U.S. immigration law allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to file papers with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) seeking to give their relatives legal immigration status and have them join them here in the U.S. if they are not here already. At Minsky, McCormick & Hallagan, PC, our Cicero family immigration attorneys help clients to navigate the U.S. immigration system when filing papers and obtaining status for qualified relatives.
All family-based immigrants are grouped in two major categories: immediate relative or family preference. Immediate relatives are spouses, parents, and unmarried children (under age 21) of U.S. citizens. There are several advantages that accrue for this category, with one of them being there are no limitations as to how many people can migrate under this category.
The other major category of family-based immigration is the “family preference” category, which comprises all other qualified relationships of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. This category is further subdivided into subcategories as follows:
One of the drawbacks of being classified in this family preference category is the number of immigrant visas available for this category is limited. For this reason, there is a backlog causing long waits for many in this category to obtain their green cards.
The process for family-based immigration starts with the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder) filing a petition with the USCIS and paying a fee for it. If you are a U.S. citizen, then your qualifying relative can concurrently file their application for a green card at the same time you are filing the petition and pay the required fee. If you are a green card holder, then you will first need to file the petition, and your relative can only apply for their green card once the petition is approved.
Your petition will be reviewed by a USCIS examiner to first establish that there is a valid, legal relationship between you and the relative you are filing for and secondly, that the relationship was not entered into for purposes of circumventing U.S. immigration law.
If those two requirements are satisfied, the USCIS examiner will next determine whether your relative is eligible for admission as a permanent resident and that they are not barred by the various grounds of inadmissibility.
Obtaining a family-based green card is a complicated process, and having an experienced immigration attorney can make a difference in both navigating the process smoothly and avoiding or successfully addressing issues that may otherwise be problematic. Contact us today for a consultation.