Family Sponsored Applications
An aspiring immigrant can qualify for two categories of family based immigrant visas:
An immediate relative of a U.S. citizen; which include spouses, minor children, parents or widows/widowers of a US citizen.
- Under one of the four family preference immigrant visas, and include
- sons or daughters of US citizens
- spouse and unmarried children of LPRs
- married sons or daughters of U.S. citizens
- Brothers/Sisters of US citizens
Except for immediate relatives, the time a person has to wait to receive the visa, depends upon his or
her visa category. The immediate relatives have advantages over the preference categories. There
are no annual caps for the immediate relative category. Furthermore, if they entered the United States
legally, immediate relatives are exempt from certain bars such as overstaying their time of admission.
To be eligible for lawful permanent residence based on a family relationship you must meet the
following criteria:
i. You must have a relative who is a US Citizen/lawful permanent resident and willing to sponsor you for lawful permanent residency by filing the I-130 Petition.
ii. Your relative should be able to prove that he can support you by providing documentation that his income is 125 per cent above the poverty line for his family, including you and other sponsored family members.
Procedure to petition for Family Members:
If you want to become a lawful permanent resident based on the fact that you have a relative who is a citizen of the United States or a lawful permanent resident, then you must go through the following multi-step process.
- The USCIS must approve an immigrant visa petition, I-130 for alien relative on your behalf by your relative/sponsor, and must be accompanied by proof of your relationship to the sponsor in the form of birth /marriage certificates.
- The Department of State must determine if an immigrant visa number is currently available to you, it means that you can apply to have one of the immigrant visa numbers assigned to you.
How to Petition for your Spouse:
File form I-30 along with marriage certificate and proof of termination of earlier marriage if any.
How to Petition for your siblings:
File form I-130 along with their birth certificates showing common parentage.
Adjustment of Status:
Section 245 of the immigration and naturalization laws allows certain persons to become permanent residents without leaving the U.S through a process called adjustment of status. Generally, persons who entered the US without being inspected by a USCIS officer, who have ever been unlawfully employed in the US or who failed to maintain their lawful status in the U.S are barred from adjusting their status in the US.
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