thereafter how long it takes the petitioner, beneficiary and the National Visa Center to work together to process the visa and receive an immigrant visa interview in the beneficiary’s home country.

In this immediate relative category, it does not matter if the mother/father is married or if they get married while the process is ongoing. The US citizen son/daughter can file for their step-parent only if the marriage to their biological parent took place before the son/daughter was 18 years old.

In some categories, it does matter if a beneficiary is married or gets married during the process, e.g., if a US citizen files a petition for their adult son/daughter – it matters if the beneficiary is single or married as the petition would be classified differently and would also have different waiting periods for a visa to become available.

In the exceptional case of a green card holder filing for their son/daughter, should that beneficiary get married, the entire petition is void because a green card holder cannot file for a married son/daughter.

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