Characteristics of Family-Sponsored Legal 

Permanent Residents: 2004 

Kelly Jefferys October 2005 

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants become legal 

permanent residents (LPRs) of the United States every 

year. More than half of them (66 percent in 2004) are 

family-sponsored, and are granted permanent status 

based on a relationship with a U.S. citizen or LPR. This 

Office of Immigration Statistics Fact Sheet provides 

definitions for terms related to LPRs and descriptive 

characteristics of persons who became familysponsored LPRs in the United States during 2004. 

The data presented in this fact sheet were derived from 

approved applications for LPR status that are maintained in the Computer Linked Application Information

Management System (CLAIMS) of the U.S. Citizenship 

and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department 

of Homeland Security. 

DEFINING “LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT” 

A legal permanent resident (LPR) is a foreign national 

who has been granted lawful permanent residence in 

the United States. LPRs, more commonly known as 

“green card” recipients, are authorized to live and work 

permanently in the United States. 

The immigration laws of the U.S. government give high 

priority for LPR status to immediate relatives of U.S. 

citizens. Preference categories with annual limits are 

used to designate other priority groups for LPR status. 

These include: 1) family-sponsored preferences – 

sponsored by certain family members, annual limit of 

226,000 to 480,000; 2) employment-based preferences 

– sponsored by employers, annual limit of 140,000 plus 

unused family-sponsored preferences in the previous 

year; and 3) diversity – nationals of countries with low

rates of immigration to the United States, annual limit of 

50,000 in 2004. Other major categories of foreign 

nationals who may be eligible for LPR status include 

refugees and asylees. 

FAMILY-SPONSORED LPRs 

The term “family-sponsored LPRs” refers to LPR principals and their dependents whose legal permanent 

resident status was based on a family relationship between the principal and an LPR or U.S. citizen. This 

category includes immediate relatives of U.S. citizens 

and family preference LPRs and typically accounts 

for the majority of the LPR flow in a given year (see 

Figure 1). 

Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens

The spouses, parents, and unmarried children (under 

the age of 21) of U.S. citizens are classified as immediate relatives. This category is not subject to annual 

limits and typically makes up approximately 40 percent 

or more of the annual LPR flow. In 2004, immediate 

relatives of U.S. citizens accounted for 406,074 or 

65 percent of the total 620,429 family-sponsored LPRs. 

Family Preferences

An LPR who obtained a “green card” based on the 

sponsorship of a family member, but is not an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, is defined as a familypreference LPR. Family preferences represented 

214,355 or 35 percent of family-sponsored LPRs 

in 2004. 

The family preference includes four categories: 

• First Preference: Unmarried Adult Children of U.S. 

Citizens. Includes sons and daughters of U.S. citizens over 21 years of age and their children. 

• Second Preference: Spouses, Children, and Unmarried Adult Children of LPRs. Includes spouses, minor 

children and unmarried adult children (over 21 years 

of age) of LPRs. 

Figure 1.

Total and Family-Sponsored LPR Flow to 

the United States: Fiscal Year 2000 to 

2004

0

300

600

900

1,200

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Thousands

Total

Family-sponsored

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Computer

Linked Application Information Management System

(CLAIMS), Legal Immigrant Data, Fiscal Year 2000 to 2004. 

Office of

Immigration Statistics

Management Directorate
 

2 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

Table 1. 

Demographic Characteristics of All LPRs and Family-Sponsored LPRs: Fiscal Year 2004 

Family-sponsored LPRs 

Characteristic All LPRs Total Immediate relatives Family preference 

Age Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

 Total ....................................................... 946,142 100.0 620,429 100.0 406,074 100.0 214,355 100.0 

0 to 14 years ............................................... 137,741 14.6 88,992 14.3 43,025 10.6 45,967 21.4

15 to 24 years ............................................. 164,347 17.4 119,921 19.3 70,251 17.3 49,670 23.2

25 to 34 years ............................................. 268,327 28.4 169,034 27.2 130,534 32.1 38,500 18.0

35 to 44 years ............................................. 183,655 19.4 98,061 15.8 59,906 14.8 38,155 17.8

45 to 54 years ............................................. 94,884 10.0 61,609 9.9 32,752 8.1 28,857 13.5

55 to 64 years ............................................. 53,866 5.7 44,245 7.1 33,264 8.2 10,981 5.1

