Question: I filed an immigration petition for my married sister 3 years ago. Recently my father became a US citizen. Instead of filing a new petition, is it possible to change the petitioner from me to my dad to reduce the processing time with the petitioner being a parent rather than a sibling. What would be the best possible way to do this?
Answer: Unfortunately, an I-130 Family petition filed by one family member cannot be transferred to another. Similarly, the date of filing the original I-130, called the “Priority Date” cannot be used for the second I-130 filing by another family member. Your father can file the I-130 for your sister now. The Immigration category for adult married children of U.S. Citizens, is F3 and the visa waiting line is about 10-12 years. However, the petition you filed for your sister in the F4 category has a waiting time of about 12-14 years. Since you filed the petition 3 years ago, the waiting time would be about the same, even if your dad files the F3 petition now.
