Maggio+Kattar

A United States citizen, age 21 or older, may petition for, or “sponsor,” a foreign national parent to become a permanent resident (“green card” holder) of the United States.  The immigration of a foreign national parent of a United States citizen is initiated by the filing of an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”).  These petitions must be accompanied by documentary evidence of the existence of a parent/child relationship and evidence of the U.S. citizen sponsor’s citizenship.  Additionally, if a foreign national father is to be sponsored, the marriage certificate between the mother and father is required.  Alternatively, if the parents were not married, the sponsoring U.S. citizen son or daughter must prove that he or she was “legitimated” under the laws of the place in which the father or child resided, or that a bona fide father-child relationship exists. 

 A U.S. citizen child may petition for a natural mother or father, provided that the sponsoring child was not legally adopted by another parent before age 16.  A step-parent may be sponsored if the marriage between the parent and the stepparent took place before the U.S. citizen child’s 18^th birthday.  An adoptive parent may be sponsored if the adoption took place before the U.S. citizen child’s 16^th birthday and the child lived with the adoptive parent in his or her legal custody for at least two years.  Processing times for these petitions vary, but usually take several months.  While many family petitions involve long waiting lines for visa numbers to become available, there are no such waiting lines for parents of United States citizens, who are considered “immediate relatives.”  When a petition is approved, the foreign national parent may then apply for an immigrant visa.  This permits the foreign national parent to become a permanent resident of the United States (“green card” holder) after admission to the United States with the immigrant visa.  Or, if eligible, he or she may concurrently apply to adjust status to permanent resident (“green card”) while present in the United States. 

Most family-based visa petitions are initiated when the sponsoring relative files an immigrant visa petition, also known as a Form I-130, with the appropriate Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Service Center or U.S. Consulate abroad. The date of receipt of this petition by USCIS establishes the “priority date,” or place in line for an immigrant visa. Processing times for these petitions vary from several months or much longer depending on visa availability.  When a petition is approved, and the “priority date” becomes current (i.e. after any applicable waiting line has passed), the sponsored individual may apply for an immigrant visa or, where eligible, apply for adjustment of status to obtain lawful permanent residence in the United States.   An immigrant visa permits the individual to become a legal permanent resident (“green card” holder) after admission to the United States with the immigrant visa. It is important to note that filing an immigrant visa petition for a relative can make it more difficult for the sponsored individual to obtain a tourist, student, or certain other types of temporary visas or it may bring an individual here in the United States without authorization to the attention of the immigration authorities. Additionally, an individual must otherwise be eligible to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the United States or be eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility.  An individual’s admissibility should also be thoroughly assessed before a visa petition is filed.