Immigration procedures in the United States for immediate and not immediate relatives
When you want to start an application for a legal permanent resident, commonly know as Green Card for a family member it is necessary to have some facts present, two of witch are very important, these facts are what status the principal applicant has and what is the family relationship with the beneficiary. It is also crucial to understand that these two points are correlated with each other, which means, that not all migratory status generates the same benefits to direct and indirect family members. Having said this, this article has as its main motivation to provide readers with clear information on what cases and family members can be given a Green Card when the applicant is a US citizen and, of course, clarify most of the doubts about this type of requests that can sometimes generate confusion among applicants.
When you are not allowed to use this resource
At first, there are restrictions for some American citizens when trying to start a Green Card for family members. If the applicant have committed some crimes it can be a cause of disabling a citizen to start this migratory process for a family member, among the most outstanding are, convictions for kidnapping or illegal retention of a person inside or outside the United States, being convicted of terrorism, committing crimes against minors of sexual content, known as the violation Adam Walsh law.
What the immigration law defines
Secondly, there are established categories to identify those who can be asked for a Green Card for family members, the law is clear because it establishes two sets called immediate family members and not immediate, it is very important to understand this distinction as it exists different treatments if the Green Card for family members is for one set or another. In addition, the considerations taken for the following informative article are taken based on the distinctions that the law makes of the different groups.
Immediate or direct relatives
Now, the set of the immediate relatives of an American citizen will only contain the following people and family ties; the spouse, ether heterosexual marriages and marriages between two people of the same sex are counted, however, if during the process of Green Card for family members the American spouse dies, the corresponding widower may continue with this application because it will continue to be considered as an immediate family member. On the other hand, biological or adopted children, they have two important restrictions; respect to the age and the marital status of the child since they must be under 21 years of age and also be single, within the immigration procedures at the time of taking a Green Card for family members. Also, it is considered direct relatives; parents, adoptive parents, stepmothers and stepfathers of the citizen, this request is usually one of the longest steps applications.
Relatives not immediate or indirect
To continue, the set of those relatives considered not immediate are; single children over 21 years this is understood in immigration as F1 category, married children of any age is what is known as the F3 category and siblings of any age, single and married will be a category F4. For applications for a residence card for non-immediate family members there are some relevant issues to consider in the application; the first one, is the limit of applications in a year because in these cases only one can be approved per year; the second is that in order to apply for the Green Card to a brother the citizen must have turned 21 years old, the third is that several people can be included in the same petition.
Important information
Finally, it is noted that each request has the characteristics of both the applicant and the process in question, everything depends on the way the case is presented and the robustness of the support delivered to the corresponding institutions. Being within the mentioned sets does not guarantee a positive response. The best recommendation you can have is the one given by your trusted immigration attorney.
