In our Ask Visalaw.com section of the SIB, attorney Ari Sauer answers immigration law questions sent in by our readers. If you enjoy reading this section, we encourage you to visit Ari’s blog, The Immigration Answer Man, where he provides more answers to your immigration questions. You can also follow The Immigration Answer Man on Facebook and Twitter.
If you have a question on immigration matters, write [email protected]. We can’t answer every question, but if you ask a short question that can be answered concisely, we’ll consider it for publication. Remember, these questions are only intended to provide general information. You should consult with your own attorney before acting on information you see here.
1) QUESTION: My grandmother petitioned my mother for an F-3 family immigrant visa in 2006 and it was approved in 2010. Given the four year wait, both my sister and I will be over 21 in 2018 when the priority date is current. Will we still qualify for the visa according to Child Status Protection Act? Do we need to submit anything to apply for CSPA or will it apply automatically?
ANSWER: If USCIS took more than 4 years to approve an I-130, and a visa becomes available for the petition before the derivative beneficiary child’s 25th birthday, then the child should be eligible to benefit from the CSPA and get a visa with their parent, if they have remained unmarried. This is because where the CSPA applies to preference category I-130s (not ones that fall into the Immediate Relative Category, which are treated differently) the CSPA allows the time that the I-130 was pending (from the Receipt Date on the I-130 receipt notice to the Approval Date on the I-130 approval notice) to be “recaptured” toward keeping the child a “child” under immigration law for that amount of time beyond the child’s 21st birthday.
While the CSPA works automatically, for someone to benefit from the CSPA for a preference category petition (this requirement does not apply to Immediate Relative category petitions) they MUST SEEK OUT THE IMMIGRANT VISA WITHIN ONE YEAR OF A VISA BECOMING AVAILABLE FOR THE PETITION.
The application of the CSPA to specific cases is complicated. So it is highly recommended that an experienced immigration lawyer be consulted to determine whether the CSPA applies to someone’s situation and how.
2) QUESTION: I have lost my letters from USCIS and don’t know my priority date. How can I use the receipt number to find out my priority date?
ANSWER: Do you live near your local USCIS office? You could try making an Infopass appointment through the USCIS website. Using your receipt number, they should be able to look you up in the computer system and give you your priority date. But the I-130 belongs to the US citizen petitioner, not the beneficiary. So the Petitioner or their lawyer is the one that needs to make the inquiry. USCIS might refuse to give the information to the beneficiary. If your case is at the NVC, then you might also be able to get the information by having the petitioner calling the NVC.