Green Card for Parents
If you are a U.S. citizen, you can sponsor your parents to get a green card and attain lawful permanent resident status.
For more information about sponsoring your parents’ green card, and other inquiries about the immediate relatives immigration process, kindly contact us at IAS. Our immigration attorneys are ever ready to give you expert assistance. You can call us on +1 844 290 6312 or chat with us online.
Page Contents
- Applying for Green Card Visa for Parents
- What Are the Eligibility Criteria?
- How to Get Green Card for Parents
- Documents Required to File Form I-130
- Filing Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status
- Consular Processing
- Temporary Visa for Parents
- Consulting an Immigration Attorney for Help with Green Card Applications
- Frequently Asked Questions
Applying for Green Card Visa for Parents
The green card pathway is one of the routes for bringing your parents to live in the U.S. permanently, provided you are eligible to sponsor them. Your parents can come to live in the U.S. permanently, even if they are your step or adoptive parents.
With a green card, your parents can live, work and, if they want to, study in the United States. They can also travel in and out of the U.S. for a specified number of times per year.
You have to meet a certain age, citizenship and financial requirements for you to be able to sponsor your parents.
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What Are the Eligibility Criteria?
Before you start the green card process for parents, you have to be a U.S. citizen and also at least 21 years of age. U.S. lawful permanent residents cannot sponsor their parents to get green cards.
You must also show that you have enough money to care for your parents. You must prove you have a household income that is 125% higher than the U.S. poverty line for the household size that applies to you.
How to Get Green Card for Parents
Green card application for parents typically starts with you filing Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. The petition proves to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that you have a genuine relationship with the person you are filing the petition.
If your parents intend to change their Status after coming to the United States, you must indicate so on Form I-130 by selecting option 1. You can either fill out this form online or download, fill, and mail it to any of the USCIS centers near you. There are USCIS centers in Dallas, Chicago, Elgin and Phoenix.
It will cost you $535 to file Form I-130, and this fee is non-refundable, regardless of the outcome of the petition.
You must also file Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, simultaneously. This is to show the USCIS that you can support your parents when they come to the United States of America.
Documents Required to File Form I-130
When filing a Petition for Alien Relative, there are other supporting documents you must present, depending on your circumstance.
If your parents are outside of the United States, you’ll need to present the following:
- A copy of your parents’ civil marriage certificate
- A copy of your U.S. passport or Naturalization Certificate
- A copy of your birth certificate showing your name and that of your parents
If your father is outside the U.S., and you were born out of wedlock and +were not legitimated before the age of 18, you’ll need to present the following:
- Proof of emotional or financial bond with your father before you turned 21 or got married
- A copy of your U.S. passport or Naturalization Certificate
- A copy of your birth certificate with your father’s name showing
If your father is outside the U.S. and you were born out of wedlock but legitimated before you turned 18, you’ll need to present the following:
- Proof of legitimacy by the marriage of your parents
- A copy of your U.S. passport or Naturalization Certificate
- A copy of your birth certificate showing your father’s name
If you’re petitioning to bring your step-parents over, you’ll need to present the following:
- A copy of your birth certificate with the names of your natural parents
- A copy of both your birth and step-parents’ marriage certificate showing that both sets of parents married before you turned 18
- A copy of the death, divorce or annulment certificate of your birth parents’ previous marriage.
If you’re petitioning to bring your adoptive parents over, you’ll need to present the following:
- A copy of your birth certificate
- A copy of your U.S. passport or Naturalization Certificate
- A copy of your adoption certificate that shows the adoption occurred before you turned 16
- A document that shows where and when you have lived with the parents that adopted you.
It is vital to add proof of a legal change of name to these documents if your birth parent has changed names, especially in the case of a divorce. Also, if you are bringing both parents to the United States, you have to file separate Form I-130 for each parent.
If your parents are already in the U.S. legally, you can file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status, while you file Form I-130. This will help make the application faster.
If they are outside the U.S., they must apply for consular processing.
