Sponsor a Family Member

Petition for Noncitizen Relative

The United States allows certain categories of family members to immigrate to the United States based on their relations to either a lawful permanent resident (i.e., green card holder) or a U.S. citizen. There are two main types of family immigration cases: immediate relatives and those subject to quotas.

“Immediate relatives” have visas immediately available to them and are not subject to a quota. These cases may still take years to complete because of lengthy USCIS processing times or backlogs at the embassy, however they will not be stuck in a backlog behind others waiting in line for their visa.

Immediate relatives are:

1. Spouses of U.S. citizens
2. Unmarried children under the age of 21 years old of a U.S. citizen
3. Parent of a U.S. citizen (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older)

The other categories of relatives that may immigrate to the United States which are subject to quotas are:

• F1 Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
• F2A Spouses and child, and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents
• F2B Unmarried sons and daughters (21 year of age or older) or permanent residents
• F3 Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
• F4 Brother and sister of adult U.S citizens

These cases may experience very lengthy backlogs depending on the category of the country of origin of the beneficiary and the category.

As you can see, if the beneficiary’s petitioner is a U.S. citizen, the process moves faster. As a result, it pays for the petitioner to naturalize before or even during the petition process to potentially avoid the beneficiary being stuck in a quota line.

Liechty Law understands the stress of being away from loved ones and we are happy to talk through with you the best strategy for bringing your loved one here with as little separation as possible.

Expedited Processing Requests

While most people wish their visa petitions would move faster and find themselves stuck in a long line waiting for their application or petition to .

These are the situations in which an expedited processing request may be approved:

• Severe financial loss to a company or person, provided that the need for urgent action is not the result of the petitioner’s or applicant’s failure to timely file the benefit request or to timely respond to any requests for evidence;
• Emergencies or urgent humanitarian situations;
• Nonprofit organization (as designated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)) whose request is in furtherance of the cultural or social interests of the United States;
• Government interests, including cases identified by the government as urgent because they involve the public interest, public safety, national interest, or national security interests; and
• Clear USCIS error

Liechty Law is ready to discuss whether your situation may qualify for one of these bases for expediting your petition.

There are different procedures for expediting requests for particular applications, however the ones listed above are the ones relative to family and employment-based petitions.

Adjustment of Status and Consular Processing

An I-130 petition approval alone is not enough to obtain your immigration visa. The second step (taken concurrently with the filing if the visa is available, or otherwise done later on once the visa is available) is to apply for residency. Think of the I-130 as a petition to show your eligibility for an immigrant visa and the residency application as an application for the actual residency itself.

There are two pathways to residency with an approved (or in some cases filed) I-130: adjustment of status and consular processing.

Adjustment of status is an option for those who have already been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States, is not otherwise inadmissible, and want to apply for their residency from within the United States.

Consular processing is available for those who are outside the United States or those who are in the U.S. but do not qualify for adjustment of status. Consular processing is essentially the process and interviewing at a U.S. embassy or consulate and then obtaining the visa to present oneself at a U.S. port of entry to be admitted. Residency is technically not obtained until an officer admits the applicant at the U.S. port of entry.

If you are in the United States either without status or have an been removed from the United States previously, it is important that you discuss your case with an immigration attorney before leaving the United States to consular process because you may be subject to a bar(s) of admissibility due to unlawful presence in the United States or a previous deportation(s). Waivers may be available to overcome these bars.

We would be happy to discuss the specifics of your case to determine which one of these options would be viable or preferrable in your circumstances.