Do you know that brothers and sisters of US citizens can also immigrate to the United
States?
Well, there's a special way to do it.
So, why don't you watch this video and learn how.
In this video, we're going to talk about the process of immigrating a brother or sister
to the United States.
The most common way that people are immigrating right now is through family members.
So, typical immigration as husband will bring a wife, a wife will bring the husband and
their children.
But what about siblings?
What about brothers and sisters?
And there's been a lot of debate about this possibility of the administration canceling
the option of allowing siblings to immigrate each other.
But as of now, it is still a possibility and it is something that people are always wondering
how to do it.
And this is why we're doing this video.
So, typically a US citizen can petition for a sibling who is currently residing overseas
and that sibling could eventually immigrate to the United States.
It's very important to understand that, only US citizens, not a permanent resident green
card holder, but only US citizens at this point can file for his or her brother or sister
to be able to come to the United States.
Now, there are many, many categories of immigrants.
So, if it's a husband or wife, they are considered to be immediate relatives.
But many, many other family members have categories and priority dates.
So for example, spouses of green card holders, they are considered to be category F-2A.
If you are a child over 21, married or unmarried, do you have a different category.
Siblings are categorized as category F-4 in the visa bulletin.
And the reason that category is there is because once the US citizen files for them, they're
going to be subject to a waiting period and their waiting period is determined by their
category.
So, siblings are considered to be category F-4.
What is the actual process to sponsor a sibling?
So, US citizens can file a petition called I-130.
It's an immigrant petition, relative petition.
And in that petition, there's a section that is specifically designed for siblings.
That form is also used for spouses and for parents and for children.
But in this case, we're talking about siblings and so I-130 will be used to file a petition
for a sibling.
Once the petition is filed with the USCIS service, it will consist of proof of relationship.
So, the birth certificate of the petitioner and the beneficiary, ID documents like a passport,
proof of residency wherever they reside and a bunch of questions about previous addresses,
employment, making sure there's no criminal history and things like that.
So, once that petition is filed with the USCIS, it's going to take several months for the
petition to be approved and then the US citizen will get a receipt and approval with the priority
date.
The reason there's a priority date is because siblings are not eligible for immediate immigration,
which means that unlike a spouse, that can immigrate immediately within a few months,
a sibling has to wait for the return.
And right now the visa backlog is so severe that most siblings will wait more than 10
years before their priority date is current and they can immigrate to the United States.
So, how does it work in practice?
In practice, imagine you're a US citizen and you have a brother who is in France, you can
file the I-130 for your sibling right now, get the petition approved, track the priority
date, and follow it every month.
And eventually, when that date will be current, currently it's about 10 years, your sibling
will be able to attend a US embassy interview.
Well, at that point, there have to be some forms updated and things like that.
And at that point, if all goes well, the sibling will be able to get the immigrant visa, come
to the United States and then get the green card upon entry.
So, it's a very lengthy process for siblings.
But as of today, it's still available.
We don't know what's gonna happen in the future if the government will cancel that option.
But as of today, it's available under the F-4 category.
So, we encourage all the US citizens that have siblings abroad that they want to eventually
immigrate them to file their petitions now because 10 years and 15 years is a long time,
and if you don't start, it's never going to move forward.
So once again, there is a way to immigrate your sibling.
We use form I-130 immigrant petition, and remember, even if it's approved, the sibling
would have to wait at least 10 years or so before their dates are current, before they
can immigrate to the United States.
Hopefully, this video was helpful.
It answers the question that many, many are asking.
If you have more questions, email me at jacob@h1b.biz.
Subscribe to our channel and share this video with anybody that may benefit from this information.
We look forward to seeing you at our next video.
Thanks for watching.