The visa bulletin released each month by the United States Department of State indicates the lengthy processing time before visas may be issued in certain family categories. It takes more than 20 years before petitions by siblings of US citizens are processed. But 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 altogether. How will this affect existing petitions filed on behalf of brothers and sisters of US citizens?
Elizabeth, a US citizen, filed a petition on behalf of her only sister, Evangeline. More than 20 years passed since the time the petition was filed. Last year, Elizabeth’s husband died and since they did not have children, Elizabeth is living alone in her family home. She is looking forward to reuniting with her sister in the United States.
The petition for Evangeline will soon be up for processing. 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 visa points
The merit-based point system provides a way of obtaining an immigrant visa by accumulating points based on several factors.
Two tracks are created. The first track allows an individual to obtain an 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 of the merit-based system addresses 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 would be totally cleared. The Department of Homeland Security is authorized to design the process of distributing the visas of those with pending petitions.
This merit-based system is being proposed in place of the current visa immigrant category for brothers and sisters of US citizens.
Also, the adult children of US citizens category is also modified by eliminating the ability of those more than 30 years old to be petitioned by their US-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 use other ways of obtaining immigrant visas aside from family petitions.
In the case of Evangeline, 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.
There are favorable provisions proposed for other family petitions. For petitions by green card holders, 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 US citizens may immediately accompany their parents. Current law allows parents to receive their immigrant visas first then later 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.
On June 11, 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. Sen. Harry Reid mentioned that the bill must be passed before the 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 bill in its current version is a compromise version. The proposals to reduce the backlog in petitions by eliminating and modifying two family-based categories is a way of ensuring that the bipartisan bill can 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 commonsense reform to a broken system.
Indeed, 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 siblings, and 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.
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Atty. Lourdes Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com or at 8877177 or 7211963 or visit her website at www.tancinco.com