THE minor children of beneficiaries petitioned by their US citizen parents, siblings or employers may be able to immigrate with the principal beneficiaries once the priority dates of their immigrant petitions become current. However in a lot of situations, these principal beneficiaries are not ready to bring their minor children with them to the United States all at the same time. The minor children are thus left behind till the principal beneficiaries are able to adjust and establish a life for themselves in the United States.
A common mistake being made by these principal beneficiaries when they are ready to bring their minor children to the United States is that new and separate immigrant petitions are being filed by these principal beneficiaries for their minor children. This has resulted in unnecessary expenses and considerable delays in bringing the children to the United States due to long processing times and visa availabilities. Worse, some of them may have to wait longer because they would have aged out by the time the priority dates becomes current.
Instead of filing new and separate petitions for these minor children, a request for derivative beneficiary registration or following to join application should have been done with the appropriate consular office or National Visa Center. This would have saved the principal beneficiaries unnecessary expenses by doing away with the immigrant petition filing fees. More importantly, it allows the principal beneficiaries to be reunited with their minor children for a much shorter period of time. In most situations, derivative minor children can get their immigrant visas in about four to six months from the time the request for derivative beneficiary registration is filed with the US Embassy.
To illustrate this situation, we take the case of Maribel. Maribel was petitioned by her US citizen mother. At the time the petition became current, Maribel was still single but she had three minor children ages 18, 15, 12. Maribel then decided to immigrate to the United States by herself as she would like to look for work first so that she could support her children and get a place of her own once her children follow her to the United States. A year and a half later, Maribel is ready to bring her children over to the United States. She can now file a Request for Derivative Beneficiary Registration with the US Embassy in Manila so that her children could get their immigrant visas.
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Atty. Dennis E. Chua is a partner in The Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV), a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Diego and Manila. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; [email protected]. The CTV Attorneys will be at Max’s Restaurant in Vallejo on October 19, 2009 from 5pm to 7pm to hold a FREE legal clinic.
