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A lawful permanent resident is a foreign national who has been granted the privilege of permanently living and working in the United States. If you want to become a lawful permanent resident based on the fact that you have a relative who is a citizen of the United States or a relative who is a lawful permanent resident, you must go through a multi-step process.
Eligibility
To be eligible to sponsor a relative to immigrate to the
United States you must meet the following criteria:
To be eligible for lawful permanent residence based on a family
relationship you must meet the following criteria:
Preference Categories
The relative you wish to immigrate must obtain an immigrant visa number that
is based on the preference category in which they fall.
People who want to become immigrants are classified 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 visa petition filed for them
is approved by the USCIS. An immigrant visa number will be
immediately available for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
Click here for information
on obtaining an immigrant visa number if you are an immediate
relative of a U.S. citizen. The relatives in the remaining
categories must wait for an immigrant visa number to become available according
to the following preferences:
Once USCIS receives your visa petition, I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, it will be approved or denied. USCIS will notify the person who filed the visa petition if the visa petition is approved. USCIS will then send the approved visa petition to the Department of State's National Visa Center, where it will remain until an immigrant visa number is available. The Center will notify you, the foreign national, when the visa petition is received and again when an immigrant visa number is available. You do not need to contact the National Visa Center, unless you change your address or there is a change in your personal situation, or that of your alien relative, that may affect eligibility for an immigrant visa, such as reaching age 21, marriage, divorce, or death of a spouse.
Visa Information
The Department of State is responsible for providing visa numbers
to foreign nationals interested in immigrating to the United States.
To find out more about the Department of State's visa process
visit the Department
of State or click here for specific information on how
to get an immigrant visa number.
To check the status of a visa number you can review the Department of
States Visa bulletin.
How Do I?
Choose one of the following to obtain information on sponsoring
a foreign national relative for family based lawful permanent
residency:
Click here for general information on application
procedures for foreign nationals, residing in the United States.
If you are outside of the United States and need information regarding
immigrating to the United States contact your local consulate
office.
Where do I apply
If you are applying for lawful permanent residence from inside
the borders of the United States, click to help
you find the USCIS field office(s) serving your area.
If you are applying for lawful permanent residence outside the
United States contact the consulate
office serving the area in which you live for application
filing instructions.
FAQs
Additional information related to Lawful Permanent Residence
that you might need to review.
Other helpful sites to visit if you:
Last Modified 10/30/2003