Introduction

A green card is a declaration proving your permanent residency in the USA. You are lawfully permitted to live and work for ten years in the United States on an exact green card.

• Travel without fear of being refused entry outside the United States.
• Travel and operate in all parts of the USA without employer funding.
• In the United States, start a company.
• If eligible, receive government-sponsored student financial assistance.
• If eligible, receive pension payments for social security purposes.
• Sponsor for a green card for individual family members.
• Be safeguarded by state, provincial, and local rules.

There are numerous green card forms, but often people obtain them from a member of their family. This blog covers the whole journey to a permanent family residence: assisted by a family member, pending a visa, and applying for a Green Card via status or consulate changes.

Here we will show you what forms are needed, what kind of documentation you must provide, and what kinds of proof you must show, plus the costs of filing and waiting times.

Before Getting Started

A family-based green card does not extend to all families. We’ll discuss who is entitled to a green card for the family and describe the steps you need to complete this procedure before you start. We will also show you how long it will take, how much it will cost, and how a lawyer can make this process simpler.

Who should get a green card for the family?

• U.S. citizen’s wives/husbands
• U.S. resident parents who are 21 years of age or older
• U.S. citizen’s kids
• U.S. residents’ brothers and sisters when the supporters are 21 years or above
• A permanent resident’s wives
• Permanent resident’s unmarried children

Summary of steps

1. Be funded. If a relative who is a Permanent Resident or a Citizen wants to accept the Green Card from his or her family, they must sponsor their relative by applying on her behalf. This is indeed the first step in getting a family green card irrespective of the immigrant’s present status.
2. Wait for a visa. Once a relative visa appeal has been accepted, the immigrant has to wait for an immigrant visa. It can take months or decades to wait, depending on the number of other applicants on the U.S. visa list. This extends to applicants, whether in the United States or beyond.
3. Request a green passport. Once an immigrant visa is valid, a medical test must be completed, a status adaptation file or consular screening file, and an interview must likely be attended. The applicant is a permanent resident whether he or she is accepted.

How much time is it going to take?

• Immigrant visa submission approval time: six months or more.
• Period to wait for a visa for immigrants: 1 year or longer*
• Time to process for status/consular processing adjustment: 6 months or more

* This depends on the category of interests; an American citizen’s immediate kin doesn’t have to wait until a visa is available.

How much would the submission cost?

During the application method, you and your sponsor are responsible for additional payments charged in multiple forms. Immigrants are expected to cost 1,445 dollars. Sponsors are to be set at $535.

Do I need an attorney?

You should now determine if you should employ an immigration lawyer to assist with your case. You’ve agreed to apply for a green card. As in every migration process, applications entail risks and implications. How can an immigration lawyer support you throughout the whole process?

• Check your case: a lawyer will check your case file at the outset to guarantee a green card is available. You can also learn what you can foresee and the future consequences of the process.
• Prepare the documents: a lawyer can help you compile all the files you need for your submission, in addition to filling out the formulas. This requires verification of your engagement, help letters, and any other documentation you may require.
• Advice: You might have doubts or issues during the process about how life events impact your case. A lawyer will help you decide about how it affects your applicant’s status and give you advice.
• Get ready for the interview: If you want an interview with USCIS, a lawyer can respond to your questions. You should interview and ensure you are equally handled.
• Advocate with you: a prosecutor is looking for a satisfactory conclusion in the whole process.

You can find that you can finish the process independently, provided you’re honest and have neither a criminal record nor an official immigration record with you. However, you must talk to a lawyer before applying something to the Government in certain cases.

Contact with Immigration Lawyer if:

• Your eligibility is questionable
• You hold some criminal record
• You were still at the immigration court
• You have always been in the deletion
• You were ever deported
• Any paperwork is confusing or ambiguous

It is also complicated and time-consuming to apply for a card and poses some significant risks, like any immigration procedure. Acting with an expert immigration specialist gives you a better chance in this phase of achievement and tranquility.

Tips for USCIS form completion

Both USCIS forms are readily available by calling 800-870-3676 or via the USCIS website.

You can import and type your responses in a PDF file or print them out and write their answers online. Recall using black ink to type legibly if you write your responses. Start with a new form if you make a mistake. Some mistakes or material that has been transferred will slow the form loading.

Each type may have different detailed guidelines, so bear in mind these general tips when you apply an application:

• The supporting documentation must be in English, or an English translation must be used.
• Until directed to submit the original, submit copies of all papers. You will not return documentation submitted with your application.
• Make sure each page attached has your name and a number if possible if you have any attachments.
• Shape the name and date on any form precisely the same way.

Lawyers advocate making a cover page to list all attached forms and documentation for your submission. This will help you manage structured application records to ensure USCIS sees all that you have added.

You can collect the Action Notification form, I-797C until your application is submitted. This is a receipt that indicates that USCIS has been sent.

Request a relative visa

In the United States, a qualifying relative must sponsor them on family visas before an applicant can qualify for a green card.

We cover eligibility, expenses, and waiting times in this section. We will also show you what documents and formats you need to include, where to send them, and what to expect in your submission.

Who is the petition expected to file?

Only a U.S. citizen or permanent resident may make an immigration request to sponsor a visa for their families. Notice that all relatives can’t apply.

Who could be funded with a family visa for immigrants?

U.S. Residents’ Immediate families.

