Hi, my brother is an Us Citizen and he requested an I-130 petition for me. When he made the petition he included me as married and with kids. The I-130 petition was approved by April and I was wondering if all my children will get approved too. Only two of my kids are under age 21 the rest are 21+.

The I-130 is the first part of the 2 part process for permanent residence in the family-based preference system. The second part is the application for permanent residence or immigrant visa. This cannot be done until your priority date (PD) is current.

You are a family-based fourth preference (FB-4) as the sibling of a USC, please check the PD for your case. That is the date of the filing of the I-130. It is noted as such "priority date" on the I-797 receipt notice and the I-797 approval notice in a box at the top left of the page.

Then, you need to check the DOS visa bulletin to see the dates for visa availability and compare that to your PD. when the VB dates match your PD, you can file for permanent residence, as at that time there is a visa available for you and any qualifying family members.

At that time, your wife and minor children will get permanent residence with you at the time you apply for permanent residence. Unfortunately, it takes about 9 years for applicants from most countries to have visas available.

As of the most recent VB, November 2010, http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulleti...etin_5172.html most countries are at January 2002. Compare that date to your PD and you will have an estimate of the time and whether your minor children will be under 21 as of that date.

If this is not clear, consult with any immigration attorney and they should be able to explain in more detail. I hope this was helpful, good luck.