If you’re a US citizen wondering whether you can file an immigration petition for your brother or sister, the short answer is yes. The law allows it. But if you stop there, you’re only getting half the story, and the other half is something every family should understand before they get their hopes up.
The Technical Yes
US citizens can file a Form I-130 petition for their siblings. This falls under what’s called the “Fourth Preference” family-based immigrant visa category, commonly referred to as F-4. It’s a legitimate pathway, and USCIS does approve these petitions. Filing the petition is the easy part.
The Brutal Reality: The Wait
Here’s where things get complicated. The F4 category is subject to annual numerical limits on the number of visas that can be issued each year. And demand has vastly outpaced supply for decades.
As of 2026, USCIS is approving F-4 sibling cases originally filed between 2000 and 2008, depending on the country of birth. That’s a wait of nearly 20 to 25 years. For applicants born in Mexico or the Philippines, the backlog is even longer. Mexican nationals are currently looking at priority dates around 2001, meaning their cases are coming up approximately 25 years after the petition was first filed.
Let that sink in for a moment. You file for your sibling today, and their case may not be approved until sometime around 2050.
Why People Still File
Given those numbers, you might be wondering why anyone bothers. Some people file early as a long-term investment, hoping circumstances will change, either in immigration law or in their family’s situation. But the more common reason is this: people often file for their siblings not primarily for the siblings themselves, but for their children. That is, a US citizen files for their brother or sister with an eye on bringing their nieces and nephews to the US.
This is where things get even more nuanced.
The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) and Your Nieces and Nephews
When a sibling petitions for their brother or sister, the sibling’s children, the petitioner’s nieces and nephews, can potentially be included in the case as derivative beneficiaries, as long as they are under 21 and unmarried at the time of immigration.
The problem is obvious: if the case takes 20+ years, a child who was 5 when the petition was filed would be 25 by the time a visa becomes available. They’d have aged out.
Congress addressed this with the Child Status Protection Act, or CSPA. It provides a formula to calculate whether a child can still be considered “under 21” for immigration purposes despite the lengthy wait. The calculation is specific and depends on timing details that require careful legal analysis; it is not automatic protection.
The bottom line: if your niece or nephew is already 15 or 16 when a petition is filed today, there’s a strong likelihood they will age out before the case moves forward. But if a child is very young, and a petition was filed years ago, there may still be a path. CSPA is something you need an attorney to evaluate for your specific situation.
A Word of Caution About Life Planning
One thing that often gets overlooked is how much life changes over 20 to 25 years. The person you’re filing for today might be a young adult eager to start fresh in the US. By the time their case is approved, they may be in their 50s, with careers established abroad, children in school, elderly in-laws to care for, and deep roots in their home country.
Many people who waited decades for a sibling visa ultimately declined it when it finally came through, because the life they had built abroad was simply more compelling than uprooting everything at that stage of life.
This doesn’t mean filing is pointless. It means going in with eyes open. Filing today locks in a priority date and keeps the option alive. But it’s a mistake to plan your life, or your family’s life, around a visa timeline this unpredictable.
Bottom Line
Can US citizens file green card petitions for their brothers and sisters? Yes. Is it worth doing? Potentially, but it depends on your situation, your sibling’s age, the ages of any children involved, and a realistic understanding of what a multi-decade wait actually means.
If you’re considering this pathway, file as early as possible to lock in a priority date, understand the CSPA rules if nieces and nephews are involved, and speak with an immigration attorney who can assess your specific case. This is one of those areas where the details matter enormously.
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