My stepmom (a USC) had submitted an I-130 application for my 19 year old son and myself (43 years old). I'm a British citizen born in Malawi and my son is born in South Africa. We currently live in Ireland. My Dad (an LPR) is ailing and they need help with their family business as it is to doing well. My stepmom can’t cope with everything and their business is suffering. Is there a way to expedite our case? Could my son and I go to the states on Tourist Visa and have the adjustment of status while the I-130 is pending? I gather the time frame is around 8 years. I don’t think my dad has this time. What are our options?
Once you have a pending I-130 on your behalf, you may not be admitted to the US as tourists/visitors since you have shown immigrant intent by the filing of the I-130 and in order to travel as tourists, you have to have non immigrant intent. However, you can certainly try to enter the US as tourists since you, as a British citizen, are visa exempt and can try to travel on the visa waiver. You will not be able to do anything about your status while you are in the US since you can only adjust status once the visa priority date is current and it will not be current for your category for quite a few years. However, if you just want to be able to visit and spend some time with your family, you can certainly try. Once in the US, perhaps you can try to find a job based on your education and work experience and maybe get the employer to petition you for a work visa. Your son might qualify for a student visa.
The issue is the availability of an immigrant visa. I do not know if you are eligible for an immigrant visa through your stepmother as the relationship must have been formed before you turned 18 years old. If you are eligible, there is not a lot you can do to fast track the application due to immigrant visa availability. However, you may be able to travel to the United States on a tourist visa so long as you timely depart or extend the visa. You may also wish to consider humanitarian parole. This allows for greater flexibility in how long you can stay. You may not be able to stay until a visa becomes available, but it may allow you extra time with your Dad. The parole is issued for 6 months at a time but can be extended. It is important you speak with an experienced immigration attorney in more detail about the matter.
You cannot expedite the process. You must consider a non immigrant visa.
There is no fast track for immigrant visas. It is not clear from your facts when the case was filed and how much time more you need to wait. If there is an urgency to get to the U.S. you may want to explore various nonimmigrant visa options while waiting in the immigrant visa queue.
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