Adult, unmarried sons and daughters generally have longer processing times than children under age 21, and there is also variation between whether the son or daughter is the child of a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident, or “green card holder.” Finally, how long a case takes to process depends on where it is being processed and where the interview, if applicable, will eventually take place.
Form I-130 petitions filed by U.S. citizens for unmarried sons and daughters over 21 average between 29 and 37 months nationwide, with the shortest processing time at the Nebraska Service Center, and the longest processing time at the Vermont Service Center.
Average processing times for petitions filed by legal permanent resident sponsors range between 18 months at the Texas Service Center, to 59.5 months at the California Service Center.
On average, you can expect to wait around 3-4 years to receive an I-130 petition approval as the unmarried son or daughter over age 21 of a U.S. citizen or green card holder.
Once the I-130 petition is approved, adult sons and daughters must wait for an immigrant visa number to become available. Due to per-country caps on the number of visas issued each year, the wait times can vary dramatically, with family members from China, India, Mexico, and the Philippines facing wait times and backlogs in some cases reaching into the decades.