Filing Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status
If your parents are already in the U.S., they don’t have to go home before applying for green cards. They can apply for adjustment of status. The completed form is sent to the Nebraska Service Center. To further cut down on processing time, your parents must also file Form I-693, Medical Examination and Vaccination Record Report, while filing Form I-485.
The filing fee for each adjustment of status form is $114. The filing fee for each Form I-693 is not set in stone but is not above $300.
When your parents are filing Form I-485, they have to also present the following:
- A copy of their birth certificate parent’s
- Two passport photographs
- A copy of their identity document issued by the government
- Inspection and admission documents
- Proof of their immigrant category
After your parents file Form I-485, USCIS will schedule them for a biometric appointment at an Application Service Center close to them. This biometric will cost them $85 each. Then, if the USCIS still needs some verifications from your parents about their application, they will be scheduled for an interview, and you’ll have to go with them.
Consular Processing
If your parents are outside the U.S., they’ll have to wait for USCIS to approve Form I-130 that you filed for them. After USCIS approves the petition, they will notify the National Visa Center (NVC), who will, in turn, send both you and your parents confirmation of approval and then issue them a visa number. Note that issuing an immigrant visa number does not permit your parents to enter the United States.
The first thing your parents need to do upon receiving their visa numbers and at the instruction of the U.S. consulate in their country of residence is to file Form DS-261 online. This will cost them $445 each.
The next step would be filing Form DS-260 online too. Then, after some weeks, the U.S. consulate in their country of residence will schedule them for an interview.
Upon the interview’s success, your parents will be given visa packets they are not expected to open. Instead, they are expected to hand this packet over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at their point of entry into the U.S. The officer will inspect the packet and decide if they are to enter the U.S. or not.
If they eventually enter the United States, their green cards will be mailed to them within 45 days.
Temporary Visa for Parents
Overview
Various kinds of temporary visas permit holders to spend some time in the United States before returning to their country of residence. These visas are also known as non-immigrant visas. You can only use them for tourism, visits to family and friends, short-term employment and short-term study.
Your parents can also apply for temporary visas if they want to come to the United States for medical treatment, sporting events, or social gatherings like your graduation, wedding, or ordination ceremony.
The maximum limit for these sets of visas is 6 months. But each category of temporary visa has its peculiar expiry dates.
How to Apply for a Temporary Visa for Parents
Your parents will pay $160 to file Form DS-160 online, print the filled form, and bring it to their interview (if they are below 80). The interview will be held at the U.S. consulate in their country of residence.
For the interview, your parents will need to bring the following:
- Their valid passport
- Confirmation page of Form DS-160
- Visa application fee payment receipt
At the interview, your parents must prove their reason for visiting the United States is genuine. They’ll have to show the officer the reason for their visit, proof that they’ll leave the U.S. once their permit expires and that they can sponsor their trip. If your parents cannot cover the cost of their journey, they will have to show evidence that you can.
If your parents are coming to the U.S. for medical treatment, they’ll have to show the consular officer the following:
- Medical report from their local doctor explaining the disease and why they need medical treatment in the U.S.
- Letter from a doctor in the U.S attesting to the fact that they will treat the disease
- Proof that you or your parents can pay for the expenses to be incurred during the trip.
After the visa is approved, your parents must pay the visa issuance fee.
Consulting an Immigration Attorney for Help with Green Card Applications
It is recommended to consult an immigration attorney for help with green card applications because of the complexity of the process. Our immigration attorneys are just the best fit for you. They have years of experience helping clients with their applications and can help you file forms correctly to avoid visa rejections.
Visa rejections can be painful due to the time and resources it takes to make an application in the first place. It can also separate you from your family. To avoid these, do contact us at Immigration Advice Service.
For more information about our services and what we could do for you, contact one of our immigration advisers at + 1 844 290 6312 or online today.
Last modified on July 27th, 2023 at 6:18 am
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Frequently Asked Questions
It can take 5 to 13 months to get an I-130 for parents if they are already in the United States. However, if they are outside the States, it could take as long as 23 months.
No. Green card holders or lawful permanent residents cannot petition for green cards to be given to their parents. Only U.S. citizens can.
The green card lasts for 10 years. However, if they have conditional green cards, they must renew after 2 years.