Family Based Immigration

Family Based Immigration Attorney – San Jose, CA

Permanent immigration or lawful permanent residency in the U.S. comes with a variety of rights and privileges including the right to permanently live and work in the U.S leading up to the U.S. citizenship. If you want to immigrate to the U.S. through the family-based category, your relative who is either a U.S. Citizen or a Lawful Permanent Resident must sponsor you.

A family based immigration overview may be necessary to process the legal paperwork and receive a immigrant visa for those wishing to become a Lawful Permanent Resident through family based sponsorship. Our family based immigration attorney in San Jose is experienced in handling these cases and can make your application much easier to file. This process will allow you or your relative to receive rights as a resident and allows you or your relative to live and work in the US.

The procedure for family based immigration will require that a US citizen or permanent resident turn in a Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (short form USCIS). The sponsor must supply documentation that can show he/she is a Lawful Permanent Resident or a United States Citizen and can provide financial support up to 125 percent above the minimum poverty line. Proof of relation will also be needed for this process to be considered.

Immigration Service will then approve or deny your request in which the sponsor will be notified. An approved visa application is then sent to the Department of State’s National Visa Center and an immigrant visa number will be granted to your relative.

A system of Preference Categories is used to allot visa numbers and can be checked at the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin.

During allotment, contacting the National Visa Center is only needed if there is a change to your address or personal situation that may affect the application’s eligibility. These changes can be done by our San Jose family based immigration attorney team and examples include considerations for turning 21 years old, marriage or divorce, and the death of a spouse. You can become a Lawful Permanent Resident by applying to change your status if you are living in the United States once you receive your immigrant visa number. Anyone that is outside of the United States will need to finish the process at a local US Consulate office in their country of residence to complete the Lawful Permanent Resident application process.

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

First: (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.

Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers:

A. (F2A) Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
B. (F2B) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents: 23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third: (F3) Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

Fourth: (F4) Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.