Family Based Immigration - Immediate Family

Hey everyone, as promised I am now going to go into more detail on each of the individual visas that you can apply for when applying for a family-based visa. As the title suggests, we will be focusing on immediate family members. I hope this information helps.

The first thing to realize about immediate family visas, is that these visas are unlimited. This means that as long as you qualify, you will not need to worry about a cap on your visa, like you have to in most other visa categories. These visa types are based on a close family relationship with a United States citizen described as an Immediate Relative (IR).  Immediate relative visa types include:

• IR-1: Spouse of a U.S. Citizen 
• IR-2: Unmarried Child Under 21 Years of Age of a U.S. Citizen
• IR-3: Orphan adopted abroad by a U.S. Citizen 
• IR-4: Orphan to be adopted in the U.S. by a U.S. citizen 
• IR-5: Parent of a U.S. Citizen who is at least 21 years old

If you fall into one of these categories, as long as you do not have anything else that makes you ineligible according to USCIS, you are almost guaranteed a visa. That is the good news, the bad news is that if you are ineligible (and especially true if you are in the United States undocumented) and you don't qualify for a Waiver, then you will be denied and placed in deportation proceedings, where you could possibly be barred from entering the country for 10 years. That is the bad news and hopefully that does not apply to you.

That is really all the information that you would need to know, but I thought that I would provide checklist for IR-1 above, so that you would know what forms and what documents you would need to provide. So for your information no matter what Immediate Relative category you fit in, the forms will be the same, but the documents will change depending on the category you fit in. If you have questions concerning this, please contact me. Also, Petitioner is the U.S. Citizen and Beneficiary is the Immigrant.

I-130 (To be filled out by Petitioner and Beneficiary)  

• Filing Fee: $535
• Petitioner’s Birth Certificate
• Marriage Certificate
• If married before, documents showing that prior marriage is legally terminated
• 2 passport photos of each of you
• Documents showing marriage: Documentation showing joint owner, joint bank accounts, wedding pictures, bills addressed to both of you, mail address to both of you etc.

I-130A (To be filled out by Beneficiary) 

I-485 (To be filled out by Petitioner and Beneficiary)  

• Filing Fee: $1,225.00
• 2 passport photos of each of you
• Any of Beneficiary’s government-issued identifications
• Beneficiary’s Birth Certificate
• Beneficiary’s I-94 Form
• All of Beneficiary’s Immigration information
• Marriage Certificate
• Documents showing marriage (Same as above)
• Beneficiary’s fingerprints

I-693 (To be filled out by Doctor, must be in sealed envelope) 

I-864 (To be filled out by Petitioner)  

• Tax Returns for previous tax year
• Recent pay stub (at least 6 months)
• All Bank account information
• Any other forms of income you may have

I-765 (To be filled out by Benificiary)  

• Filing fee: $410.00
• Two Passport-type photos (Just for Beneficiary)
• A Copy of Beneficiary’s Government-Issued Identifications
• A Copy of I-94 Form
• A Copy of all Immigration Information

Well that is everything. I hope this has been beneficial to you. If you know anyone who needs this information, please share. If you or anyone you know has any questions, please contact me. I am happy to help.