Family Visas

The following family preference visas are available:

• Unmarried adult children of a U.S. citizen and their minor children (as derivatives) get first family preference (F1 Visas)
• Spouses, minor children, and unmarried children over 21 of LPRs get second family preference (F2 Visas)
  • F2A – spouses and children (unmarried and under 21 years of age) of LPRs;
  • F2B – unmarried children (21 years of age and older) of LPRs;
• Married adult children of U.S. citizens, as well as their spouses and minor children (as derivatives), get third family preference (F3 Visas)
• Siblings of U.S. citizens, as well as their spouses and their minor children (as derivatives), get fourth family preference (F4 Visas)

Getting a Family Visa through a Fiancé

A foreign national who is engaged to a U.S. citizen can come to the United States in order to get married must first have their U.S. citizen fiancé file a K-1 fiancé visa petition. Foreign nationals must meet the following requirements to be eligible for a fiancé visa. 

• A U.S. citizen has filed a fiancé visa petition on your behalf
• You and your fiancé met in person within two years before the petition was filed.
• You and your fiancé are not currently married to another person

Once your K-1 fiancé visa is approved, you must marry your fiancé within 90 days of your arrival in the United States. If you do not marry your fiancé during that time, you must leave the United States, or you may be deported. Once you are married, you can then apply for an adjustment of status so you can get a Permanent Resident Card (PRC or Green Card).

What is the Application Process, and What Forms are Required?

To obtain a family visa, a U.S. citizen or LPR relative must first file a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for the visa applicant with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). This application establishes the family relationship and creates the Priority Date for the foreign national’s subsequent petition, but does not grant a visa in and by itself. The Priority Date is the date that the application was filed and accepted by USCIS. For all family preference visa applications (those that are not immediate relatives), the Priority Date will determine when a visa is available in the corresponding category.

If the visa beneficiary lives outside of the United States when the I-130 is approved, USCIS will send the entire application to the National Visa Center (NVC), which then forwards the application to the appropriate U.S. consulate when the visa becomes available. The process of obtaining a visa while living outside of the United States is called consular processing (see more on this below).

If the visa beneficiary lives inside the United States when the I-130 is approved, they can file the I-485 Form in what is called an adjustment of status to become a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR or green card holder). In order to do an adjustment of status the applicant must be already living legally in the U.S. with a different nonimmigrant status such as a student visa, a work visa (for example an H1-B, L-1, or E-2), or a different paroled status.

If the applicant is an immediate relative (see above) and living in the U.S., they can CONCURRENTLY file the I-485 together with their I-130 application to adjust their status. In certain circumstances, as long as the applicant can prove they did not enter the U.S. with the fraudulent intention of getting married using a tourist visa, they can also adjust their status while on a B-1/B-2 tourist visa. Waivers are also available for certain immediate relative applicants who have overstayed their visas or who have worked in the U.S. without authorization, though other inadmissibility issues can still apply.

When adjusting status in the U.S., the foreign national can also simultaneously apply for both a work permit (employment authorization document or an EAD) and a travel permit (Advanced Parole or AP). It is important that the foreign national does not work inside the U.S. before the EAD is approved unless they are currently in the U.S. with a different status that allows them to work, otherwise they may become ineligible for the adjustment of status. Likewise, the foreign national must not travel outside the U.S. while their adjustment of status is pending until they have an approved AP or their adjustment of status application will be considered abandoned.

Once the adjustment of status application is filed and accepted by USCIS, the applicant will receive a notice to attend a biometrics appointment, where they provide fingerprints, photos, and their signature. In cases for marriage visas, after a thorough background check, the applicant and their spouse must subsequently attend an interview where they will be questioned on their application and their marriage. If USCIS suspects a fraudulent marriage, the couple may have to go through a more intensive separated “Stokes” interview. After that, the applicant will receive a decision. Applicants can check on a pending Green Card application status by contacting the USCIS’s online cases status website or by submitting a case inquiry if their application is taking longer than the published processing times for their category and form.