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1. The Application for Parents to Receive U.S. Permanent Residence
To
start the process to apply for parents to receive U.S. permanent
residence (Green Card), you will need to fill out Form I-130, also
called Petition for Alien Relative, issued by U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS). You need to prove your status as a U.S.
citizen and the child-parent relationship.
Thus, you will need to include both a copy of your U.S. passport,
naturalization certificate, or other proof of citizenship, as well as
your birth certificate showing your parents' names, or similar proof of
their relationship to you. You should not send originals of these or
any documents to USCIS, you will never get them back from USCIS. If you
are petitioning for both parents, you will need to submit two separate
Form I-130 petitions.
As soon as the Form I-130 petition has been approved, USCIS will
forward the file to a U.S. consulate in your parents' home country. The
US consulate will communicate with them about how they can submit their
own required application forms and documents. You will need to submit
an Affidavit of Support on USCIS Form I-864 during this stage of the
process.
Thereafter, the US consulate will call your parents in for an interview
at which their immigrant visa should be approved. With that visa, they
can enter the United States and become lawful permanent residents.
2. The Two-Step Process
for Your Parent to Become a Legal Immigrant
A legal immigrant is a foreign national who has
been granted the privilege of living and working permanently in the
United States. There is a two-step process for your parent to become a
legal immigrant.
The
first step is the "Immigrant Petition" which establishes that a
qualifying relationship exists between the sponsor and the foreign
parent. The USCIS must approve an immigrant visa petition (Form I-130)
that you filed for your parent.
The second step is the application for the
Green Card. If your parent is outside the United States, your parent
will be notified to go to the local U.S. consulate to complete the
processing for an immigrant visa. If your parent is inside the U.S., he
or she may apply to adjust his or her status to lawful permanent
resident using the Form I-485.
The
application process depends on whether the alien parent is inside or
outside of the United States. If the alien parent is already within the
United States in a nonimmigrant status, the U.S. citizen can file an
immigration petition (Form I-130), and the parent can file an
application to adjust status to permanent resident (I-485) at the same
time. If the alien parent is outside of the United States, the U.S.
citizen should file an immigration petition (Form I-130), and request
that USCIS notify a U.S. Consulate in the country where the parent
lives to go through a Consulate process.
3. The First Scenario -
the Alien Parent Is already in the United States
There
are two scenarios for parents of U.S. citizens to apply for
immigration, the first scenario is that the alien parent
is already in the United States in a nonimmigrant status or parole. In
this case, the U.S. citizen may file an immigration petition (Form
I-130) to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the
parent, and the parent can file an application to adjust status to
permanent resident (Form I-485 - Application to Register Permanent
Residence or to Adjust Status) at the same time. The parent does not
need to wait for the immigrant visa number to become current, before he
or she may apply to adjust to permanent resident. This means that you
can file Form I-130 and Form I-485 concurrently for your parents at the
same time to speed the process.
Because
the foreign national parent is considered to be the immediate relative
of the U.S. citizen child, many issues that would make adjustment of
status impossible for another type immigrant will be waived for the
parent. The Application to Register Permanent Residence of Adjust
Status, or Form I-485, can be filled out concurrently at the same time
with Form I-130. However, Form I-485 can also be filed after the I-130
petition approval. As a U.S. citizen, you should also submit the Form
I-864 that would help to support your claim that you can financially
support your parents. At the time of filing for an Adjustment of
Status, the parents can also apply for an Employment Authorization Card
(EAD) and a permit (Advanced Parole) to travel out of the U.S.
After
the submission of immigrant petition (Form I-130) and Green Card
application (Form I-485), and the USCIS will process these
applications. Within a few months, the parent may receive a fingerprint
appointment. USCIS will schedule an interview at the local USCIS
office. At the interview, the officer can approve the Green Card, or
ask for additional evidence, or hold until the parent’s
security
clearance and fingerprints have been cleared by the FBI.
One of the
important supporting forms is one that the child will also need to
submit, known as Form I-864, the affidavit of support promising that
the child will reimburse any government agency from which the parents
receive need-based assistance. These materials are submitted all at
once by mail to USCIS, after which the parents will be called in for
fingerprinting, and finally an interview.
4. The Second Scenario -
the the parent is outside the United States
The process for obtaining a Green Card for
parents of U.S. citizens where the parents are located outside the US
is a little different than if the parents are in the U.S. In order to
obtain a Green Card for parents of U.S. citizens where the parents are
currently in a foreign country, the U.S. citizen child begins the
process by submitting an immigrant petition to USCIS from within the
United States.
In this
case, the U.S. citizen needs to file a Form I-130 petition and request
that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to notify a U.S.
Consulate in the country where the parent lives. Once USCIS approves
the initial immediate relative petition, the application package moves
to the U.S. State Department’s National Visa Center (NVC)
where
each party to the application (parent and child) will be responsible
for completing individual tasks. After the necessary forms are
completed, the parent goes to the U.S. Consulate overseas to apply for
an immigrant visa and have an interview.
On the day that the parent enters the United
States on an immigrant visa, he or she becomes a U.S. permanent
resident. The whole process may take about one year in most
consulates.
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Service, www.greencardfamily.com