IMMEDIATE RELATIVES Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens are not subject to the numerical limitations of the preference family based categories detailed below. Rather, immediate relatives (spouses; minor and unmarried children under 21 years of age; and parents of US citizens) can immigrate fairly quickly assuming the petition and immigrant visa application or application for lawful permanent residency is approved. For parents of U.S. citizens to qualify as immediate relatives, the petitioning son or daughter must be at least 21 years of age.
PREFERENCE RELATIVES
Family members who are not considered "Immediate Relatives" under US Immigration law (see above) may be eligible to immigrate in the Preference family categories subject to numerical limitations. Each year a limited number of visas for non- "Immediate Relative" family members worldwide are made available. These visas are allocated amongst the different preferences as outlined below and are given different priority dates depending upon the date of filing the preference petition. Visas are made available to immigrating family members based on the priority date and particular preference category. Immigrant visas are issued in the chronological order in which the relative petition (I-130) was filed until the numerical limit for the category is reached. The date of filing of the Petition is known as the applicant's priority date. The applicant cannot apply for permanent residence until that priority date is reached (current). In some cases, because there is far more demand for visas in the preference categories than are actually available, immigration for these family members can take many years.
For current priority dates from the most recent State Department Visa Bulletin, click here.
1ST PREFERENCEUnmarried sons and daughters of U.S.citizens
2ND PREFERENCE Spouses and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents
3rd PREFERENCE Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
4thPREFERENCE Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens
Many family members find it difficult to obtain tourist visas to visit their relatives in the U.S. while they wait for a visa to become available to them. If this is the case, it may be more favorable to find another temporary visa category to attempt to enter the U.S. other than the B-1 visa if you have been turned down.
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