Meaning of Petitioner, Beneficiary and Derivative
For the immigration filing case purpose, if the U.S. Citizen (USC) or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) files the family petition or sponsors their relative based on eligible visa categories, they become a petitioner while their relatives can be called as beneficiary (ies). The derivatives are family members of beneficiary (ies) and they can be defined as they are family members (of eligible beneficiary) who can “ride” on a petition as a rider. However, these are certain relatives of the beneficiary who can derive their status from the principal beneficiary. For example, after the petitioner has filed the family petition through USCIS, the children and / or spouse of beneficiary can be included on the petition as long as the beneficiary is not in an immediate relative category. Please note that derivatives are not allowed on petitions filed in the immediate relative (IR) category. When the priority date of the approved petition is available, the derivative can derive the same immigration benefit with the principal beneficiary.
What is a Priority Date?
The priority date is the date of the petition is approved by USCIS. The priority date can be seen on the receipt (Form I-797) issued. The priority date plays critical role for approved beneficiaries of family petitions in order to get visa through consulate process. Once the priority date becomes current, a beneficiary can continue with the visa process.
Understanding Visa Chargeability
According to State Department’s visa bulletin, there are five categories such as all chargeability; China-mainland; India; Mexico and the Philippines. Specifically, the category of “all chargeability” belongs to every applicant from the world except for China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. Because these countries are significantly backlogged for visa availability and they have longer wait times than the other countries. For example: for the visa chargeability calculation, a visa is “charged” to the country in which the beneficiary was born. Even if the beneficiary holds dual / multiple citizenships, they will still be charged against the country in which they were born. However, there are a few exceptions to this chargeability rule. For example: Although a child was born in a country with regular chargeability, he/she may be also charged to the country of either parent in addition to the country in which they were born.
The other interesting is: if a person who lost United States Citizen status is chargeable to their present country of citizenship; and if a person who is stateless is charged to their country of last residence.
