Family Based Petitions

One of the driving forces behind the United States immigration laws is the concept of family unity. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has made available several opportunities for foreign nationals to obtain Lawful Permanent Resident Status (“green card holder”) which permits employment authorization and the ability to indefinitely enter and exit the United States without restriction, based upon a qualifying relationship to a United States Citizen or Permanent Resident. Your relationship to a United States Citizen or to a Permanent Resident may qualify you to apply for a green card. United States Citizen’s and Permanent Resident’s have the ability in many circumstances to file petitions for members of their immediate family: including spouses, fiancées, parents, children, and siblings.

If you do not have a qualifying relationship to seek immigration benefits through a family member, there are many other avenues open to you such as employment based petitions or student visas which can lead to a green card later on down the road.

In order to determine if you are eligible to receive the benefits of a family based petition it must first be determined if a qualifying relationship exists. The Immigration and Naturalization Service categorizes family relationships into five broad categories. Each category (with the exception of the immediate relative catagory) has an annual limitation on the amount of people who can become permanent residents. The numerical limitations are often oversubscribed which causes periodic and often substantial waiting periods. Availability of each visa changes frequently, please contact Teplen & Associates, PLLC for up to date quota information.

The petition to become a permanent resident based upon a qualifying relationship to a United States Citizen or Permanent Resident can be done in the United States or in your home country at a United States Embassy or Consulate.

If you are engaged to a United States Citizen, and are currently located outside of the United States, your United States Citizen Fiancée may petition for you to enter the United States on a K-1 visa.

If you are married to a United States Citizen, but are currently located outside of the United States, your United States Citizen spouse may petition for you to enter the United States on a K-3 visa.

The K Visa provides that during the time that an application to become a permanent resident is pending with the Immigration and Naturalization Service you will be eligible to travel and to work in the United States.

If you filed to become a permanent resident based your relationship to a United States Permanent Resident, and the application was filed before December 21, 2000, you may be eligible to enter the United States on the newly created V visa.

Permanent residence through a marriage yields conditional residence status if the marriage is less than two years old at the time of interview. As a Conditional Permanent Resident you are required to submit an application to the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the three-month period prior to the two-year anniversary of the time you first became a permanent resident to remove the condition. This application is ideally submitted as a joint application by husband and wife to remove the "condition" but can be made unilaterally (by one person) in the event of death or domestic problems prohibiting a joint application.

United States Citizenship

Three years after you obtain status as a Permanent Resident based upon a qualifying relationship to a United States Citizen you will be eligible to apply for naturalization and become a citizen of the United States.

Adopted children of United States Citizens are automatically eligible for United States Citizenship once the adoption has been completed. However, the adopted child’s eligibility for citizenship is dependent upon their physical presence in the United States. For parents who wish to adopt from a foreign country Teplen & Associates, PLLC can guide you through the process of adoption from finding the right child all the way through to bringing your child home to the United States.

The process of becoming a permanent resident based upon a qualifying relationship to a United Stated Citizen or Permanent Resident is a long and arduous one. The experienced professionals at Teplen & Associates, PLLC can take you through this process and make the whole experience as easy as possible.