QUALIFYING FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE AS AN IMMEDIATE RELATIVE OF A U.S. CITIZEN – UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Congress has designated those groups to whom it gives preference in immigrating to the United States. Unlike most other immigration candidates, a person who qualifies as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen is highly preferred. There is no numerical limitation placed on the number of immediate relatives of citizens who may become permanent residents (green card holders) in any one year.
However, it is important to note that family members of the immediate relative cannot immigrate unless each of them also qualifies as an immediate relative. For example, a U.S. citizen marries a foreign national who has a 19-year old child. The foreign national can immigrate as an immediate relative, but the child does not qualify as a child of the citizen, since the step relationship did not exist before the child’s 18th birthday. Another example is that of an adult U.S. citizen whose parents and 16-year old sister want to immigrate to the U.S. The citizen can petition for her parents, but not her sister because she is not considered to be an “immediate relative”. These are just a couple of examples of unintended consequences of U.S. immigration law. Although we as Americans place a great value on the family unit, immigration laws can sometimes hinder the cohesion of the family unit.There are 3 types of immediate relatives for immigration purposes. First, there is the spouse. A person who marries a U.S. citizen can qualify for immigration as an immediate relative as a spouse. Second, there is the child. Children of U.S. citizens are also eligible to immigrate. The U.S. citizen’s child must be unmarried and under the age of 21 years. Children born in wedlock automatically qualify and may be petitioned by either citizen-parent. Children born out of wedlock to citizen-mothers also qualify. A citizen father may petition for his child born out of wedlock only if the child was legitimized prior to the age of 18 and the child is in the legal custody of the citizen-father. Adopted children may also qualify, but only if the adoption was finalized prior to the child’s 16th birthday and certain procedural requirements with regard to the adoption have occurred. Stepchildren may qualify if the step relationship was established before the child’s 18th birthday. Finally, parents of U.S. citizens are eligible to immigrate as immediate relatives but only if the citizen is 21 years of age or older.Other groups of family members of U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens can qualify to immigrate to the U.S., but are not considered as “preferred” as immediate relatives of citizens. As such, these aliens are subject to a numerically-limited number of immigrant visas available to them each year. Since only a limited number of visas are available, Congress has divided these groups into “preference” categories, ranking them in the order in which they are preferred for immigration. The higher the preference, the more quickly a visa will be allotted to the alien. This will be the focus of our next article.Green Card Weddings - U.S.A. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY IMMIGRATION
Please Call 617-999-9439 or
Fill Out The Form Below to Receive a Free Evaluation:
Name:
Phone:
Email Address:
How Can We Help You?
