Fairfax Family Immigration Lawyer

There are different categories of family members who can apply to get a green card. The quickest route is for the category of individuals categorized as immediate relatives. Those are spouses of U.S. citizens, children, minor children under 21 of U.S. citizens, or parents of U.S. citizens when the citizen is over 21.

Those individuals are immediate relatives and do not need to wait through the queue or the visa line for a green card to be available for them. They just need to submit the application. Assuming they are otherwise admissible to the United States, they will be able to get their green card relatively quickly. They need to lead the way for the adjudication period for USCIS to review the case.

Any individual considering going through this process should enlist the assistance of an experienced Fairfax family immigration lawyer. A seasoned attorney will be able to help guide you through the process to help produce a positive result. En Español.

Application Categories

Individuals will be placed in the national visa line in specific categories. The categories of the individuals who can apply are unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, which is the first preference. Spouses and children and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents or green card holders are another category.

Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens are the third category. The last category is brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens, which is the fourth category. Each of those different categories of family members has a different time period to wait to be eligible for a green card. A NoVa family immigration attorney can help an individual discern which category they belong to.

Role of the Sponsor

The sponsor is the individual who is the petitioner. It is the person with lawful immigration status petitioning for the immigrant family member. It can also be someone outside of the family. The sponsor is the person that is going to prove that their income is large enough to support the immigrant if they were to become awarded to stay. They need to prove that they have the ability to support the incoming immigrant.

To do that, they need to show that their income is over 125% of the poverty level, which is based on their family size and what they claimed under taxes in previous years. Generally, the sponsor will be the same person petitioning for the immigrant family member, but in some cases where the petitioner does not make enough money, a person can get an outside sponsor. A seasoned Fairfax family immigration lawyer can aid an individual in showing evidence of this legal element.

LPR Sponsorship

An LPR is a Legal Permanent Resident. They are able to apply for their spouses and children and unmarried sons and daughters. There is a difference between children, and sons and daughters. Sons and daughters are individuals that are over 21, while children are minors under that age. A green card holder can apply for either of those categories.

U.S. Citizen Sponsorship

A U.S. citizen can sponsor children and sons and daughters, so any of their offspring, minors, or those over 21. They can apply for their parents and spouses if they are over 21 as well. Further, they can apply for their brothers and sisters. A knowledgeable NoVa family immigration attorney can assist an individual if they are interested in sponsoring somebody for a green card.

Initiating the Petition Process

The petition process is initiated on the USCIS Form I-130. That is an initial application that approves the petitioner’s lawful status, their ability to apply for somebody, and the relationship between the two parties. In cases of a marriage, a person is going to submit a bonafide marriage certificate or evidence showing that a marriage exists, other than for immigration purposes.

For children, it is more straightforward because a person has birth certificates. In some cases, if there is not proper documentation of the birth, a person has to do a DNA test. The rest of the process will depend on whether the individual is in the United States already, whether the individual has any grounds of inadmissibility, whether the beneficiary is, for instance, in removal proceedings and needs waivers, or whether there are family members abroad waiting in the visa queue for their priority dates to become current to enter the United States.

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