The visa bulletin released each month by the U.S. Department of State
indicates a lengthy processing time before visas may be issued in
certain family categories. In fact, it takes more than twenty years
before petitions by siblings of U.S. citizens are processed. Instead of
adding more visas to correct this lengthy processing time, the proposal
contained in the Senate immigration reform bill eliminates this sibling
family category. How will this affect existing petitions filed on behalf
of brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens?
Elizabeth, a U.S.
citizen, filed a petition on behalf of her only sister, Evangeline. More
than twenty years passed had from the time the petition was filed. Last
year, Elizabeth’s husband died and since they never had children,
Elizabeth is living alone in her family home and is anticipating to
reunite with her sister. She knows that the
petition for Evangeline will soon be up for processing considering that
she has been waiting for more than twenty years. However, Elizabeth
heard in the news that the immigration reform bill that was passed by
the Senate judiciary committee eliminated the brother and sister family
category. Can her sister, Evangeline, still continue to apply for an
immigrant visa once her priority date becomes current? How will she
apply for a visa under the proposed merit based system?
Accumulating Points to Get the Visa
The
merit-based point system provides a way of obtaining immigrant visa
status by accumulating points based on several factors. There are two
tracks that are created.
The first track allows an individual
to obtain immigrant visa based on skills, employment history and
educational credentials. It prioritizes immigrants who are young,
educated, experienced, skilled and fluent in English. This first track
is further divided
into two tiers, one for those with advanced educational credentials and
experience and the second for less skilled individuals.
The
second track merit based system addresses specifically the backlog in
family petitions specifically those that have been pending for several
years. The proposal is that visas shall be allocated to individuals with
pending family or employment based petitions over the course of seven
years beginning in 2015. By 2021, it is expected that the backlogs in
family petitions are totally cleared. The Department of Homeland
Security is authorized to come up with the process of distributing the
visas of those with pending petitions over the seven year period.
This
merit based system is being proposed in place of the current visa
immigrant category for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Also,
adult children of U.S. citizens category is also modified by eliminating
the ability of those more than 30 years old to be
petitioned by their U.S. citizen parents. With the elimination of
these two categories, individuals who fall under these categories may
still apply for immigrant visas under the merit based system or through
other way of obtaining immigrant visas aside from family petitions. In
the case of Evangeline above, since her petition has been pending for
more than five years, she will be considered for issuance of the visa
under the second track merit based system.
Other Major Changes
There
are favorable provisions proposed for other family petitions. For green
card holder petitions, their spouses and minor children will be
considered “immediate relatives”. This means the elimination of the
second preference category “A” by making visas immediately available to
their spouses and minor children.
Another important proposal
contained in the immigration bill is that minor children of parents of
U.S. citizens may immediately
accompany their parents. This happens in cases where the parents of
U.S. citizens are petitioned for immigrant visas. Current law allows
parents to receive their immigrant visa first before they are able to
petition their minor children. Usually, the minor children are left
behind until their petition becomes current. To avoid parents from being
separated from their minor children, the Senate immigration reform
bill allows the minor children to accompany their parents when they
immigrate.
Amendments To Be Made
On June 11, 2013, the
full Senate started the debate on the immigration bill. Senators so far
have proposed 74 amendments and are expected to vote on these amendments
soon. Senator Harry Reid mentioned that the bill must be passed before
end of the month. Thereafter, the House of Representatives is expected
to release its own version of the bill.
Family Reunification
The
Senate immigration reform in its current
version is a compromised bill. The proposals to reduce the backlog in
petitions by eliminating and modifying two family based category is a
way of ensuring that the bi-partisan bill is going to garner enough
votes to pass. Even President Obama mentioned in his speech this week,
that “nobody is going to get everything that they want.” in this bill.
But he asserted that this immigration reform bill is a common sense
reform to a broken system. Indeed, the decades of family backlogs need
to be fixed but are we ready to compromise family reunification
involving our siblings and adult children? The ties between sibling,
elderly parents and their children are just as important as other
familial bonds especially for Asian Americans. And this must be
respected by any future immigration system.
(Atty. Lourdes Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or at 887 7177 or 721 1963 or
visit her website at tancinco.weareph.com/old)
