The Immigration and Nationality Act allows foreigners to immigrate to the United States based on family ties with a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e., a Green Card holder). Family-based immigration has two main categories: unlimited and limited.

​

UNLIMITED FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRATION

Immigrants in this category are not subject to quotas on immigrant visas and, accordingly, can immigrate to the United States at any time. The time for obtaining their immigrant visas is limited only by the processing time of their cases. This category includes only immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.

Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens are considered to be:

1. spouse;

2. unmarried children under 21 years of age,

3. unmarried minor (under 21 years of age) children of the spouse of a U.S. citizen, if the marriage between the foreigner and the U.S. citizen was registered when the children were under 18 years old,

4. parents of a U.S. citizen who has reached the age of 21 or older.

 

ATTENTION: Married children and children over 21 years of age are not considered immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Immigration petitions for them are filed under family category 1 or 3.

​

LIMITED FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRATION

​

There are 4 (four) categories of family-based immigration:

​

1st category – unmarried children of U.S. citizens. 23,400 immigrant visas are allocated each year for this category,

​

2nd category is subdivided into two subcategories:

​

Subcategory A — spouses and unmarried minor children of lawful permanent residents of the United States. 111,034 immigrant visas are allocated each year for this subcategory,

Subcategory B — unmarried children over 21 years of age of lawful permanent residents of the United States. 33,166 immigrant visas are allocated each year for this subcategory,

 

3rd category — married children of U.S. citizens, as well as their spouses and unmarried minor children (under 21 years of age). 23,400 immigrant visas are allocated each year for this category,

​

4th category — brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens and their spouses and unmarried minor children (under 21 years of age). 65,400 immigrant visas are allocated each year for this category.

​

If you want to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States based on the fact that your relative is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, you must go through a multi-step process.

• First, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services must approve your petition for an immigrant visa. The petition is filed by your relative (sponsor) and must be accompanied by proof of your relationship to the relative.

• Second, the U.S. Department of State must determine your Priority Date in the queue for family reunification if you intend to immigrate under a limited family-based immigration category. Queues for various immigration categories can be checked in the Department of State Visa Bulletin — Visa Bulletin.

• Third, if you are already in the United States, you may apply to adjust your lawful immigration status (for example, F-1 or H-1B) to lawful permanent resident status after your Priority Date in the queue for the given family-based immigration category becomes current. If you are outside the United States, when your Priority Date in the queue for the given family-based immigration category becomes current, you will either be contacted by the National Visa Center to complete immigration forms and then scheduled for an immigrant interview, or you must contact the U.S. Consulate in your place of residence to submit additional immigration forms and attend the immigrant interview.

 

K-1 FIANCÉ(E) VISA

The “K-1” visa is intended for the fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen. The “K-1” visa allows a foreigner to come to the United States and marry the U.S. citizen within 90 days after arrival. Unmarried children (not older than 21 years of age) of persons who received a “K-1” visa obtain “K-2” category visas, which allow them to obtain Green Cards in the United States if their parent marries the U.S. citizen who filed the petition for the K-1 visa.