F1 Visa Probability

[vasu20]

My nephew (sister's son) plans to come to the US for a bachelor's degree. I petitioned for my sister's green card back in November 2010. Will this pending petition affect him negatively when he applies for his F-1 visa. Another unfortunate twist in this matter is that back in 2004, my sister & family had applied for a visitor's visa to the US, which got rejected twice. He was around 9 years old at that time. Given these two factors, what is the probability that he can obtain an F-1 visa and what (if anything) can he do/say to increase his chances ? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[t75]

His situation is what it is. He should do nothing fraudulent to try to make himself "better" for F1 visa. He should apply and see how it goes.

[vasu20]

Thanks for the response. I was not suggesting doing anything fraudulent. If there is a high probability that his student visa will be rejected (due to the ongoing petition of my sister's green card), would it help if I withdrew the I-130 ? Someone please advise. Thanks so much!

[catx]

The first question is how old is your sister's son now, and how old will he be when your sister's priority date is projected to become current (based on the current backlog). If he is 21 or will turn 21 before your sister's priority date is projected to become current, then he would not be eligible for derivative permanent residency based on your sister's permanent residency process. Accordingly, on that account he can demonstrate that he does not have immigration intent. In addition, very importantly he would need to demonstrate that he continues to have his own ties to his home country (e.g. residence, bank account(s)) and plans to return to his home country upon graduation. Other factors that could come into play are things like the university (major public university or for-profit private school) and field of study (computer science / information technology or another).

There are no guarantees that he will be approved for a F-1 visa. However, if he can honestly and legitimately demonstrate that he continues to have ties to his home country, plans to return after graduation (has no immigration intent), has received admission from a reputable, public university, and is going there because of its reputation in the field of study, then his prospects should be reasonable.