65 years and over ....................................... 43,282 4.6 38,535 6.2 36,320 8.9 2,215 1.0

Unknown ..................................................... 40 -- 32 -- 22 -- 10 --

Sex 

Male ............................................................ 430,662 45.5 261,003 42.1 162,057 39.9 98,946 46.2

Female ........................................................ 515,314 54.5 359,425 57.9 244,016 60.1 115,409 53.8

Unknown ..................................................... 166 -- 1 -- 1 -- -- --

Marital Status 

Single .......................................................... 346,185 36.6 212,133 34.2 82,180 20.2 129,953 60.6

Married ........................................................ 561,886 59.4 381,988 61.6 302,850 74.6 79,138 36.9

Other ........................................................... 35,770 3.8 25,876 4.2 20,765 5.1 5,111 2.4

Unknown ..................................................... 2,301 0.2 432 0.1 279 0.1 153 0.1

Country of Birth 

Mexico......................................................... 175,364 18.5 162,181 26.1 99,718 24.6 62,463 29.1

Philippines................................................... 57,827 6.1 42,114 6.8 24,708 6.1 17,406 8.1

China........................................................... 51,156 5.4 34,605 5.6 20,947 5.2 13,658 6.4

India ............................................................ 70,116 7.4 30,249 4.9 16,942 4.2 13,307 6.2

Dominican Republic .................................... 30,492 3.2 30,186 4.9 12,087 3.0 18,099 8.4

Vietnam ....................................................... 31,514 3.3 25,228 4.1 10,338 2.5 14,890 6.9

Colombia ..................................................... 18,678 2.0 15,956 2.6 12,945 3.2 3,011 1.4

Jamaica....................................................... 14,414 1.5 13,707 2.2 8,496 2.1 5,211 2.4

Korea........................................................... 19,678 2.1 10,995 1.8 8,536 2.1 2,459 1.1

Peru............................................................. 11,781 1.2 9,417 1.5 7,062 1.7 2,355 1.1

Other ........................................................... 465,122 49.2 245,791 39.6 184,295 45.4 61,496 28.7

-- Figure rounds to 0.0. Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Computer Linked Application Information Management System (CLAIMS), Legal Immigrant Data, 

Fiscal Year 2000 to 2004. 

• Third Preference: Married Sons and 

Daughters of U.S. Citizens. Includes 

married sons and daughters (regardless of age) of U.S. citizens and their 

spouses and children. 

• Fourth Preference: Brothers and Sisters. Includes brothers and sisters (and 

their spouses and children) of U.S. citizens aged 21 and over. 

APPLICATION PROCESS

In order to obtain LPR status as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen or family

preference, a Petition for Alien Relative 

(Form I-130) must first be approved by

USCIS. This form must be submitted by

an LPR or U.S. citizen. Sponsors must be 

able to prove that they can support their 

relatives at 125 percent above the federal 

poverty guidelines. U.S. citizens may

sponsor their spouses, unmarried and 

married children, siblings and parents. 

LPRs may only sponsor spouses and 

unmarried children. 

When an immigrant visa number becomes available from the Department of 

State, the family-sponsored relative may 

immigrate or apply for adjustment of 

status if in the United States. Immediate 

relatives of U.S. citizens must follow the 

procedures outlined above but do not 

need to wait for an immigrant visa number 

to become available before applying for 

an immigrant visa or adjustment of status. 

DEMOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTIVES 

Table 1 compares the demographic characteristics of all persons who became 

LPRs during 2004 to those of familysponsored LPRs. Persons younger than 

25 years of age made up a larger proportion of family-preference LPRs (45 percent) than of immediate relatives of U.S. 

citizens (28 percent). Three out of five 

family-preference LPRs were single compared to one out of five immediate relatives (partially due to higher numbers of 

children). A larger proportion of familypreference LPRs were from Mexico 

(29 percent) compared to all LPRs (18 

percent). In 2004, there were almost twice 

as many immediate relative LPRs as family-preference LPRs, however, larger proportions of LPRs from the Dominican Republic (18,099) and Vietnam (14,890) 

were family sponsored. In addition, almost all LPRs from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica were familysponsored LPRs, compared to less than

half of all LPRs from India.

FOR MORE INFORMATION 

Visit the Office of Immigration Statistics 

web page at uscis.gov/graphics/shared/ 

statistics.

(Edited November 2005)