Family Petitions

Close family members, such as parents, spouses, children, brothers and sisters, can be sponsored by United States Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents.

Marriage to a U.S. Citizen

If you are in the United States, entered the country with a visa, and married to a US citizen, you may qualify for a green card based on your marriage. The process, called “adjustment of status”, is relatively swift with processing times depending on the local field offices. Here in New Orleans, it currently takes approximately 3-6 months from the time of filing, to attending the scheduled USCIS biometrics appointment, USCIS interview, and adjudication.

If you are outside the United States and married to a US citizen, you must apply for a visa at the US consulate in your country, under most circumstances. The length of the process depends on the caseload of the consulate, but, for most countries, is about 9-12 months. There is a K3 visa which was designed to speed up the process, which we have discovered does not save that much time to justify the added expense and inconvenience.

If you are outside the United States and plan to marry a US citizen, you can file for a K1 visa as a fiancé. The processing time for this visa is usually quicker than the immigrant visa process, but it requires further paperwork once the fiancé has entered the United States. This visa also requires the couple to marry within ninety (90) days of entry on a fiancé visa.

If you have been married less than two years at the time you obtain your permanent residence, you will be granted conditional permanent residence which expires after 2 years. In the 3-month period before the card expires, you will need to file an I-751 petition to remove the conditions.

USCIS publishes its estimated processing times online and we have posted a link to this website. These processing times are notoriously inaccurate.

Parents and Minor Children of US Citizens

Parents and minor children of US citizens can also gain permanent residence relatively quickly through the family relationship. The processing times are the same as for spouses of US citizens.

Other Family Relationships

For other family relationships, there is no visa currently available for permanent residence, so there is a wait between filing the I-130 family petition and immigrant visa processing. The amount of time depends on the relationship and the nationality of the beneficiary.