What are Family Based Petitions?
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Do you have a relative living in the US? If you do, there is a big possibility that you can immigrate to the US via a family based petition. Here are some of the things you should know about family based petitions.
First of all, under family based petition, your relative can only petition you if he/she is already a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident ( green card holder ). Not all relatives may be petitioned by a US citizen of a lawful permanent resident.
The usual relatives qualified to be petitioned are the immediate relatives which include the spouse, children (married or unmarried and legitimate or adopted) and parents. Application begins with the filing of the family based petition with the Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS). The application form must be filled up accurately and truthfully. There have been many cases of petition denials due to failure of declaring honest information either about the petitioner or his/her relative being petitioned. There are very strict regulations about immigration process and everyone must stick to adhere on the policies of the USCIS and other government agencies related to immigration.
Once the immigration forms have been submitted to the USCIS, the petitioner will be notified on its approval. Documents will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) for visa processing. Depending on the status of the petitioner and the classification of his/her relative being petitioned, visa process time varies. For instance, a US citizen who filed a petition for his/her spouse is most likely to wait for 6 months to a year. A lawful permanent resident who petitioned his/her spouse will have to wait until the priority date of his/her petition becomes current. This scenario is due to the fact that there are some countries that have oversubscribed visa applications. A lawful permanent resident’s petition falls under the limited quota wherein number of visas available is based on fiscal year numerical limitations under US immigration law. This should not be used as a reason for not filing a petition anymore. Family based petition is the best hope of many families to be reunited once again so it is better to have the petition’s priority date moving rather than not filing for the immigration petition at all.
Search terms for this article:
- priority dates for humanitarian reinstatement cases through Vermont Center
- What is a family base petition
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