Reunifying families in the United States is one of the most important purposes of the legal immigration system. Once a family member is legally in the United States, they have the opportunity to sponsor certain relatives to come to the United States as well. However, the eligibility requirements and process for doing so can be confusing.
The short answer is that U.S. citizens can sponsor parents and siblings for green cards, but there are a number of potential complications. Here’s what you need to know.
Parents and siblings can only be sponsored by U.S. citizens—not green card holders
Current lawful permanent residents (Green Card holders) are only allowed to sponsor their spouses and unmarried children for a Green Card of their own. So, if you are not a U.S. citizen, you cannot sponsor your parents or siblings for a Green Card. You need to become a naturalized citizen yourself before you can even start that process.
U.S. citizens can sponsor both parents and siblings as long as they meet certain criteria. First, the sponsor must be at least 21 years old. Second, the sponsor must sign an affidavit of support promising financial responsibility and provide proof that they can financially support the sponsored family member.
Sponsorship of parents can move forward relatively quickly
While U.S. citizens can sponsor both parents and siblings, the timeline to sponsor a parent is much faster. Under immigration law, parents of adult U.S. citizens are considered immediate family members, which means they get the highest priority. There are no annual caps restricting visas for parents of citizens, which means no waiting for priority dates. Once the petition is approved, the Green Card process starts moving forward right away.
There are several requirements to pursue Green Card sponsorship for a parent. First, the sponsoring child must prove the parent-child relationship, most commonly with a birth certificate showing the parent’s name. Note that stepparents are only eligible if they married the sponsor’s biological parent before the sponsor turned 18, and adopted parents need to prove that the sponsor was adopted before age 16.
Second, the parent must meet the admissibility requirements, which include a medical exam and background check. If there are any inadmissibility issues, the parent must seek a waiver.
Siblings of U.S. citizens face a much longer waiting period for Green Card status
Siblings of U.S. citizens are put in the F4 Fourth Preference category, which is subject to annual caps as well as per-country restrictions. There are only about 65,000 visas for F4 applicants each year, but hundreds of thousands of people apply, meaning the wait times are quite long, currently 15 years or more. Furthermore, there is a 7% per-country limit. As such, people from countries with a lot of people trying to enter the United States, such as Mexico and the Philippines, may face even longer wait times.
That said, there are other options for siblings to pursue Green Card status faster. One such option is for a living parent to become a U.S. citizen and then sponsor the sibling in a potentially faster category. The key is to plan ahead—the sooner you start the process, even if your sibling isn’t ready to move to the United States yet, the more options you may have.
Talk to an experienced immigration attorney today
Navigating the immigration system is difficult at the best of times, and even more so in the current political climate.
Immigration attorney Vicki L. Fortino and the team at Hocker Law, LLC are ready to help. Give us a call or contact us online to speak with an experienced immigration lawyer.
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