Perry, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

No. In order to petition for you, a person must be over 21 years old and legally in the U.S., preferably a U.S. citizen and related by blood or married to you. As this is your stepson and he is only 5 years old, he would not qualify. The fact that he is handicapped is irrelevant. Is there a reason why his father, who I assuming you are married to, will not petition for you? You may wish to consult with an experienced immigration attorney in your area and explain the complete circumstances of your situation. There may be other options available to you which he/she can advise you of.

Since you are represented by an immigration attorney in this matter, you should ask him/her about any identifiable reasons about the USCIS's failure to approve the I-485 application so far and about any recommended steps to take at this point. Your attorney is familiar with the details of your case and should be glad to answer your questions as part of his/her legal representation in this matter.

A U.S. citizen aged 21 or older may petition for his/her parents, who entered the U.S. lawfully and with inspection, to adjust status in the Immediate Relative visa category to become Lawful Permanent Residents (to get "Green Cards"). There is no backlog for visas in this category, and when the application process is properly handled and fully documented, the process will not take very long - the USCIS's Atlanta Field Office, handling cases throughout Alabama and Georgia, now is taking approximately 7 months to adjudicate these cases. It will be necessary for the U.S. citizen petitioner to file Affidavits of Support for each parent, and to provide supporting evidence proving that he/she earns sufficient income for the relevant family size (including the beneficiary parents). This is true regardless of whether the parents have TPS status now. If the citizen does not have sufficient documentable income, it will become necessary to have a "joint sponsor." The joint sponsor generally can be any U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident who has sufficient documentable income and who is willing to assume the responsibilities specified in the Affidavit of Support. A U.S. citizen also may petition for siblings, but this must be done in the Family-Based Fourth Preference visa category, for which there is a VERY long backlog for visas. Although the Visa Bulletin may appear to show that the wait is shorter, one actually can anticipate a wait of 15 - 20 years or even longer, and so this rarely is a very satisfactory immigration-related strategy. It would be wise to engage an immigration attorney not only for representation in the application process for parents, but also to explore whether there may be other options for the siblings.