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Applying for a B1/B2 visa after I-130 application

My uncle submitted an I-130 petition F4 category where my mother is the primary beneficiary and we are the derivative beneficiaries. I would like to apply for a B1/B2 visa. What do I have to fill for "Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf at USCIS?" Will the names of the derivative beneficiaries be visible to the visa officer because the official letters from USCIS only had the name of the primary beneficiary? If not can I answer it as 'no'? By the way I am also above 21 years.

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    "What should I fill in the DS160 form for "Has anyone filed for an immigrant visa?"" Are you sure that the DS-160 has such a question? The only related questions I can find on this DS-160 example are "Have you ever been issued a U.S. visa?" and "Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services?"
    – user102008
    Commented Jul 21 at 0:23
  • The second question in your comment is what I meant. What should I fill for it if I am not the primary beneficiary? Will the visa officer know I have an immigrant intent because will it come up in their system? None of the letters we received from USCIS contain my name
    – Rahul George Reji
    Commented Jul 31 at 3:15
  • @RahulGeorgeReji the question you should be asking is not whether anyone will have enough knowledge to catch your misrepresentation but whether the petition that was filed with you as a derivative beneficiary counts as "an immigration petition for you." Saying "yes" is not going to amount to instant disqualification; it will lead to additional questions about your plans to visit the US temporarily.
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 31 at 14:43

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According to 9 FAM 302.9-4(B)(8).b, you would not get a ban for misrepresentation of a material fact if you answered "no" to the question about whether someone has filed an immigration petition on your behalf, and you are a derivative beneficiary of such a petition.

b. (U) DS-160 Question on a Visa Petition Being Filed on Your Behalf: The Form DS-160 asks “Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services?” [...] An applicant who is the spouse or child of the principal beneficiary of a petition, even when named in the petition, would not make a misrepresentation by answering "no" to this question.

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The I-130 is not a visa and filing the application is not applying for a visa. Noone can file for a visa for you but you. I-130 on the other hand is filed by someone else, can be filed without your knowledge, and doesn't require any action or intent from you.

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  • 'Has anyone filed an immigration petition on your behalf' is a question in the DS 160 form. What should I fill for it if I am not the primary beneficiary? Will the visa officer know I have an immigrant intent because will it come up in their system? None of the letters we received from USCIS contain my name
    – Rahul George Reji
    Commented Jul 31 at 6:01
  • @RahulGeorgeReji "immigrant intent" doesn't mean that you plan to immigrate later. You are allowed to demonstrate a lack of immigrant intent with respect to a temporary visit if you plan to leave at the end of that visit and immigrate later. The problem, of course, is getting the officer to believe you when you say you're not planning to stay on that visit.
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 31 at 14:46
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The answer posted by user102008 establishes that answering "no" does not constitute misrepresentation in this case. Rather than delete this answer because I now know it to be irrelevant, I will leave it for the benefit of any readers who are considering a similar question but with a different fact pattern. The key point here is that misrepresentation might not be noticed in the application that employs the misrepresentation, but if it is noticed later then it can result in inadmissibility.

Consider this scenario:

You get the B visa because you indicated that there was no immigrant petition filed for you, and because the existing petition doesn't have your name on it. Later, you seek to immigrate as a derivative beneficiary of that petition. The case worker processing your immigration sees that you traveled to the US in the meanwhile using a B visa and sees that you didn't mention the petition when you applied for the B visa. The case worker concludes that you are inadmissible because you used deception to obtain an immigration benefit and refuses your application for an immigrant visa. Because there is no time limit to inadmissibility for misrepresentation, you never immigrate to the US nor even visit the US again.

This isn't guaranteed to happen, but it easily could. The safest course of action here is to answer "yes" to this question and present a strong application describing your motivation to visit and leave the United States before you immigrate.

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