Hey, First of all, Yes Please clarify with a lawyer. However; as far as I am aware, she may be able to bring him as a dependent provided that she can prove that she has been supporting him for two years. If she can show that she has been paying for him to go to school in Nepal (?) or even helping by paying for his room and board etc that may help in showing that he has been her dependent. This is a similar process to adoption and the cut off age for adoption is 16 so she certainly talk to a lawyer to see what her options are. As far as sister sponsoring brother on Permanent Resident status is concerned, the current wait time for Nepal is close to 15 years and since he is already 16, he will "age out" at 21 so he doesn't get the benefit anyways. Her best options are to try and bring him in as a dependent and failing that on a student visa. Be careful when looking for a lwyer. As someone in training in Law school, I am telling you very honestly that there are a lot of lawyers who are very happy to take you money and do a horrid job of the paperwork so make sure you go to a lawyer that has a good reputation (DO NOT rely on yellow page or internet listings) If you have no clue as to a lawyer in your area look for a non-profit legal aid foundation or call the local bar association and ask for a referral. Good luck!