Family Based Green Card Applications

Immediate Relatives:

Immediate relatives are the children, spouses, and parents of United States Citizens. If the U.S. Citizen person and the relative are in the United States, petition process usually takes six months. If the child, spouse or parent is in a foreign country, he or she must apply at a consulate in his or her country. The petitioning U.S. Citizen must be financially responsible for the relative and must have a level of income that is sufficient under the poverty guidelines. Joint U.S. Citizen sponsor(s) is or are allowed as well.

Other Relatives:

First Preference: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens.

Second Preference: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents:

     A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit

     B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third Preference: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens.

Fourth Preference: Brothers and Sisters of U.S. Citizens. A U.S. citizen can sponsor his or her brother or/and sister for green card. This is a long process, but it is after all a process and you have nothing to lose. We recommend the U.S. Citizen sponsor to file for the I-130 form for his or her brother and get a priority date and wait until the green card visa date is current and file for green card thereafter.

To check the priority dates of visa availability please visit the U.S. Department of state website