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Home / What Is the Category for Family Based Green Card

What Is the Category for Family Based Green Card

The family unit-based immigrant visa is one of the most common ways people learn green cards and get permanent residents in the U.s.a.. Citizens and permanent residents may petition the USCIS to bring their family members into the country on an immigrant visa.

Currently, this particular visa programme accounts for about ii-thirds of the more 1 million greenish cards issued annually. Only like every other immigrant visa, the family-based green card has several subcategories, each adamant by the family relationship that exists between the sponsor and the beneficiary of the visa.

Types of Family unit-Based Green Cards

The family unit-based green card category is broadly grouped into two, namely immediate relative category and family unit preference category. Light-green bill of fare applications for each of these 2 groups are treated differently. The relationship between the visa petitioner and the beneficiary will determine the steps and processing time of the application.

Immediate Relative Immigrant (IR) Visas

This family-based visa type is issued to close relatives of U.South. citizens. The subcategory tops other types of family unit-based visas because there is no limit to how many can be issued in a year, and it too has the fastest adjudication process. Firsthand relatives are categorized as follows:

  • IR-1: Spouse of a U.Southward. denizen
  • IR-two: A United States denizen's unmarried child under the age of 21
  • IR-iii: An orphan adopted abroad past a U.S. citizen
  • IR-4: An orphan to be adopted in the United States past a U.Southward. citizen
  • IR-5 A Us denizen'due south parent who is at to the lowest degree 21 years of historic period

Family Preference Immigrant Visas

family-based green card

This is meant for certain family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Different the immediate relative subcategory, family preference light-green cards have a numerical limitation, and just a specified number can be issued each twelvemonth.

Once the number has been reached for a particular fiscal twelvemonth, other applicants volition need to wait in visa line. The wait time can exist for several months or years, depending on the visa backlogs in their category. Family preference dark-green cards are:

Family First Preference (F1): This is for unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and their minor children. 23,400 visas are issued annually to applicants in this category.

Family unit 2nd Preference (F2): This is for spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (21 years and above) of lawful permanent residents. 114,200 visas are issued annually and up to 77% of the family-based green cards for the category usually go to the spouses and children. The remainder in the subcategory volition be allocated to unmarried sons and daughters.

Family unit Tertiary Preference (F3) : This category is for married sons and daughters of U.Due south. citizens as well as their spouses and pocket-sized children. The almanac limit is 23,400.

Family unit Fourth Preference (F4): This is for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and minor children. The U.S. citizen (petitioner) must be 21 years and in a higher place. This category has an annual limit of 65,000 visas.

Family-Based Green Menu Processing Time for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens

Because there is no numerical limitation for this category, visas are always readily available for applicants, which likewise ways a short processing time of v to 12 months. Once the I-130 petition filed by the petitioner (U.S. citizen) is approved by the USCIS, the immediate relative (IR) beneficiary will non have to wait in line for a visa number.

As stated above, this category is only meant for spouses, unmarried children (under 21 years quondam), and parents of U.S. citizens. If a child of a U.S. citizen is married, he or she will no longer qualify for this category even if he is under 21 years of age.

Family-Based Green Carte Processing Fourth dimension for Other Family Members of U.Southward. Citizens

While family members of U.S. citizens enjoy certain immigration processing preference, those who don't meet the definition of "immediate relatives" will have to pursue a family preference category.

For this set of people, in that location is no automatic availability of visas. After the approval of the I-130, the applicants will have to wait until there is a visa number available for them. The expect time for this subcategory can be upward to 12 to 36 months. In some cases, information technology may fifty-fifty have 5 to 10 years.

Family unit-Based Green Card Processing Time for Family Members of Lawful Permanent Residents

As a U.Southward. permanent resident (green card holder), you are immune to petition for your spouse or unmarried children to obtain green cards. Unlike a U.S. citizen, a green menu holder is not permitted to petition for siblings, parents, or married children. The annual visa cap for the family members of dark-green carte du jour holders is 114,200. The category is known as the 2d preference (F2), and information technology is split into two subcategories, namely F2A and F2B:

  • F2A: This is for spouses and unmarried children (beneath 21 years quondam) of green card holders. Out of the available 114,200 visas, a total of 87,934 (77%) go in this subcategory.
  • F2B: This is for unmarried children (21 years old and to a higher place) of green card holders. The remaining 23% of visas in the F2 category are allocated to this subcategory.

Family-based dark-green card applicants nether this category may also feel quite a long processing fourth dimension of up to 12 months and to a higher place. And in some cases, information technology may be as long every bit five to 10 years.

Almanac Visa Cap and Priority Date for Family-Based Dark-green Cards

All family preference light-green card petitions are subject to numerical limitation. And in most cases, the number of qualified applicants is college than the available immigrant visas for each of the categories. In this case, the available visas are issued in the chronological guild in which the petitions were submitted.

