I am a

U.S. citizen A1

How do I help my 

relative become a 

U.S. permanent resident?

As a citizen of the United States, you may help a relative become 

a lawful permanent resident of the United States by obtaining what 

is often referred to as a “Green Card.” To do so, you need to sponsor 

your relative and be able to prove that you have enough income 

or assets to support your relative(s) when they come to the United 

States.

You begin the process by filing Form I-130, Petition for Alien 

Relative. This form establishes the family relationship that exists 

between you and your relative. Filing instructions and forms are 

available on our Web site at www.uscis.gov. Sometimes the I-130 

can be filed together with an application for permanent residence 

(Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust 

Status). This is discussed below. 

Which relatives may I petition for?

A U.S. citizen can file a petition for the following relatives:

•	Husband or wife;

•	Children, married or unmarried.

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A U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years or older may also petition for 

the following relatives:

•	Parents;

•	Brothers or sisters.

When you submit your petition, you are required to provide evidence 

to prove your relationship to the person for whom you are filing. 

What does the petition do for my relative?

Filing a Form I-130 and proving a qualifying relationship gives your 

relative a place in line with others waiting to immigrate from the 

same country or region based on the same type of relationship. 

When your relative reaches the front of the line, he or she may be 

eligible to immigrate after passing the required background checks 

and meeting requirements for admission.

For example: You file a petition for your unmarried son over 21 

years of age. If we approve it, your petition gives him a place in line 

with people from the same country category who are also unmarried 

sons or daughters over the age of 21 of U.S. citizens.

Your relative’s place in line will be based on the date you file your 

petition. So there is an advantage to filing as soon as possible. There 

is no waiting period for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, which 

include a U.S. citizen’s spouse, parent, or unmarried child under 21 

years of age.

What about my relative’s family?

In most cases, when your relative reaches the front of the line, your 

relative’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age can 

join him or her by also applying for an immigrant visa. (If the family 

member is already in the United States, he or she may be able to 

file a Form I-485 application to adjust status based on the relative’s 

approved visa petition.)

For example: You file a petition for your married daughter. You 

cannot directly petition for her husband and children. However, when

your daughter’s place in line allows her to apply for a Green Card, 

her husband and children can apply for immigrant visas at the same 

time with your daughter. 

As a U.S. citizen, you must file a separate petition for each one of 

your direct relatives, including your own children.

For example: To sponsor your mother and father, file a separate 

petition for each. If they have other children—your brothers 

and sisters—file a separate petition for each of them. Visas are 

immediately available for mothers and fathers of U.S. citizens, but 

visas are not immediately available for brothers and sisters of U.S. 

citizens; therefore, they will have to wait for visa availability.

For example: You marry someone with a child. The child will 

usually qualify as your stepchild if he or she was unmarried and 

under 18 years of age at the time of your marriage. In this example, 

you are required to file two petitions: one petition for your wife and 

another for the child.

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Immigration law provides different immigrant classifications for children 

depending on their age and whether they are married. Customer Guide 

A3, I Am a U.S. Citizen...How Do I...Immigrate an Adopted or Prospective

Adopted Child or Help My Adopted Child Become a Citizen or Permanent

Resident of the United States?, discusses how an adopted child may 

immigrate or otherwise become a permanent resident. 

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After I file, how long will it take before my relative can 

immigrate?

The law gives special consideration to immediate relatives of U.S. 

citizens, which includes a U.S. citizen’s spouse, unmarried children 

under 21 years of age, and parents. 

•	There is no waiting list to immigrate these relatives.

•	The U.S. Department of State will invite them to apply for an

immigrant visa as soon as we approve your I-130 petition. 

•	If your petition has been approved, and your relatives are

currently in the United States after making a legal entry (and 

they meet certain other requirements), they may be able to file 

applications with USCIS to adjust to permanent resident status.

For other relatives, the combination of high demand and the limits 

set by law on how many people can immigrate each year means 

your relative may have to wait several years in line while petitions 

that were filed before theirs are processed. When your relative 

reaches the front of the line, the U.S. Department of State contacts

your relative and invites him or her to apply for an immigrant visa. 

Current wait times for visa categories are available under “Visa 

Bulletins” on the State Department’s Web site at www.travel.

state.gov/visa. 

Please Note: If you are immigrating to the United States and will 

be admitted as a lawful permanent resident, you must pay the $165 

USCIS Immigrant Fee. You pay this fee online through the USCIS 

Electronic Immigration System (USCIS ELIS). We strongly encourage 

you to pay this fee after you receive your immigrant visa packet 

from the U.S. Embassy or consulate abroad (including Canada and 

Mexico) and before you depart for the United States. Paying before 

you depart for the United States will ensure that you receive your 

Permanent Resident Card (commonly referred to as a Green Card) 

without delay. Information about the fee can be found on our Web 

site at www.uscis.gov/immigrantfee.

Can my relative wait in the United States until becoming a 

permanent resident? 

No. If your relative is outside the United States, filing an I-130 does 

not allow your relative to live or work in the United States. An I-130 

petition only establishes your relationship with your relative. Your 

relative should wait outside the United States to immigrate legally. 

If your husband or wife, unmarried child under 21 years, or parent 

is already in the United States after having entered legally, they can 

apply to adjust their status to permanent resident at the same time 

you file their I-130 petition.

Does filing a relative petition commit me to anything? 

