Family Green Card
The Family Green Card provides the right for a family member of an already legal United States resident to live and work in the U.S. The family member acts as the sponsor of this person and will file the petition for the Green Card on that person’s behalf.
The residence status of the petitioner will make a difference as to which family members may be sponsored. A United States citizen is allowed to sponsor a spouse, children, parents, or siblings. A legal permanent resident is allowed to only sponsor a spouse, children or unmarried children.
There are 5 categories for family based Green Cards:
- Immediate Relatives of Citizens, such as the spouses, children and parents, are allowed to have Green Card petitions filed on their behalf. However, to allow parents to be sponsored, the citizen must be at least 21 years old. Children are considered to be under 21 years old, while unmarried sons are daughters must be 21 years or older. This group of petitions is processed immediately.
- Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens can be obtained up to 23,400 Green Cards annually. The limit placed on this type of Green Card means that there could be a delay in receiving the Green Card. Employment is not a requirement, but evidence of support is required before the card will be issued.
- The Family of Lawful Permanent Residents is the only group which allows lawful permanent residents to sponsor family members. These include spouses or children, or unmarried sons or daughters. Due to a numerical limit placed on this type of Green Card, there can be quite a delay before they are issued.
- Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens allow a U.S. citizen to petition for a Green Card on the behalf of the petitioner’s married sons and daughters. This group has 23,400 Green Cards allotted annually, unless there are any allocations left over from the previous 2 groups, which is unlikely.
- Brothers and Sisters of Citizens allows for the Green Card petitions to be filed on their behalf by the sponsor. There are so many of these petitions each year, that it usually takes a very long time to get them approved. It can take anywhere from 9 – 20 years to get one of these Green Cards.
There is one last group of people who can receive Green Cards. This group is called Derivative Beneficiaries, and consist spouses and children who are traveling with or following, a U.S. citizen. Members of this group can be given the same order and priority date as their sponsor without having to file a separate petition.