| Family Based Immigrant Visa/Green Card |
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| U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents in many cases can file immigrant visa petition for their family members or relatives. The system of family immigration is divided into two categories: |
- Immediate relatives of United States citizens, and
- The “preference system” which includes other close relatives of U.S. citizens as well as spouses and children of lawful permanent residents.
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The advantage of being an immediate relative category is that immediate relatives are exempt from the annual limit and they do not have to wait in line for visa availability. The spouse, unmarried child less than 21 years of age and parents of a U.S. citizen come under immediate relative category. U.S. citizens can file immigrant visa petitions for more distant relatives than lawful permanent residents. For example U.S. citizens can file petitions for their spouses, parents, brothers and sisters, whereas lawful permanent residents can only file for their spouse and unmarried children. Another advantage of filing a petition as a U.S. Citizen is that in many categories their family members or relatives are allowed to immigrant faster than a lawful permanent resident. Besides immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen, other members or relatives can only immigrate to U.S. based on family preference visa categories, which has an annual limit.
A lawful permanent resident that hopes to become a naturalized citizen of the U.S. should consider to applying for his or her relatives immediately under preference category, without waiting until she is a citizen. Once a permanent resident filed for a relative under preference category and then becomes a naturalized U.S. citizen, s/he can upgrade any visa petition pending to the immediate relative category from family preference category.
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| A U.S. citizen can file an immigrant visa petition for: |
- Parents
- Husband or wife,
- Unmarried children under 21 years of age
- Unmarried son or daughter over 21 years of age
- Married son or daughter
- Brother or sister
- Adopted son or daughter provided child is under 16 years of age.
Orphan
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| A lawful permanent resident can file an immigrant visa petition for: |
- Husband or wife
- Unmarried son or daughter of any age
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| Necessary Documentation Required for Family Based Immigrant Visa Petitions: |
- Evidence that Petitioner is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
- Evidence of Petitioner’s relationship to the foreign national relative.
- Evidence that Petitioner is willing to sponsor foreign national relative by providing documentation that his or her income is 125 % above the poverty guidelines for all of their dependent family members.
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If foreign national relative of a U.S. citizen is in the U.S. , he may able to immigrate through a process called adjustment of status. The process of adjustment of status in the U.S. involves different set of forms, documents, and procedural rules.
If foreign national relative is not in U.S. or is not able to become a permanent resident through adjustment of status in the U.S. , the individual can apply for consular processing in his home country. In that event, U.S. citizen petitioner files petition with the service center in the U.S. and beneficiary eventually had an appointment at the office of a U.S. consulate abroad. |
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| For additional information about our ability to help, prepare and file all the necessary documents required to apply for family based immigrant visa petitions/ Green Card, contact us for reliable advice. |
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| At The Ahluwalia Firm, our emphasis is on : |
- providing zealous representation before the USCIS
- delivering value for money, ensuring seamless processing of your visa petition/application
- providing careful review of your personal circumstances
- providing dependable advice and assistance on how to present yourself at the interview
- ensuring a service-delivery model that meets and exceeds your satisfaction
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| Source: www.uscis.gov |