• Wife/h=Husband
• Kids under the age of 21
• Father/Mother (sponsor must be 21 or older)

Permanent resident’s immediate relatives

• Wife/Husband
• Kids under the age of 21
• Father/Mother

U.S. residents’ non-immediate families

• Unmarried children 21 years old or older
• Married children of any age
• Brothers/Sisters (sponsor must be 21 or older)

What immigrant should visa not be sponsored?

• The kid over 16, with few exceptions. Child.
• Adopting a parent who has not been in lawful care who has been living under two years with a parent
• Parent biological if U.S. citizen kid obtains a green card by adoption.
• Stepparent or stepchild, since the marriage took place after the birthday of a child.
• Wives who didn’t live together
• Permanent residents who were granted a green card by prior marriages
• Illegitimate marriages for prestige gains
• Enlarged family friends, ancestors

Stage 1: I-130, Alien Relative Petition File Form

This is the sponsor’s form to petition the relative for an immigrant visa. The USCIS website provides a free PDF file of Type I-130.

Stage 2: Confirmation of the standing of the supporter

Plus 1 of the following while the sponsor is a U.S. citizen:

• A certificate of birth or similar
• Certificate or substitute to naturalization
• FS-240 form if born outside the country
• Unadjusted passport duplicate or
• U.S. consular officer declaration to validate citizenship and passport status Initial statement

If the supporter is a local at all times:

You’re Green Card Duplicate (front and back). Offer a copy of your biographical passport and a copy of the admission page for permanent residents if your green card has not been released.

Stage 3: Prove the connection with your family

Upload documents as follows:

• A copy of the certificate of marriage
• If you or your partner have previously married, provide copies of paperwork indicating the formal dissolution of all previous partnerships

• A snapshot of you in the color of a passport and a color picture of your partner in a passport-style taken within 30 days from the date of your petition. The images must be white and untouched and not mounted with a shiny glow. The full facial picture can measure about 1 inch from the chin to the hair tip. The name (and the alien identification code, if known) on the back of each image is printed gently using a pencil or felted ink.
• Complete and signed G-325A for your wife’s form, Biographical Details, and Form G-325A. You may not have to repeat details on Form G-325A on your Form I-130 submission, except for your name and signature.
• Documentation indicating shared property or possession
• A lease that displays an ordinary residence
• Documents explaining how financial services are combined
• Kid birth certificate(s) born to you and the claimant along with your spouse
• Affidavits are sworn by third parties who have personal experience of the positive stuff of the partner. (The full name, address and date of and place of birth shall be outlined in each affidavit, the relationship of the party making the affidavit to the recipient’s complainant, if any, as well as full facts and information about the way that the entity has received knowledge regarding your marriage)
• Any other paperwork to determine if a marital union is underway

Stage 4: Premium for payment

Pay “U.S.” the check or money order. Homeland Defense Agency.’

Where can I submit a request?

You will send your submission packet, based on where you reside, to the USCIS Chicago or Phoenix lockbox and to what forms it submits. You will send your application package, whichever way you live and whatever form you apply, to the USCIS Chicago or Phoenix lockbox.

How long is a family visa going to take?

You can apply their status improvement formula to the same application packet if you are filing a petition as a U.S. citizen to an immediate family member (such as your partner, child, or parent). This is regarded as a simultaneous filing. Please notice that you must pay all filing fees when applying at the same time.

In the next 6 to 18 months, you should assume the document to be reviewed. You can check your submission status until you obtain confirmation from USCIS that your application was received by mail.

You would have to wait until you have an immigrant visa if you’re not an immediate relative of a U.S. resident. The U.S. restricts the number of family visas granted each year and assigns them first-come, first-serve.

You must wait at least several months for your visa and continue with your case until your petition is approved. Times of waiting depending on the type in which you register. By checking the visa bulletin, you can find out how well USCIS will manage its applications backlog.

Domestic residence file

When your passport is a visa number, you can either register your Green Card for status change or consular screening.

In the same package as their immigration order, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens might include their status paperwork change. Note that both the application fee also needs to be charged by you and the sponsor.

Who is expected to file a status adaptation?

You will apply for status change while still in the United States, and your visa petition is immediately available.

Who is expected to apply consular processing files?

If you are outside the U.S., once your visa application (Form I-130) has been accepted, You will request consular processing and you have an immigrant visa number open to you.

Preserve your standing

You keep this status until you become a permanent resident unless you apply for the naturalization process or are losing or dropping your citizenship. We will help you prepare for your life as a permanent citizen of the United States in this segment.

The roles of permanent citizens

Both permanent residents shall, according to USCIS, be:

• Bear your green card still
• The states and the localities comply with all U.S. rules.
• Please register your income fiscal statement with the federal and state taxing authorities and record your income.
• Respect the representative model of Government and not the unconstitutional transformation of Government.
• You have to file for the Selective Service if you are 18 to 25 years old.
• Inform USCIS if their account has been changed

Actions that could endanger your permanent resident status

• Request as a United States citizen
• Global, State, or municipal elections voting
• Traveling for longer stretches outside the United States, usually for six months
• Crime committing
• No child support or alimony imposed by the judge, if necessary.
• To cheat to get incentives to the public
• Tax not charged
• No selective service enrollment for 18 and 26 years of age

Find an immigration specialist urgently if you are afraid that your status might be threatened.

Green card renewal

Ten years after the issuance date, most green cards are valid. However, even though your green card has expired, you remain a permanent resident. You can only display your status on the actual card. You must complete Form I-90 and pay a renovation fee of $545.

Naturalization application

After five years, or three years, whether you’re married to an American citizen, most permanent residents are eligible for naturalized citizenship.