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My maternal aunt (US citizen) had filed for a Family Preference Immigrant Visa (F4 visa) for my family with a priority date of October 2003. She had petitioned for the following family members:

  1. My mother (petitioner's sister and the actual beneficiary).
  2. My father (petitioner's brother-in-law).
  3. My younger sister (petitioner's niece).
  4. Myself (petitioner's niece).

The date the petitioner received a Welcome Letter (PAOSF) from the National Visa Center on September 4, 2015. I was 26 years old on that date, it made sense to me that my name was not on the list at all.

After a few weeks, we received an invoice from the National Visa Center asking us to pay the visa processing fees for my mother, father and my younger sister (then under 21). I went ahead and paid all the fees. The invoice also said only to pay the fees for the persons listed in the invoice and that's why I paid the fees for all three of them.

Problem: I received a notice for interview on August 31, 2016, which only lists my mother and my father. My sister, who is now over 21, has not been asked to appear in the interview.

Questions When the NVC asked me to pay tje fees for my younger sister, she was under 21, and she was entitled to receive an interview notice. I don't think that it's our fault the interview notice came a year afyet paying processing fees. I called the NVC customer service and the customer service agent has recommended me to ask the visa interview counselor to run the CSPA Formula.

My parent's interview is not until next month and I am really worried that my younger sister will be left behind while my parents emigrate to the United States.

EDIT-1: What is the CSPA formula and how can my parents convince the interviewer (counselor) to grant a visa for my younger sister as well?

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    Grammatically speaking there is no question in your text. That's a good sign your question is not as clear as it should be. As you have gotten a recommended course of action, what is your question?
    – nvoigt
    Sep 9, 2016 at 4:02
  • @nvoigt: Sorry about that, I have updated the fuzzy question I had in mind. Sep 9, 2016 at 15:18
  • There's an explanation here, lawyer site, not US government, but I find it heavy-going. Here's the USCIS page.
    – mkennedy
    Sep 9, 2016 at 22:54
  • As you, too, have aged-out (as I understand your explanation), you might consider including yourself in a petition, if you're still in a position to immigrate.
    – Giorgio
    Sep 9, 2016 at 23:57

2 Answers 2

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The aging out formula in CSPA is that the amount of time the petition has been pending (time from when the petition was filed to when it was approved) is subtracted from the person's age. So for example, if the petition took one year to approve, then the person does not age out until age 22; if the petition took 4 years to approve, then the person does not age out until age 25. (Yes, that means the slower the processing of the petition, the better for aging-out purposes.) You have not mentioned when the I-130 petition was approved, so it is impossible to determine from your description whether your sister (or you) has aged out or not.

I am not sure why the consular has not scheduled an interview for your sister. If you believe your sister (or you) has still not aged out as of right now, according to the rules, your parents should contact the consular to add her to the case and schedule an interview for her.

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  • The above answer clarified about CSPA (which your sister is eligible for). I'd like to add that, in that situation, you should contact the interviewing embassy directly regarding CSPA eligibility. Simply include your case number, invoice number, petitioner and beneficiary's name and birthday, and clarify your sister's CSPA eligibility. Her name should appear soon in the DS-260 page. Jul 22, 2017 at 23:24
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So, it turns out the National Visa Center could not do anything on this matter. I contacted the US embassy and emailed them about the situation. After a couple of back and forth email where they were asking for the same personal information back and forth, they finally scheduled an interview and granted the immigrant visa.

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