FAMILY BASED PETITION

 

Family unity is our priority. Our firm helps clients obtain legal status and petition for other family members in the U.S. or in their home country.

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Relatives of Permanent Residents and of U.S. citizens may be eligible to obtain a Green Card in the U.S. or through consular processing in their home country. Immediate Relatives are not subject to a waiting period and may adjust their status in the United States if they entered legally or if they were the beneficiaries of a specific application or petition filed on or before April 30, 2001. The category of Immediate Relatives includes minor children of United States citizens, spouses and widow(er)s of U.S. Citizens and parents of adult U.S. Citizens.

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Other non-immediate relative preference categories include adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, minor children and spouses of permanent residents, single adult sons and daughters of permanent residents, married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and siblings of U.S. citizens over 21 years of age. Our firm will help you strategize ways of maintaining your status while waiting for your visa number to become current. Minor children and spouses are considered derivatives of this “family preference” system and they will be able to obtain permanent resident status through their parents or spouses.

Some family members will be ineligible to adjust status in the U.S. if a petition was not filed prior to April 30, 2001. Our law firm can help you if there is an issue regarding this eligibility as well.

 

The federal Immigration and Nationality Act dictates family-based immigration law, allowing an unlimited number of visas for immediate relatives but setting limits on visas granted to other family members.

 

Under the law, immediate relatives include:

• A citizen’s spouse

• A citizen’s unmarried child who is under 21 years old

• An orphans or a child a citizen adopts before the child’s 16th birthday

• Parents of a citizen who is older than 21 years old

 

According to the U.S. Department of State, if there are more qualified applicants than available immigration visas, available immigration visas are issued in the chronological order that the applications were filed. This filing date is called the priority date, and immigrant visas will not be issued to the applicant until that date is reached.

 

That waiting period can be several years or more. When time is of the essence, you want help from experienced immigration attorneys. Gogia & Raj Law can help you come up with a strategy to deal with these delays.