Yes. Under the law, each person who immigrates based on a 

relative’s petition must have a financial sponsor. If you choose 

to sponsor your relative’s immigration by filing a relative petition 

(I-130), when the time comes for your relative to immigrate, you 

must agree to be his or her financial sponsor by filing Form I-864, 

Affidavit of Support. If you do not meet the financial qualifications, 

other individuals will then need to make this commitment. For more 

information, please see Customer Guide F3, General Information...

How Do I...Financially Sponsor Someone Who Wants to Immigrate?.

How do I file? 

There are two basic ways to legally assist your relatives to immigrate 

into the United States:

1. If your relatives live in another country, you will file 

an I-130 petition with USCIS. Form I-130 can be filed with a 

USCIS Lockbox based on the petitioner’s place of residence. 

Please refer to pages 4 and 5 of the instructions for mailing 

addresses. Please check our Web site for any updates on 

instructions or fees. Make sure your petition is complete,

signed, and submitted with correct fees. You will need to 

submit evidence of your U.S. citizenship, and evidence proving 

your relationship to each person for whom you are filing a 

petition.

2.If your relatives are already in the United States and 

entered legally, then they may be able to file an I-485 

application to adjust their status to lawful permanent resident 

at the same time as you file the I-130 relative petition. 

Petitions filed at the same time with permanent residence 

applications (I-485) must be filed at a location that is different 

from where you would file an I-130 petition by itself. Please 

read the instructions for the two addresses where concurrent 

filings can be mailed. 

What happens after I file? 

We will mail you a receipt confirming that we have received your 

petition. If your petition is incomplete, we may have to reject 

it, or ask you for more evidence or information, which will delay 

processing. Please send all required documents the first time 

to avoid delay. 

We will notify you when we make a decision. Normally, when we 

approve the petition, we send it to the U.S. Department of State’s

National Visa Center (NVC). When your relative’s place in line permits 

issuance of a visa number, the NVC will notify you and your relative, 

inviting him or her and qualifying dependents to apply for immigrant 

visas. You can find more information about immigrant visa processing 

from the State Department’s Web site at www.state.gov.

How long will it take USCIS to process my petition?

Since processing time depends on a number of factors, it is difficult 

to provide a timeframe. We post current processing times on our 

Web site at www.uscis.gov, which is the best way to monitor 

progress of your petition. 

What if I filed a petition for a relative when I was 

a permanent resident, but I am now a U.S. citizen?

If you become a U.S. citizen while your relative is waiting for a 

visa, you can upgrade your relative’s visa classification and advance 

the processing of that petition by notifying the appropriate agency 

of your naturalization. When you are a U.S. citizen, your husband 

or wife and any unmarried children under age 21 will have visas 

immediately available to them. 

•	If you become a U.S. citizen after your Form I-130 petition 

is already approved and it has been forwarded to the State 

Department’s National Visa Center (NVC), you should notify the

NVC that you have become a U.S. citizen. Requests to upgrade 

petitions due to the naturalization of the petitioner should be 

sent to:

 National Visa Center

31 Rochester Avenue, Suite 200

Portsmouth, NH 03801-2915

Please include a letter with information regarding your relative, a 

copy of your Naturalization Certificate, and a copy of the petition 

approval notice. Once the NVC is notified that the petitioner 

has been naturalized, the NVC will immediately send the visa 
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information on your relative to the designated U.S. Embassy 

or consulate abroad. To confirm that your approved petition 

has been forwarded to the NVC, you can contact the NVC’s 

automated recorded message system at 1-603-334-0700 and, 

with a touchtone telephone, enter your USCIS receipt number.

•	If you become a U.S. citizen and your relative’s petition has 

not yet been approved by USCIS, you will need to send the 

notification to the Service Center address located on the receipt 

notice you received when you filed your Form I-130 petition. 

Please include a letter with information regarding your relative, a 

copy of your Naturalization Certificate, and a copy of the petition 

receipt notice. Call Customer Service at 1-800-375-5283 for 

assistance or if you are unsure about the status or location of 

your petition.

•	If your relative is your spouse and has children who are your

natural children, stepchildren, or adopted children, and you did 

not file separate petitions for them, you must file a separate 

petition for each of them with evidence of your U.S. citizenship. 

Please include a copy of the receipt notice for the original 

petition.

Key Information

Key USCIS forms referenced 

in this guide

Form #

Petition for Alien Relative I-130

Application to Register Permanent Residence 

or Adjust Status

I-485

Affidavit of Support I-864

Other U.S. Government Services–Click or Call

General 

Information

www.usa.gov 1-800-333-4636

New 

Immigrants

www.welcometoUSA.gov

U.S. Dept.

of State

www.state.gov 1-202-647-6575

www.travel.state.gov/visa

For more copies of this guide, or information 

about other customer guides, please visit 

www.uscis.gov/howdoi. 

You can also visit www.uscis.gov to 

download forms, e-file some applications, check 

the status of an application, and more. It’s a 

great place to start!

If you don’t have Internet access at home 

or work, try your local library. 

If you cannot find what you need, please call 

Customer Service at: 1-800-375-5283 

Hearing Impaired TDD Customer Service: 

1-800-767-1833

Disclaimer: This guide provides basic 

information to help you become generally 

familiar with our rules and procedures. For 

more information, or the law and regulations, 

please visit our Web site. Immigration law 

can be complex, and it is impossible to 

describe every aspect of every process. You 

may wish to be represented by a licensed 

attorney or by a nonprofit agency accredited 

by the Board of Immigration Appeals.