Family-Based Visas

Applying for a Family-Based Visa

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First, the U.S. Citizen or green card holder must file an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative. This petition must be approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In order to be approved, the petitioner must establish the relationship with the non-citizen relative that they wish to sponsor. In the case of a marriage-based visa, the petitioner and the beneficiary spouse must establish that the marriage is a bona fide marriage, and not a marriage entered into solely for the purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit. For other family-based visas, birth certificates and other types of documents establishing the parent/child or sibling relationship will be necessary. The visa process will differ depending on whether the foreign family member already resides in this country or is awaiting processing outside of the U.S. For those beneficiaries who are inside of the U.S. at the time of filing, they will have an interview scheduled at their local USCIS office. For those family members remaining outside of the U.S., their interviews will be scheduled at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in their home country (or country of legal residence) to complete the process.

Individuals who may be eligible to be processed in the immediate relative category include spouses, unmarried children of a U.S. citizen who are under 21, orphans adopted abroad by a citizen, orphans to be adopted by a citizen, and a parent of a citizen who is at least 21. Children who are over the age of 21 or who are married, as well as brothers and sisters, are still eligible for family preference, but are subject to an annual cap.