Brother or Sister Green Card | Sponsor Brother/Sister

Green Card and Immigration Application for
U.S. Citizen's Brother or Sister, and Do It Yourself Package

The Immigration Preference and Green Card Application for U.S. Citizen's Brothers and Sisters

The close family members of a U.S. citizen can qualify to immigrate to the United States, but they are subject to a numerical limit of immigrant visas available to them each year. Generally, the higher the immigration preference, the quicker the alien will be eligible to receive an U.S. immigrant visa or Green Card. The U.S. citizen's relatives in brother or sister category must wait for a immigration visa to become available.

Family-sponsored immigration has an overall quota of about half million per year, plus unused numbers from employment-based preferences. Each preference is given a numerical quota per year to limit the number of immigrants admitted into the United States.

People who want to become immigrants are divided into categories based on a preference system. The immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, which includes parents, spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21, do not have to wait for an immigrant visa number to become available once the application filed for them is approved by the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services).

To apply for a Green Card for a U.S. citizen's brother or sister, a U.S. citizen must be 21 years of age. Also, to qualify as a brother or sister of a U.S. citizen, both the brother or sister and the U.S. citizen must have been children of the same parent. The annual visa allotment available for this preference is 65,000, plus any visas not used by the first three preferences.

More distant relatives, such as aunts/uncles, cousins, and grandparents cannot be sponsored for a Green Card. Even U.S. citizens cannot petition for these relatives. It may be possible to invite them for a temporary visit on a visitor's visa, depending upon whether they have sufficient ties to their respective home countries to show that they have no immigrant intent. Of course, they may also be sponsored if they are qualified and the sponsoring relative owns a business, or is able to find employment for the foreign national relative under the employment-based preference categories. =>..........

The Immigration Application Process for a U.S. Citizen's Brother or Sister

A sibling is a brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or adopted brother or sister. For the necessary sibling relationship to exist, each person must have been a child of at least one of the same parents. To apply for a Green Card for brother or sister, a U.S. citizen must be 21 years of age.

The family-based immigration provides foreign siblings (brothers or sisters) with the opportunity to reunite with family members living in the United States, and become U.S. Permanent Residents. In addition, the spouse and children under 21 years of age of the foreign sibling may accompany the foreign sibling, and apply for permanent residence as well. U.S. Permanent Residents have the right to live and work in the United States permanently, leave and return to the United States with few limitations, attend public schools and colleges, and become a U.S. citizen later.

You can make use of the family-based immigration process to apply a Green Card for your brother or sister. If you are a U.S. citizen, you should be above 21 years of old to petition a Green Card for your sister or brother. Through the family-based Green Card process, once your sister or brother enters the United States, they are eligible to work permanently and later apply for U.S. citizenship. But you cannot apply for a Green Card for your sister or brother through family-based Green Card process, if you are just a U.S. Green Card holder.

The family-based Green Card process is a multi-step process. First your need to file an immigration petition using Form I-130 with USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). After USCIS approves the Form I-130, an immigrant visa number should be available. Once the immigrant visa is available, they will be notified to go and schedule an interview in their local U.S. consulate. If your brother or sister is already in the U.S. on a different visa, you can file I-130 first, and once the immigrant visa number becomes available, your brother or sister can apply for adjustment of status in the United States.

Along with Form I-130, you will need to file Form I-864 Affidavit of Support to establish that you have enough income to support your siblings. You will have to submit the supporting document along with Form I-130 to establish your relationship, and each supporting document varies based on your situation. =>..........

The Immigrant Visa Number and Priority Date for a U.S. Citizen's Brothers and Sisters Green Card Application

The immediate family members of the brother or sister may apply for a Green Card with the sponsorship of a U.S. citizen. The annual visa number available for this preference is 65,000, plus any visas not used by the first three preferences. The filing date of the petition is called the applicant's "Priority Date." A visa cannot be issued until the priority date is reached. This means that there may be a lengthy waiting period. The "Priority Date" is the date that you file the Form I-130 immigrant petition on behalf of your brother or sister.

