My Family = US Permanent Resident; I am Canadian Citizen..

Hello,

I had a few cocerns. I am currently an International Student studying in US. I am a Canadian Citizen and so are my parents, brother and sister. They are also all Permanent Residents (Green Card Holders) in the United States. I am the only one who is not. Both my siblings are married, and I am single.

I am studying IT, so I am not sure if I would qualify for TN Visa as my major is Programming and/or IT Security/Networking.

After graduating, I do not want to move back to Canada. I want to stay with my family. I was wondering if anyone from my Family could sponsor me. I am 25 years old, so I do not know if that is a possibility.

Please help.

Natasha

Your parents could sponsor you, but hte process takes quite a few years for LPR petitions, (like 5 to 7 years) and you could not stay in the US during that time. And you could not be married when they sponsor you either, you MUST be single.

Best bet is to either find yourself an US employer willing to sponsor a TN visa (which are only good for 3 years, and not a permanent solution), or go back to Canada.

You could also marry an American and have them sponsor you, but I wouldn't recommend this soley for the purpose of gaining a green card.

You might be able to get TN as a network engineer or maybe even systems analyst although they usually look for some experience with that one.

If you manage to get it, you can adjust status inside the US on I-485 when the I-130 is approved.

How you want to do this is one of your parents file an I-130 for you, then when they get citizenship they can get the petition amended which will chop a year or two off the waiting time. Plus US citizens can sponsor married adult children, LPRs cannot, so it would mean you could get married at that point if you wanted to and your dependents could enter with you when the visa number comes up and you apply for a visa.

As an F-1 student you can also get OPT which means you can work in the US for a year after graduating, there is a 17-month extension possible for people in science and math fields although I'm not sure you would qualify.

Thank you for your replies. They really have helped.