Immigration Lawyer Blog
In this video we teach you how you can immigrate your sibling to the United States as a U.S. Citizen.
What is the process of immigrating my brother or sister to the United States?
To petition to bring your sibling (brother or sister) to live in the United States as a green card holder, you must be a U.S. citizen and at least 21 years of age. Permanent residents may not petition to bring siblings to live permanently in the United States.
The first step to petition your sibling is to file Form I-130.
Once the I-130 is approved your sibling must wait until an immigrant visa becomes available to them, pursuant to the priority date of Form I-130. The sibling must go through a “waiting period,” because there are numerical limitations on the number of visas issued to brothers and sisters of US Citizens.
Only 65,000 visas plus any unused numbers are available per fiscal year for brothers and sisters of adult U.S. Citizens. The visa bulletin governs the availability of visas for siblings of U.S. Citizens and categorizes siblings under the (F4) family preference category.
Once the priority date becomes current, the sibling can proceed with applying for an immigrant visa if they are residing overseas, or with filing the I-485 if they are lawfully present in the United States.
The process of immigrating a sibling is a long process which can take many years depending on the backlog of the visa bulletin.
For more information about immigrating a sibling to the U.S. please click here.
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