Sponsoring a Relative Who Lives Abroad for Permanent Residency: The Immigrant Visa Process (IVP)
The process for sponsoring a relative who lives abroad for permanent residency is called the immigrant visa process. If the relative is already in the U.S., the person may be eligible for adjustment of status, which is the process for obtaining permanent residency from within the U.S.
When a person finishes the process, either from abroad or from within the U.S., they receive a green card, which is proof of their new lawful permanent residency status (LPR). It is important to remember that permanent residency, lawful permanent resident (LPR) and green card holder all mean the same thing.
It is also important to understand that a person must become a LPR first before applying for citizenship.
A citizen or LPR can sponsor their relative for permanent residency, but not for citizenship. Upon becoming a LPR, an individual has a right to apply for citizenship after 3-5 years (depending on how they obtained their residency). Click here if you want to understand more about the citizenship (or naturalization) process.
Which Relatives Can I Sponsor?
U.S. Citizens and LPRs have the right to petition the U.S. government to grant certain family members LPR Status. For information on which relatives U.S. citizens and green card holders can sponsor, please see our pages on Green Card sponsorship either by U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident relatives.
Sponsoring Your Relative Living Abroad
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Step 1: the I-130 Petition
The first step in immigrant visa processing through a family member is the I-130 step. The U.S. Citizen or the LPR files a petition with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to establish the relationship. You will have to submit evidence showing your relationship to your relative. After USCIS is satisfied that the relationship fits the appropriate category, USCIS approves the I-130. USCIS then forwards the approved I-130 to the National Visa Center, which is a part of the Department of State.
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Step 2, the National Visa Center
The second step involves the National Visa Center. The steps are detailed below:
The National Visa Center will contact you with a case number. This can take up to 60 days after approval of the I-130.
Once you receive your case number, your relative will use their case number to pay the immigrant visa fee and affidavit of support fee on the Department of State website, found here.
After the fees are processed, usually taking about week, your relative will be able to move forward and complete a questionnaire called a DS-260.
Your relative will then upload the requested documents to the same website. The documents requested usually includes a birth certificate, a police certificate, a passport, financial documents, and other documents that are specific to each case.
The National Visa Center will review the documents and will contact you if anything is missing. It usually takes about 3 months to hear back from them after submitting everything.
Once the National Visa Center is satisfied that they have all the necessary documentation, they forward the file to the U.S. embassy or consulate that your relative will apply at. This is almost always your relative’s country of citizenship.
The U.S. embassy then contacts the family member with further instructions for setting up the interview. Every consulate in every country does this step a little bit differently.
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Step 3, the Interview at the U.S. Embassy
After following the U.S. embassy’s instructions and setting up the interview, the family member will attend their interview at the U.S. embassy. If approved, the family member will soon be issued an immigrant visa. In most cases, the visa gives the family member six months to enter the United States.
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Step 4, the Green Card
After the family member has entered the United States with their immigrant visa, the family member will need to pay a fee in order to obtain their Green Card at this website https://my.uscis.gov/uscis-immigrant-fee/. Once the fee is paid, USCIS will mail your relative the Green Card.
Contact Shaftel Law for Assistance
Immigrant Visa processing is a lengthy process involving many government agencies. Contact Shaftel Law if you would like to speak to an experienced immigration lawyer about this process.
Photo by Dario Valenzuela on Unsplash.