To ensure a level playing footing for all applicants, the National Visa Center (NVC) considers unlike factors, such as each category's annual cap, filing engagement, and country of origin when adjudicating green card applications. This is all adamant by something called your "priority engagement."

Your green carte du jour priority date is the date that the USCIS receives your I-130 petition. Information technology tin can be described every bit your place in the dark-green carte waiting line and will need to exist considered electric current before you tin proceed your green card processing. Your priority appointment can be found on the Notice of Action (I-797) approval of I-130 that was mailed to yous past the USCIS.

Your priority date becomes "current" when your priority date matches or passes the "final activity engagement" posted in the most contempo visa bulletin by the Department of Land.

How to Procedure Family-Based Green Card

Applicants whose petitions fall under immediate relative (IR) immigrants enjoy faster processing time than those who are family preference immigrants. However, the procedures and documentation for both types are the same, and are as follows:

I-130 Petition for Alien Relative

The kickoff step in a family-based green card application is the I-130 petition, which must be filed with the USCIS past a U.S. denizen or a lawful permanent resident. The I-130 is filed to establish the familial relationship that exists between the petitioner and the beneficiary.

After receiving the petition, the USCIS volition process it and determine if all the family-based greenish carte du jour eligibility criteria are met past both the petitioner and the beneficiary. Once the I-130 petition is approved and in that location is an available immigrant visa for the category, so the visa beneficiary will need to take the adjacent footstep by either applying for status adjustment or going through consular processing. This will depend on whether the sponsored family member is in the United States or abroad.

Dark-green Carte Processing for Family Members in the U.South.

This process is known as aligning of status, in which you will need to file the I-485 with the USCIS. This is your main green card application after establishing a qualifying familial relationship with I-130 petition. Information technology must be filled forth with all the required documents attached.

The I-485 and I-130 forms tin be submitted simultaneously by applicants who are immediate relatives, significant that their category does not have numerical limitation.

Green Bill of fare Processing for Family Members Outside the U.S.

This is known as consular processing. In this example, the canonical I-130 volition be forwarded to the appropriate embassy or consulate in the country where y'all (the beneficiary) reside. Both the petitioner and beneficiary will be notified when the petition reaches the embassy or consulate.

The notification volition also contain when and how to proceed with your green card procedure through consular processing. These adjacent steps involve a one-on-1 interview with a consular officer to verify your eligibility. The required form for this is the DS-260, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration.

There is more to only being a green card holder or U.S. citizen when determining eligibility for family-based light-green card sponsorship. Autonomously from the citizenship or LPR basic prerequisite, the following criteria must also be met:

  • You must be able to plant that y'all take a close family relationship with the visa beneficiary. The human relationship must exist in one of the categories listed in a higher place nether immediate relatives or family preference.
  • You must maintain your principal residence in the U.s..
  • As a green carte sponsor, you must show your readiness and capability to support your sponsored family unit member financially after arriving in the U.s.. Yous will need to sign an affidavit of support, which must evidence that your annual income can have care of y'all, the sponsored beneficiary, and every other dependent member of your household.

The minimum income requirement for family-based green card sponsorship is 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Currently (August 2019), the required corporeality for a household of 2 is $21,137 for all the 48 face-to-face states. For each additional person, yous volition need to add together $5,525.

For residents of Alaska and Hawaii, the amount for the same number of people is $26,412 and $24,325 and the required amount for each additional person is $half-dozen,912 and $vi,350 respectively.

Required Documentation for Family-Based Green Carte

For both immediate relative and family preference sponsorship, the following are general documents that will be needed for dark-green card processing:

  • Passport valid for at to the lowest degree six months beyond the intended appointment of entry into the U.Due south.
  • Affidavit of support
  • Birth certificate
  • Marriage certificate, if applicable
  • Union termination documentation, if applicable
  • Immigration medical examination class
  • 2 passport photographs. Must come across the DOS photo requirements

Yous may be asked to submit other documents depending on your case or the diplomatic mission in charge of your visa. Make certain that you visit the website of the embassy to be certain.

How VisaNation Law Group Can Assistance

Over the past few years, the immigration wait times have doubled. Currently, around 4.seven million applicants are waiting for light-green cards and there are strong indications that the number will keep rising. However, with the assistance of a family-based light-green carte du jour chaser lawyer, you tin expedite the procedure and avert delays.

VisaNation Law Group volition assistance yous prepare your petitions and documentation the all-time mode and avoid RFEs that can prolong the process. Their experienced family-based immigration attorneys volition also guide you through the interview procedure. Yous can schedule a consultation today by filling out this contact class.

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Source: https://www.immi-usa.com/family-based-green-card/