U.S. Citizens Applying for Family Members

 

If you are a U.S. citizen, you can petition for certain family members to receive green cards, fiancé visas, or K-3 or K-4 visas. You can petition for permanent residence for your spouse, unmarried children under the age of 21, son or daughter over age 21 or married, parents or siblings, if you are over age 21.

 

Fiancé visas

 

If you want to apply for a fiancé visa, you must show that you are a U.S. citizen, that you plan to marry within 90 days of your fiancé’s entrance into the United States, that you are both free to marry and that you have met each other in person at least once within two years of filing your petition.

 

Once the visa is issued and your fiancé enters the country, you have 90 days to get married. Once married, your new spouse can apply for permanent residence and remain in the United States while the application is processed.

Green card holders

If you are a green card holder, you can petition on behalf of your spouse, unmarried children under age 21 or unmarried son or daughter of any age. You can petition under a variety of different preference categories and will take your place in line for your family's permanent residence status.

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Families of refugees and asylees

 

If you’ve entered the United States as a refugee or were granted asylee status within the past two years, you can petition for derivative refugee or asylee status for your spouse or unmarried and under age 21 children (at the time of your initial application for refugee or asylee status).

To be eligible, you must meet the following criteria:

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• The petitioner must be a principal refugee or asylee.

• Your refugee or asylee status must have been granted within two years of your request.

• You must remain in refugee or asylee status or have a green card. You may not petition for derivative refugee or asylee status if you have been naturalized.

• The family relationship had to exist before you came to the United States.