FAMILY Immigration
Your Immigration Lawyers are passionate about reunifying and bringing families together in the United States of America. Whether you and your spouse want to start your life together in the U.S., or you want to be reunited with your parents, children, brothers and sisters in the U.S., Your Immigration Lawyers are here to make it happen.
Immigrant Visa (Green Card) Petitions for Spouse, Parents, Children, and Siblings
Family reunification is a foundational principal of U.S. immigration policy. Family-based immigration provides for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to petition for their close relatives for immigration to the U.S. These family members can immigrate to the U.S. as an “immediate relative”, in a relatively short period of time, or as a “preference relative”, which is a typically much longer process spanning years in some cases.
Immediate relatives include spouses of U.S. citizens, unmarried children (<21 years old) of U.S. citizens, and parents of adult (21+ years old) U.S. citizens. Preference relatives include unmarried, sons and daughters (21+ years old) of U.S. citizens (1st preference); spouses, unmarried children, and unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. permanent residents (2nd preference); married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (3rd preference); and brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens (4th preference).
Once the family-based immigrant petition is approved and an immigrant visa is available to the foreign national family member either as an immediate relative or as a preference relative, the foreign national can apply for permanent residence either from within the U.S. or through a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. As a part of that process, the U.S. citizen or permanent resident petitioner is required to provide an Affidavit of Support to ensure that their immigrating family member(s) will not become a public charge to the U.S.
K-1 Fiancé/es
The K-1 visa is for a fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen who seeks to enter the U.S. solely for the purpose of entering into a valid marriage with the petitioning U.S. citizen. The couple must marry within 90 days after the entry of the foreign national. In general, it must be shown that the couple have a true intention to marry within 90 days of the fiancé’s entry; that there aren’t any legal issues preventing the couple from marrying (note that same-sex fiancé(e)s are approvable); that the couple has previously met in person within 2 years of filing, although there are some limited exceptions; and that the U.S. citizen petitioner successfully passes a criminal background check. Children of the fiancée, under the age of 21, can receive a K-2 visa. Assuming the K-1 fiancé(e) and the U.S. citizen marry within the 90 days, the K-1 fiancé and any K-2 children can immediately apply for permanent residence (green card).
Temporary Protected Status
TPS is a humanitarian benefit designated to nationals of a particular country who are in the U.S. and unable to return to their home country due to an ongoing armed conflict in that country that would pose a serious threat to their personal safety; an environmental disaster that has affected living conditions in a country such that they are unable to adequately handle returning nationals; and other extraordinary and temporary conditions in a country that prevents nationals from returning safely. Those granted TPS will not be removed from the U.S. during the designated TPS period, and are granted employment authorization in the U.S.
Generally, in order to qualify for TPS, the applicant must be a national of the country designated for TPS status; has been continuously physically present and resided in the U.S. since the effective date of the most recent designation of that country for TPS; and registers for TPS during the initial registration period announced by the DHS.
Following is a list of those countries currently designated for TPS: Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Yemen.
Keeping Families Together Program – Parole in Place
The Keeping Families Together program offers a process that allows certain undocumented noncitizen spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizen to apply for Parole in Place to enable them to apply for Lawful Permanent Resident Status without having to be separated from their families by leaving the U.S. for processing. The Keeping Families Together program is a 2-step process. The noncitizen spouse or stepchild of a U.S. citizen would first apply for Parole in Place putting them in a status that would then allow them to apply for Adjustment of Status to Lawful Permanent Status (a “Green Card”).