• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Yew Immigration Law Group a P.C. HomepageYew Immigration Law Group a P.C.

Call For A Case Evaluation

408-645-6395
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Alison Yew
    • Michael Breismeister
  • Our Services
    • Adjustment of Status
    • Business Immigration
    • DACA
    • E-3 Visa
    • EB-4 Visa
    • EB1A Visa
    • EB1B Visa
    • EB1C Visa
    • EB2 Visa
    • EB3 Visa
    • EB5 Visa
    • F-1 Student Visa
    • Family Immigration
    • Family Preference Visa
    • Family First Preference
    • Family Second Preference
    • Family Third Preference
    • Family Fourth Preference
    • H1-B Visa
    • I-601 and I-601A Waiver
    • I-751
    • K-1 Visa
    • L1 Visa
    • Marriage Green Card
    • Green Card for Children
    • Other Immigration Services
    • National Interest Waiver
    • Naturalization
    • O1 Visa
    • P1 Visa
    • PERM Visa
    • Re-entry Permits
    • Student Visa
    • Temporary Work and Study Visa
    • TN Visa
    • VAWA Immigration
  • Testimonials
  • Latest News
  • Contact Us
CALL US NOW
You Have
Immigration Questions
and You Don't Want To Make Mistakes.
We Have Answers!

Helping Immediate Family Members Come To America

The Knowledge And Experience You Need For F2 Issues

The family’s second preference is further divided into two categories:

  • F2A: Spouses and Minor Children of LPRs (minor meaning 21 years and unmarried)
  • F2B: Unmarried Sons and Daughters, 21 years of age or older, of LPRs. F2B category generally has a longer wait time than F2A.

Child Status Protection Act: What To Know

If a child turns 21 before his/her priority date becomes current, he/she drops into a different visa category, from 2A to 2B. The child will face a wait of up to a few more years before becoming eligible for a visa. However, under the 2002 Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), the child can subtract from his age the time it took USCIS to approve the initial visa petition. Essentially, when the child’s priority date becomes current, he/she may take the total number of days that the visa petition was pending with USCIS and subtract it from his/her actual age. If the result is a number less than 21, the child may continue with the immigrant visa (or adjustment of status if the child is in the U.S. on a valid nonimmigrant status) application under the F2A category.

Additionally, under this preference category, the beneficiary, whether 21 years old, under, or over, must remain unmarried from the time the visa petition is filed until he/she receives the immigrant visa and enters the U.S. (if applying from abroad), or at the time he/she adjusts status in the U.S. If the child marries. If, even for one day, the beneficiary is married, since there is no preference category for a married child/son/daughter of a Lawful Permanent Resident, the visa petition is automatically revoked.

How A Petitioner Becomes A U.S. Citizen

If the petitioner filed a petition for his/her foreign national spouse and later becomes a U.S. citizen, the Petitioner may “upgrade” the petition from the F2 preference to immediate relative (IR) by sending proof of U.S. citizenship (a copy of U.S. passport or certificate of naturalization) to USCIS. The benefit of upgrading means there is no wait for a visa to be current or available as there are no numerical limits on immediate relatives.

Children beneficiaries work a little differently. Only when the petitioner had filed in the F2 category for a child under 21 years of age (and unmarried) as a direct beneficiary may the petitioner “upgrade” when he/she becomes a U.S. citizen. If the child was initially a derivative of the foreign national spouse, the petitioner who has become a U.S. citizen must submit a separate petition for each child under 21 and unmarried in order for the child to benefit as immediate relatives (since there are no derivatives in the immediate relative category).

Start Your Journey Today

Contact Yew Immigration Law Group, a P.C., today to schedule your initial consultation. You can write to us online or call us at (408) 645-6395.

Latest News

Understanding I-751 Petitions: An Update

Sep 17, 2023 By: Yew Immigration Law Group a P.C.

… Read More

How can an American Samoan qualify for U.S. citizenship?

Jun 18, 2023 By: Yew Immigration Law Group a P.C.

… Read More

How Long Does It Take to Get a Green Card...

May 15, 2023 By: Yew Immigration Law Group a P.C.

… Read More

What Are the Steps of the PERM Labor Certification Process?

Apr 16, 2023 By: Yew Immigration Law Group a P.C.

… Read More

View More

Testimonials

Read More
408-645-6395
info@yewlegal.com

San Jose Office

1155 N First Street #106
San Jose, CA 95112
Click to activate map

Palm Desert Office

74-710 Hwy 111, Ste 102
Palm Desert, CA 92260
Click to activate map

Seattle Office

4500 9th Avenue NE, #300
Seattle, WA
Click to activate map

Connect With Us!

© 2025 Yew Immigration Law Group a P.C. All Rights Reserved. | Terms of Service | Sitemap | Privacy Policy

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}