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Immigration to the US by way of family reunification is, next to green cards for employment purposes, the second most common way to obtain permanent residence. In addition to relatives of US citizens and Green Card holders, spouses also have the opportunity to qualify for an immigration category through marriage.
Accordingly, family-based immigration distinguishes between relatives or spouses of
In total, there are five categories of immigrants who can obtain a Green Card based on family ties.
US citizens may apply for immigration for their close relatives under certain conditions. An immigrant visa through the family can be obtained by immediate relatives and other close family members. Generally, US immigration law divides immigration based on family reunification into two groups:
Immediate relatives of US citizens have priority over all others and are not subject to an annual immigration quota or numerical limit. Immediate relatives of US citizens include:
The wife or husband of a US Citizen is eligible for immigration if the following requirements are met:
Children of US citizens may immigrate to the US as immediate relatives if they are not married and have not reached the age of 21.
Adopted children may also qualify for this category, provided that
Stepchildren qualify provided that the marriage between the spouses was consummated before the stepchild's 18th birthday.
The mother or father of a US citizen:in can immigrate to the US if the child, i.e. the US citizen, is already over 21 years of age.
Parents of adopted children and stepchildren may also qualify for a GreenCard under certain conditions (see unmarried children under 21).
NOTE: If a child is born in the United States, he or she automatically becomes an American citizen. However, there are no immediate benefits to the child's parents from this situation. An application for family reunification can only be filed by the child for the parents at the age of 21.
In addition to immediate kinship, other close degrees of kinship to US citizens may entitle the applicant to apply for family reunification.
In contrast to the immediate relatives, there is a numerical annual limit on US immigrant visas for the "other close relatives." In addition, there is a classification into preference categories (so-called "family-sponsored preferences"). The higher the preference category, the faster a green card can be issued. In any case, applicants must be patient, as there are unfortunately long waiting periods for each of the following categories:
Other close relatives of US citizens may qualify for a Green Card under certain conditions:
Children of U.S. citizens who are over 21 years of age have a lower status with respect to immigration than their younger siblings. An unmarried child over 21 is placed in the F1 (First Preference) category.
Unmarried adopted children and stepchildren over the age of 21 may also fall into the First Preference category under certain circumstances.
Children of US citizens who are over 21 and additionally already married are ranked even lower in the hierarchy of preference categories - F3 "Third Preference." The same applies under certain conditions to adopted children as well as stepchildren. In this case, the spouses of the children also receive a Green Card due to the "derivative status".
Siblings of US citizens may also immigrate to the United States through a green card process. However, US citizens must have already reached the age of 21 to apply for family reunification for a brother or sister. Unfortunately, siblings are placed in the lowest preference category, F4 "Fourth Preference".
Not only US citizens but also Green Card holders (= permanent residents) have the possibility under US immigration law to apply for family reunification for certain relatives albeit in a very limited form. Relatives of Green Card holders belong to the following group:
Second Preference F2: Spouses, unmarried sons and daughters under 21, and unmarried sons and daughters over 21
Thus, family members of green card holders are also eligible to immigrate to the United States. For the following persons, the US legislature allows the application for an immigrant visa to the US:
Individuals who marry a Green Card holder are eligible for immigration if the marriage is legal and is not a "marriage of convenience."
Spouses are placed in the Second Preference category and here again in the F2A subcategory. This results in an annual immigration quota and longer waiting times to receive a Green Card. The waiting times are currently around two years.
In the context of the annual immigration quota, a crucial difference is made between unmarried children above and below 21 years of age. Minor children can generally immigrate more quickly because they fall under the F2A (second preference) category. Nevertheless, waiting times currently amount to about two years to receive a Green Card even among this group of immigrants. The same applies under certain conditions to adopted children or stepchildren.
Unfortunately, adult, unmarried children of Green Card holders have to wait many years before they can receive a Green Card. They are also classified in the preferential category F2, but in this case in a further subcategory: F2B. Currently, the waiting time is about six years. The same applies under certain conditions to adopted children or stepchildren.
How high the costs for US visas are depends on which visa is applied for. Generally speaking, the more application steps are required and the more US authorities are involved, the more expensive the visa application will be. The application fees for US visas can therefore vary greatly.
Anyone applying for a visa for the USA at a US consulate or embassy must pay the following fees:
Additional costs are incurred for application procedures via the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such as applications for US work visas.
You can find more information about the different visa fees, other possible costs and the current payment methods on our fees page.
Regardless of the degree of relationship, US citizens or Green Card holders (lawful permanent residents, or LPRs) must first submit an application for their dependents: the USCIS form. I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative). Under the provisions of United States immigration law, two categories of family-based Green Cards are distinguished:
Spouses:inside, unmarried children under 21, and parents are in the first immigration category and have no numerical limit. These immigration applications are usually processed quite expeditiously.
For the second category of relatives, there are detailed rules about who you can "sponsor" to the US.
US citizens have many more options in this regard than Green Card holders (LPR) for family reunification.
Provided that the applicant status (for example, from Green Card holders to nationals) or the marital status of the "sponsored" relative (for example, from single to married) during the current application process, this also automatically leads to a change in the processing category.
Example 1: If the child of a US citizen marries during the process, the F1 processing category would change to F3.
Example 2: Green Card holders (LPR) assume US citizenship during the process. In this case, the unmarried child over 21 years of age who was previously in the F2 category would then be in the F1 category.
Example 3: The category would likewise change if the applicant, who previously held a Green Card, were naturalized and had a minor child under the age of 21. The child would then automatically fall from the category of "other dependents" (F1 to F4) to the category of "close relatives," which would significantly shorten the waiting period.
Conversely, there are also cases in which a change in marital status during the process makes the issuance of a permanent resident permit impossible. This would be the case, for example, if an unmarried son or daughter of an applicant marries before the applicant has become a US citizen. Since there is no processing category for married sons and daughters of Lawful Permanent Residents, the issuance of a Green Card would then be out of the question.
Exact wait times and immigration quotas can be found in the Visa Bulletin, which is updated monthly.
The available immigrant visas are issued in chronological order according to the date of their receipt. The date of receipt is therefore decisive for the duration of processing.
The waiting times for the USA immigrant visa are sometimes considerable and can be up to 13 years for certain countries. Applications from China, Mexico, India and the Philippines have even longer processing times. The reason for the long waiting times is that the number of applicants far exceeds the number of visas that can be issued.
For other relatives of US citizens, there is unfortunately no possibility of family sponsorship and thus of obtaining a green card. This means that grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. cannot apply for a family-based green card.
Also for other relatives of Green Card holders - for example married children, parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.. - there is unfortunately no possibility to obtain a family-based Green Card and thus immigrate to the USA.
We advise you on the choice of the appropriate visa category and take over the complete processing for you or your company.
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