Family Based Immigration

Permanent immigration or lawful permanent residency in the U.S. comes with a variety of rights and privileges including the right to permanently live and work in the U.S. If you want to immigrate to the U.S. through the family-based category, your relative who is either a U.S. Citizen or a Lawful Permanent Resident must sponsor you.

Procedure to Apply for Family-Based Immigration

• Your sponsor must submit Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) for you at a USCIS center, along with documentation to prove that:
• He/She is a Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident of the U.S.
• He/She can support you at 125% above the mandated poverty line and fill out an Affidavit of Support.
• You are related to him/her.
• Once USCIS receives your visa petition from your sponsor, it will be approved or denied. In the event that the petition is approved, USCIS will notify your sponsor.
• USCIS then sends the approved visa petition to the Department of State's National Visa Center. The Center will notify you when the visa petition is received and again when an immigrant visa number is available. The immigrant visa numbers are allotted on the basis of the Preference Categories (described below). You can check your visa number allotment status in the Department of State's Visa Bulletin.

Note: You need to contact the National Visa Center only if:

• You change your address
• There is a change in your personal situation or that of your sponsor that may affect the eligibility for an immigrant visa for you - such as attaining the age of 21 years, marriage, divorce or death of a spouse; or
• If you are already in the U.S. when an immigrant visa number is allotted to you, you can apply to change your status to that of a Lawful Permanent Resident. If you are not in the U.S. when an immigrant visa number becomes available, you must complete the processing of your application at the U.S. Consulate that services the area in which you reside.

Preference Categories

There are several preference categories for allotting of immigrant visa numbers based on the status of the sponsor.

• Immediate Allotment: Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens do not have to wait for an immigrant visa number. Once the application is approved by USCIS, they are allotted a number immediately. Immediate relatives include the sponsor's parents, spouse and unmarried children below the age of 21 years.
• First Preference: Unmarried adult (above the age of 21 years) sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
• Second Preference: Spouses of Lawful Permanent Residents and their unmarried sons and daughters of any age.
• Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
• Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens.

The list below outlines the type of relatives a U.S. Citizen or a Lawful Permanent Resident can sponsor based on relationship.

A U.S. Citizen can sponsor:

• His/her spouse
• Unmarried son/daughter of any age
• Married son/daughter of any age
• Parent/brother/sister provided the sponsor is at least 21years old

A Lawful Permanent Resident can sponsor:

• His/her spouse
• Unmarried son/daughter of any age

Alien Spouse

U.S. Immigration law allows two methods for U.S. citizens to bring future spouses to the U.S.: the K-1 Fiance Visa and the Alien-Spouse Immigrant Visa. The K-1 Visa. generally takes less time to process than the Alien-Spouse Visa. The Alien-Spouse Visa, however, is a proven path toward lawful permanent residency for your spouse. If the marriage takes place abroad, an I-130 petition should be filed after the marriage. This petition should be filed either with USCIS in the U.S., or at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. Please contact USCIS or the appropriate foreign service post for details about what specific documents you will need to file an immigrant petition for a new spouse. For more information, read our section on Family-Based Immigration.

K Visas

Under the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act (LIFE Act) and its amendments, the K visa allows the spouse and unmarried children (below the age of 21 years) of a U.S. citizen to enter, live and work in the U.S. as nonimmigrant until they receive Lawful Permanent Resident status.
The spouse is given a K-3 visa and the children are given K-4 visas.
You can receive a K-3 (Spouse) visa if:

• You have married a U.S. citizen.
• Your U.S. citizen spouse has filed Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) with USCIS for you.
• You want to enter the U.S. to wait for the approval of the petition to become a Lawful Permanent Resident.
• You have forwarded an approved Form I-129F (Petition for Alien Fiancé) to the U.S. Consulate (which issues immigrant visas) in the country where you were married. If you were married in the U.S., the approved petition has to be forwarded to a consulate which has jurisdiction over the area where you reside.

You can receive a K-4 (Child) visa if:

• You are unmarried and under the age of 21 years.
• You are the child of a foreign national who is eligible for a K-3 visa.

There are two advantages to having a K-3/K-4 nonimmigrant visa:

• You are allowed to work in the U.S. while waiting for your Permanent Resident status. However, in order to do this you must have a work permit. To apply for a work permit, submit Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) to the USCIS center in Chicago.

Note: You will not need to apply for a work permit after you have become a Lawful Permanent Resident of the U.S. because you will receive a permanent resident card which allows you to permanently live and work in the U.S. Your valid K-3/K-4 nonimmigrant visa allows you to travel outside of and return to the U.S., even if you are still waiting for your Permanent Resident status.

V Visas

Under the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act (LIFE Act) and its amendments, a V visa allows the spouse and unmarried children (below the age of 21 years) of a Lawful Permanent Resident to enter, live and work in the U.S. as nonimmigrants until they receive Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status.

The spouse is given a V-1 visa and the children are given V-2 or V-3 visas. You can receive a V-1 (Spouse) visa if:

• You have married an LPR of the U.S.
• Your LPR spouse has filed Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) with USCIS on your behalf on or before December 21, 2000 and you are the principal beneficiary of the petition.
• You have been waiting for at least three years for the approval of the petition for Lawful Permanent Resident status.

You can receive a V-2 (Child) visa if:

• You are unmarried and under the age of 21 years.
• You are the child of an LPR of the U.S.
• Your LPR parent has filed Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) with USCIS for you, on or before December 21, 2000 and you are the principal beneficiary of the petition.

You can receive a V-3 (Child) visa if:

• You are unmarried and under the age of 21 years.
• You are the derivative child of a foreign national who is eligible for a V-1 visa.

There are two advantages to having a V nonimmigrant visa:

• You are allowed to work in the U.S. while waiting for your Permanent Resident status. However, in order to do this, you must have a work permit. To apply for a work permit, submit Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization) to the USCIS center in Chicago.

Note: You won't need to apply for a work permit after you have become a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States because you will receive a Permanent Resident card which allows you to permanently live and work in the U.S. Even while waiting for your Permanent Resident status, your valid V nonimmigrant visa allows you to travel outside of and return to the U.S.