Applying for a Green Card through Family
To promote family unity, immigration law allows U.S. citizens to petition for certain qualified relatives to come and live permanently in the United States. Many people become permanent residents through family members. The application process for unifying foreign-born persons with their family members in the U.S. involves numerous steps. Some of these are handled primarily by the U.S. citizen or permanent resident “petitioners” (often called “sponsors”); others are handled primarily by the intending immigrants themselves.
You may be eligible to get a Green Card as (1) an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, which includes spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21, and parents of U.S. citizen petitioners 21 or older; (2) a family member of a U.S. citizen fitting into a preference category, which includes unmarried sons or daughters over the age of 21, married children of any age, and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizen petitioners 21 or older; (3) a family member of a green card holder, which includes spouses and unmarried children of the sponsoring green card holder; and (4) a member of a special category, which can include battered spouse or child (VAWA), a K nonimmigrant, a person born to a foreign diplomat in the United States, a V nonimmigrant or a widow(er) of a U.S. Citizen.