Family Sponsorship Visas
Uniting Families Around the World
Each day, immigration attorneys Carol Edward, Eric Lin, Leta Sanchez and Genevieve Hayton ease the anxiety of clients who are awaiting a reunion with loved ones. We honor the opportunity to unite your family members from around the world and to help obtain visas for family members already in the U.S. We are personally committed to ensuring that your loved ones obtain lawful status as quickly as possible.
Family Sponsorship Visas
To be eligible to sponsor a relative to immigrate to the United States you must meet the following criteria:
- You must be a citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States and be able to provide documentation proving your status.
- You must prove that you can support your relative at 125% above the mandated poverty line.
If you are a U.S. Citizen you may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the United States; however you must be able to provide proof of the relationships:
- Husband or wife;
- Unmarried child under 21 years old;
- Unmarried son or daughter over 21;
- Married son or daughter of any age;
- Brother or sister, if you are at least 21 years old;
or
Parent, if you are at least 21 years old.
Preference Categories
Family sponsored immigrants receive visa numbers based on a preference system developed by the USCIS. The immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, (parents, spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21) do not have to wait for an immigrant visa number to become available once the visa petition filed for them is approved by the USCIS. The relatives in the remaining categories must wait for an immigrant visa number to become available according to the following preferences:
- First Preference: Unmarried, adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Adult means 21 years of age or older.
- Second Preference: Spouses of lawful permanent residents, their unmarried children (under twenty-one), and the unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents.
- Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
- Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens.
- Note that the Child Status Protection Act may allow your child to retain status as a child under 21 years of age for purposes of determining preference category.
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