FAQ:  Family-Based Immigration

Family-Based Immigration

Only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents can petition on behalf of their relatives, and only certain relationships qualify.  Some relative petitions are subject to numerical restrictions; others are not.  In all family-based cases, the procedure varies depending on where the foreign relative is: the U.S. citizen files a petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services establishing the relationship.  If the foreign relative is in the United States at the time of filing, he or she will concurrently file an application to adjust his or her status to permanent resident if there are green card numbers available corresponding to the applicant’s country of birth.  By contrast, if the foreign relative is not physically present in the United States at the time the U.S. citizen files the petition establishing the relationship, then once the petition is approved, the foreign relative submits his or her own application with a U.S. consular post abroad.  And if the applicant is subject to a numerical restriction and there are no green card numbers available corresponding to the applicant’s country of birth, then the applicant must wait until green card numbers become available before filing an application to adjust his or her status to permanent resident or to apply for a visa at a post abroad.

Put differently, green cards (or immigrant visas) are not automatically granted upon marriage to or upon adoption by a U.S. citizen.

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not subject to any numerical restriction: any spouse, unmarried child under the age of 21, or parent of a U.S. citizen.  This means that the foreign relative can apply for an immigrant visa (abroad) or adjustment of status (in the United States) at the same time as the U.S. citizen files a petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services establishing the relationship.

Other relatives of U.S. citizens are eligible for a green card, but are subject to numerical restrictions that create a backlog: brothers and sisters, married children of U.S. citizens and unmarried children who are 21 or older are all subject to numerical restrictions resulting in waiting periods of several years.  In addition, relatives of U.S. citizens born in mainland China, India, Mexico or the Philippines are also subject to numerical restrictions.

Spouses of lawful permanent residents and their unmarried children under 21 are also eligible for a green card, but are subject to numerical restrictions.  Here, too, there is a waiting period of several years.