Lots of men and women know that if you’re a U.S. citizen or permanent resident you may find a green card to your relatives living overseas, but some people don’t understand how to achieve this. Luckily, the process for filing for a relative is relatively easy, compared to employment-based or other visas. There’s also a very simple trick to making certain your family can join you at the U.S. whenever possible.
So as to receive a relative a green card, then you must file a petition (Form I-130) in their behalf. This petition basically says they are your relative and that you’re willing to sponsor them whenever they come to the U.S.. You have to attach to the request some documents that prove the connection, i.e. marriage or birth certificate, in addition to evidence of your citizenship or status as a legal permanent resident.
Who you are able to file this request for depends on if you’re a permanent resident or citizen. Permanent residents can file on behalf of the partner and kids. Citizens can also file on behalf of the parents and siblings. Unfortunately, you can’t request directly for other relatives, like cousins, grandparents, or aunts/uncles. Green card for all these more distant relatives can be achieved by”stringing together” petitions. By way of instance, you could request your parents who might eventually request their parents, your grandparents. Of course, this process does take longer, but it’s frequently the only way to allow those relatives to live and work in the U.S.
The wait time for the green cards varies based on if the petitioner is a permanent resident or citizen, familial relationship, and state of origin. The quickest is for the spouse and minor (under 21) children of taxpayers, there really is no limit to the amount of those visas available, and you may file an application (Form I-485) at the time you file the request. For everyone else, however, there’s a limit to the amount of visas the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service problems each year. Because more people submit applications for green cards the quota allows to be issued, a backlog has grown. This backlog can be more than 12 years for some classes, or as brief as two others. Just after waiting with this backlog to be processed can your comparative actually file an application and be issued a green card.
Which brings us to the very simple trick: request for your relatives whenever possible. This is going to be immediately once you have been granted permanent residency or citizenship. You might have standing in the U.S. for many years before your family member decides that they want to join you. However, every day that you wait before filing a request is just another day you will be separated from your loved ones. The relative simplicity and low price ($190) for filing a request likely make it worthwhile even if your relatives abroad aren’t sure they want to reside in the united states.
