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USCIS stands for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is the agency of the U.S. government principally responsible for matters dealing with aliens in the United States. USCIS has jurisdiction over immigrant petitions and adjustment applications for Family Based Immigration. Prior to March 2003, the USCIS was called the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). For a brief period of time, it was known as the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS). It is also sometimes just referred to as the CIS.
Family based immigration is becoming a U.S. permanent resident through certain family relations. Normally, a U.S. citizen (USC) or legal permanent resident (LPR) would file an immigration petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS). This USC or LPR is called the “Sponsor.” The alien relative for whom the immigration petition is filed is called the “Beneficiary.”
A family member who is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident can sponsor people seeking entry into the United States and, eventually, green cards. Visas are available on a preference basis, with more visas available for close relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents and fewer available for more distant relatives.
Yes. If you are a U.S. legal permanent resident, you can sponsor your spouse, an unmarried child under 21 years old or an unmarried child over 21 years old.
Immediate relatives are spouses, unmarried minor children and parents of U.S. citizens (if the citizen is 21 or older). The number of immigrant visas for these immediate relatives is unlimited.
All other immigrants fall into a “family preference” category (for more distant relatives) which has a capped/limited number of visas granted per year. These relatives may be sponsored via a family preference petition: unmarried children older than 21, married children of any age and siblings (if the U.S. citizen petitioner is more than 21 years old).
A USC or LPR can be the Sponsor of a family-based immigration petition. However, the Sponsor has to meet some requirements and legal obligations. The Sponsor has to execute a legally binding affidavit of support for the Beneficiary, in which the Sponsor guarantees to maintain the standard of living of the intending immigrant at a level not lower than 125% of the national poverty level. This obligation continues until the Beneficiary has become a U.S. citizen or has worked in the United States for 40 qualifying quarters.
First of all, “immediate relatives” of a USC, including parents, spouses, widows, and children of a USC (children who are unmarried and under 21 years of age, and, in the case of a parent of a USC, the petitioning son or daughter being at least 21 years of age) can immigrate to the United States without being subject to any numerical restrictions. They can apply for the permanent resident status without any waiting time. The rest of the Beneficiaries are divided into several groups called Preferences. Each Preference is given a numerical quota per year to limit the number of immigrants admitted into the United States.
The four Preferences are as follows: 1st Preference: applies to unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens 2nd Preference: applies to spouses and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents 3rd Preference: applies to married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens 4th Preference: siblings of U.S. citizens
No, he cannot file immigration petition for you based on your parent-child relationship until he reaches the age of 21.
No, you cannot. As a lawful permanent resident, you are not eligible to petition to bring your parents to live and work permanently in the United States.
According to the “Child Status Protection Act”, your son will continue to be considered a child of a USC for immigration purposes if you file the immigration petition before he turns 21.
No, you cannot. As a USC, you are eligible for filing for the immigration of your sister when you are at least 21 years old.
No, as an LPR, you are not eligible to apply immigration for your alien brother.
Beneficiaries are strictly defined and one has to meet the definition of its category at the time that the application of adjustment of status is approved. Those who do not meet the definitions cannot immigrate to the United States through family-based immigration.
An “immediate relative” of a U.S. citizen is the spouse, parent, widow, or child of the U.S. citizen. Specifically, a “child” is the son or daughter of a U.S. citizen, who is unmarried and under the age of 21. An adopted child qualifies as long as the adoption was finalized before the child’s 16th birthday. A stepchild qualifies as long as the marriage had occurred before the stepchild’s 18th birthday. A “parent” must meet the same test as for the “child”. One thing to point out is that a father-in-law or mother-in-law of a U.S. citizen are not “parents” of the U.S. citizen for immigration purposes.
Depending on the relationship between the Sponsor and the Beneficiary, these are the typical documents required: certificate of naturalization, birth certificate, marriage license, adoption paper, and/or a divorce decree. In most cases, the Sponsor needs to provide employment verification and W-2 forms for recent years. Other information required of the Beneficiary includes the passport, visa, I-94, photos, and medical examination report.
It is important to know that the approval of a relative petition alone does not give legal status to the beneficiary. In some situations, the beneficiary may have to wait several years after approval of the I-130 before he or she is able to apply for permanent residence status. During this waiting period, the beneficiary does not have the right to live and work in the United States.
The current Visa Bulletin can be found at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html .
A fiancé(e) visa is a special visa, K-1, issued to an alien who seeks to enter the United States to marry a U.S. citizen. First of all, the U.S. citizen Sponsor has to file a petition with the USCIS. Once approved, the alien fiancé will apply for a K-1 visa at a U.S. Consulate overseas. On a K-1 visa, the alien has to marry the U.S. citizen Sponsor within 90 days after the alien enters the United States.
A Conditional Green Card is issued to the Beneficiary if the Beneficiary is the spouse of the U.S. citizen Sponsor and the marriage occurred less than two years before the Beneficiary is admitted as a U.S. permanent resident. Both spouses need to jointly petition to remove the condition within 90 days before the second anniversary of the Beneficiary’s admission as a permanent resident. Failure to do so will result in the termination of the Beneficiary’s conditional permanent residence.
Yes. If the Beneficiary is already in the United States and has applied for permanent residency, he or she can apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) at the same time. Once the EAD is received, the Beneficiary will be able to start to work legally in any profession.
Yes, the federal poverty guidelines change from year to year.
Yes, but you need a co-sponsor for the financial supports.
No. It is OK as long as your co-sponsor meets the financial support requirements.
Basically, to be a co-sponsor, a person must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, 18 years of age or older, and must fulfill the domicile requirement, the affidavit requirement, and the income requirement.
Yes, if you fulfill other requirements for a co-sponsor.
Yes. There is no limitation on number of co-sponsors that you can have. But if you have more than one co-sponsor, each co-sponsor must submit evidence showing that he/she meets the full 125% income requirement.
Domicile is a person’s principle or actual dwelling place. The U.S. immigration law requires that a co-sponsor must domicile in the U.S., i.e. must have a principle or actual dwelling place in the U.S.
A co-sponsor must submit with the affidavit the following documents:
Basically, the co-sponsor must have an income 125% above the federal poverty lines.
Yes. Under the U.S. immigration law, an affidavit of support is legally enforceable and may be enforced by the sponsored person, the state or federal government or any agency providing a means-tested public benefit.
Yes. Divorce alone does not nullify the affidavit.
REMEMBER THAT EVERY IMMIGRATION CASE IS DIFFERENT. IMMIGRATION LAW IS COMPLICATED AND IS BASED ON THE PARTICULAR FACTS OF EACH PERSON’S CASE. DO NOT ASSUME THAT YOUR CASE IS JUST LIKE SOMEONE ELSE’S CASE AS THEY MAY NOT HAVE THE SAME FACT SCENARIO AS YOU.
DO NOT RELY ON WHAT YOU MAY HAVE SEEN OR HEARD ON SOCIAL MEDIA. DO NOT RELY ON ADVICE FROM UNLICENSED INDIVIDUALS OR NOTARIOS.
WHEN YOU HAVE AN IMMIGRATION LAW QUESTION, CHECK WITH AN IMMIGRATION LAWYER. CALL US TODAY AT 405-601-2222.