U.S. immigration law limits the number of immigrant visas that are available every year. This means that even if the USCIS approves an immigrant visa petition for an alien, the alien may not get an immigrant visa number immediately. In some cases, several years could pass between the time USCIS approves an immigrant visa petition and the U.S. Department of State gives the alien an immigrant visa number.

In addition, U.S. immigration law also limits the number of immigrant visas available by country. This means an alien may have to wait longer if the alien comes from a country with a high demand for U.S. immigrant visas. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of visas available under a particular category, that category is considered oversubscribed.

The filing date of the petition is called the applicant's "Priority Date." A visa cannot be issued until the priority date is reached. This means that there may be a lengthy waiting period. Sometimes that period may exceed several years. The "Priority Date" is the date that you file the FormI-130 immigrant petition on behalf of your brother or sister. If you have already filed an FormI-130 immigrant petition, you can find the "Priority Date" on the top, left-hand corner of the Form I-797 Receipt Notice or Approval Notice you received after your filed Form I-130 with USCIS.

If a Priority Date is "current", it means that there is a "visa slot" available for your brother or sister. U.S. immigration law limits the number of people who enter the U.S. as Lawful Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) on the basis of sponsorship by a U.S. citizen sibling. Specifically, the U.S. has 65,000 "visa slots" per year reserved for individuals who are immigrating as the brother or sister of a U.S. citizen. Each year, the number of approved immigrant petitions may exceed the number of "visa slots." Because of this, a backlog has occurred. =>..........

Immigrant Visa Application at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate, and Form I-485 Adjustment of Status

As a brother or sister of a U.S. citizen, if your Form I-130 application has been approved, and a visa number is immediately available for you, you can apply for an immigrant visa at U.S. embassy or consulate. The Immigrant Visa Unit at U.S. embassy or consulate will process your application for an immigrant visa. While no assurance can be given regarding the appointment date of your visa interview, you should prepare for that appointment and obtain the documents required for your visa application.

When you have obtained all of the required documents and are prepared for the interview, you should notify U.S. embassy or consulate. You may notify them that you are prepared for the interview by mailing to the Immigrant Visa Unit, using form and document checklist. The DS-260 contains questions regarding specific biographical information required for the immigrant visa. Each family member that is eligible to travel to the United States is required to complete the DS-260.

The Form DS-260 Immigrant Visa Electronic Application (also called "Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application") replaces the paper-based DS-230 Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration (parts I and II); while the Form DS-261 Choice of Address and Agent will replace the DS-3032 Choice of Address and Agent.

The Department of State (DOS) has implemented use of the DS-260, Online Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application, and the DS-261, Choice of Address and Agent. These two forms are used for immigrant visa applicants processing at all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. The online forms are submitted to DOS through the Consular Electronic Applications Center (CEAC) website at https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/. In order to access the online forms, the applicant must input his or her NVC case number and invoice I.D. number. => ..........

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers of Green Card Application for U.S. Citizen's Brothers or Sisters

Understand the family-based brothers or sisters' Green Card petition requirements and necessary evidence from the Frequent Asked Questions, the U.S. Citizen's brothers or sisters Green Card application requirements, immigrant visa procedures and criteria, USCIS visa process and processing, the supporting documents for U.S. Citizen's brothers or sisters, and our Complete Do-It-Yourself Package. =>..........

Our Help Desk's Answers for Questions of Green Card Application for U.S. Citizen's Brother or Sister, and Other Related Issues

Answers for questions of Green Card application for U.S. citizen's brother or sister by our Help Desk, including brother or sister immigration visa application, Green Card requirements and supporting documents, and other immigration related issues. =>..........

Complete Do-It-Yourself Package of Green Card Application for U.S. Citizen's Brother or Sister

To help a U.S. citizen's brother or sister to immigrate to United States, we provide a high quality and case-proven "Complete Do-It-Yourself Package of Green Card Application for U.S. Citizen's Brother or Sister (Brother/Sister DIY Package, or Brother/Sister DIY Kit)." In this package, we let you know the required immigration application documents, evidence, procedures, samples of Green Card petition cover letter, samples of required forms, and application check list. We also provide detailed explanation of the immigrant visa application, interview process, and many related issues. =>.........

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