How can I expedite immigration process for my mother who has health issues?

If you are a US citizen, you can sponsor your mother’s immigration process by filing a petition with the USCIS and going through the consular processing of her immigrant visa. That process consists of 3 parts – (1) USCIS Processing; (2) NVC Processing; (3) Consulate Interview. Altogether, it currently takes approximately 10-12 months until your mother can enter the US as a permanent resident. However, there is an expedite process. One of the official USCIS criterion for expedite service is “Urgent Humanitarian Reasons.” A serious health issue may qualify as an “Urgent Humanitarian Reason.”

Here is how USCIS’s expedite process works. First you need to file the I-130 petition for your mother. Once you receive the USCIS receipt, you should contact the USCIS and place the expedite request. If all of the forms and documents have been properly gathered and prepared, the USCIS will issue the receipt within 2-3 weeks. Sometimes, as of the date of this post, due to Covid-19 issues, the USCIS takes 1-2 months to issue the receipt. Once you get the receipt, you should call the USCIS and place the expedite request by phone. Be prepared to provide the biographical information and explanation who your case should be expedited. Within 7-10 days of the call, the USCIS will send you a request to provide the documentation confirming /proving the reasons for the expedite request, i.e. medical records of your mother, affidavit from you, and possibly an affidavit from someone who provides care for your mother now. If USCIS approves the expedite request and all of the information and documents provided are in order, they will approve the I-130. There is no way to know how soon this will happen, but the expedited approval of I-130 typically takes 1-2 months altogether from the time of filing.

Once the USCIS approves the I-130, they will send the case to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC will contact you, the petitioned, via email with instructions and list of documents which you need to upload. It is a very time-consuming and strenuous process. The NVC will not automatically expedite the process. So, it is recommended that you prepare the same expedite request and, this time via email, send to the NVC. Once all required forms and documents are provided to the NVC, the NVC will send the case to the US consulate, which will schedule the interview for your mother. The NVC will send you a notice of the interview date at the US consulate. Once your mother passes through the interview, she will get a 6-months immigrant visa which will enable her to enter the US. Once she enters the US, she will become a permanent resident. The green-card will arrive in the mail within 2-3 weeks; sometimes more.

Even with the expedite request, this whole process may take 6 months or more; especially now when the USCIS and consulates are overwhelmed and backlogged. Therefore, it is also worth to explore the option of Humanitarian Parole, which may bring your mother into the US much faster. You can file the Humanitarian Parole request at the same time as the regular I-130 petition and NVC consular processing is pending. Those two processes do not conflict with one another. If the Humanitarian Parole is granted, then your mother can come to the US much faster for treatment and then adjust status in the US.

We hope this information helps you. For any additional questions, you can contact our firm using this link: https://www.islawfirm.com/contact-us/. You can also schedule a telephone or online consultation directly with our immigration attorney using this link: https://islawfirm.cliogrow.com/book/_yY4wWZeNiNPZhpExMe6cQ.

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