Family-Based Immigration

Certain family members (of United States Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents) can enter the United States to permanently live and work if they meet certain requirements. A United States citizen (USC) is person who holds a US passport, and a lawful permanent resident (LPR) is a person who holds a green card.

Each of these family members are eligible for lawful permanent residence (green card) if the applicant can prove the familial relationship (through documentation) and if the USC or LPR is willing to the sponsor them. The I-130 form is used to prove and document the familial relationship, and the I-485 form is used to apply for permanent residency. Finally, an immigrant visa number must be available (current) to obtain a green card as described below.

Differences in the Family Categories

Immediate relatives of USC, includes spouses (husband/wife) and children (under 21 years old and unmarried), do not have to wait for an immigrant visa number once the applicant's visa petition is approved. In other words, there is no waiting time for immediate relatives, so they may enter the United States immediately after his/her visa petition is approved.

Immediate relatives of US Citizens includes spouses. For more information on the application process for spouses of US Citizens, please visit our Permanent Residency through Marriage page.

Unfortunately, for the other family categories, there are waiting periods for those visa petitions. Those family categories must wait for an immigrant visa number to become available which is based on their family category. Please look below at the chart for the current visa bulletin released by USCIS.

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Family members must fall into one of the following five (5) categories:

Immediate Relatives	1st Category:	2A Category:	2B Category:	3rd Category:	4th Category:
Husband/Wife of USC	Unmarried Children of US Citizen (over 21 years old)	Spouses and Children of Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)	Unmarried Children of LPR (at least 21 years old)	Married Children of US Citizen (over 21 years old)	Brothers and Sisters of US Citizen
Children (under 21 years old and unmarried) of USC		Husband or Wife of LPR
Parents of USC (USC must be at least 21 years old)		Children (under 21 years old and unmarried) of LPR

Visa Bulletin for December 2013

For each family category, there are waiting periods (except for immediate relatives). The table below shows which applications are currently being processed at this time. If the table shows the letter "C" it means that the immigrant visa is currently available. If the table shows a date, it means USCIS is currently looking at applications FILED ON OR BEFORE that date.

Family Pref	All Countries Except Listed	China	India	Mexico	Phillipines
1st	15NOV06	15NOV06	15NOV06	22SEP93	01JUL01
2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	01SEP13	08SEP13
2B	01MAY06	01MAY06	01MAY06	01APR94	22MAR03
3RD	08MAR03	08MAR03	08MAR03	01JUN93	22JAN93
4TH	08SEP01	08SEP01	08SEP01	22OCT96	01JUN90/td>

Example #1:

Juan is 32 years old and a Mexican citizen. His mother is an US Citizen who lives in Texas. Juan is not an "immediate relative of a USC" because he is over 21 years old. Therefore, he falls under the third preference (3rd) category (married children of USC). According to the visa bulletin, USCIS is only looking at applications filed before June 1, 1993 (01JUN93). So, if Juan's mother filed a visa application for her son today (November 1, 2013 - Juan's priority date), they would have to wait many years before he will receive his immigration visa number. Juan would have to wait until the visa bulletin read 01NOV13 or later for the third preference category.

Example #2:

Kim is 25 years old and a South Korean citizen. His sister is an US Citizen who lives in New York. Kim falls under the fourth preference (4th) category because he is a brother or sister of a USC. According to the visa bulletin, the current priority date is September 8, 2001 (08SEP01) for the fourth preference category. So, if Kim's sister filed a visa application for Kim on November 1, 2013 (Kim's priority date), Kim will have to wait approximately 12 years to obtain his immigrant visa number. Kim will have to wait till his priority date becomes current. In other words, the visa bulletin must read 01NOV13 for the fourth preference category.

Example #3:

Example #3: Raul is 18 years old, unmarried, and a Spanish citizen. His dad is a US Citizen. This makes Raul an "immediate relative of a USC," so he has no waiting period to obtain his immigrant visa number. Raul can file his visa petition immediately and enter the United States immediately after his visa petition is approved.

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