Family Immigrant Visas
A United States citizen can petition a spouse, parent, or child for an immigrant visa which will entitle them to apply for a green card. If a U.S. citizen is petitioning for a parent the U.S. citizen child must be 21 years or older. Also, if you are a U.S. citizen sponsoring a child, you will have to specify whether the child is younger or older than 21 and if the child is either married or unmarried. As a Legal Permanent Resident (if you have a green card yourself), you can only petition a spouse, child, or unmarried son or daughter.
A visa petition is subject to what is called a “priority date” which determines how long it will take for a visa to become available after a petition is filed. A “priority date” is determined by what type of relative you are petitioning for and what country they are from. For example, a spouse would be considered an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen and considered “first preference”. These priority dates are available on the U.S. State Department web site and are updated monthly
The foreign national that you are petitioning for must first have an available visa before he or she can apply for a green card.
Please be aware that if you are a U.S. citizen and married a foreign national who came into the country legally (through a valid visa), it is possible for you to file an immigrant petition on your spouse’s behalf and for your spouse to simultaneously apply for a green card while still in the United States.