Reuniting Families in the USA
Dedicated Family Immigration Attorney Serving a Global Clientele
For more than 15 years, the law firm of Adesina Law Firm, PC. has helped families from all over the world to reunite with their loved ones in the United States. Because family immigration in the United States can be fairly complex, it is important to hire an experienced immigration attorney who has the knowledge and skill to reunite your family successfully in the U.S.
For further information, please do not hesitate to call us at 312-363-9661 today.
Family-Sponsored Immigration
U.S. citizens can petition for green cards for their families in a two-step process.
These steps include:
- Filing a petition to classify a family member as a qualifying relative; and
- Filing for adjustment of status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or for an immigrant visa from a consulate, either in the relative’s country of citizenship or country of current legal residence.
Relative Categories
It is important to note that all relatives outside of the United States are subject to waiting periods. As a general rule, the more distant the relative, the longer the waiting period will be.
Relative categories are as follows:
- Immediate relatives such as spouses, minor biological children, minor stepchildren, and parents of U.S. citizens.*
- First preference for adult unmarried children of U.S. citizens.
- The second preference includes relatives of U.S. green card holders.
- Sub-category 2A, such as the spouse and children of green card holders.**
- Sub-category 2B, including unmarried adult children of green card holders.
- Third preference for adult married children of U.S. citizens.
- Fourth preference for siblings of U.S. citizens.
*Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not subject to an annual quota or any waiting period as a result of a backlog under a quota, as are the other family-based categories. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens can apply for and obtain a green card from inside the U.S. even though they overstayed their status, as long as they entered the U.S. legally. The spouse of children of U.S. citizens who entered the U.S. illegally may have the possibility to obtain the greencard either through qualifying for legalization under the status INA 245(i) or based on obtaining a waiver of inadmissibility and completing the immigration process through a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad.
**The spouse and children of U.S. permanent residents who entered the U.S. illegally may have the possibility to obtain the greencard either through qualifying for legalization under the status INA 245(i) or based on obtaining a waiver of inadmissibility and completing the immigration process through a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad.