Bringing Your Parents to Live in the United States.

Many living here in the United States are interested in bringing over their parents who are living overseas. It is not a complex procedure for someone to bring their parents over from overseas to live in the United States. Nonetheless, there are some requirements that have to be met first. 

The possibility to petition for parents living overseas depends on whether the person petitioning for their family member, the Petitioner, is a U.S. citizen or is a Lawful Permanent Resident (a Green Card holder). U.S. citizens can petition for “Immediate relatives” who are the U.S. citizen’s parents, spouse, and unmarried children under the age of 21, and “Preference relatives” who are either U.S. Citizen’s children over the age of 21 and U.S. citizen’s siblings. U.S. citizens cannot petition for grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins or in-laws. As for Green Card holders, they can only petition for their spouse and children. Thus, one must first become a U.S. citizen before they can petition for their parents.

It is not usually a complex procedure for U.S. citizens to petition for their parents. The Petitioner must be a U.S. citizen, must be 21 years old, and must submit a petition with supporting documents such as Petitioner’s U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization as proof of U.S. citizenship, along with Birth Certificates from both the Petitioner and parents, together with parent’s Marriage Certificate, to prove the Petitioner is the child of the parent.

U.S. citizens can petition for their parents while their parents are still residing overseas or while their parents are currently inside the United States legally. If the parents are residing overseas, then the Petitioner can proceed with Consular Processing to start the process of bringing their parents to live in the United States as Permanent Residents.  If the parents are in the United States legally, then the Petitioner can proceed with Concurrent Filing process so that their parents can remain in the United States and become Permanent Residents. However, if the parent entered the United States illegally, then neither process is possible.

Concurrent Filing allows for all the applications to be filed with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) which are handled inside the United States. In contrast, Consular Processing consists of filing with USCIS and then with the National Visa Center before the parent has to appear at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate for an immigrant visa interview. After that interview has ended, and the consular officer has informed the parent that their visa application has been approved, then the parent can prepare their travel arrangements to the United States. As for which process is faster, it varies. Sometimes Concurrent Filing is faster and sometimes Consular Processing is faster.

Unlike petitioning for parents, the process is not as simple when it comes to petitioning for children and siblings. Approved Immigrant visas for “Immediate relatives” of U.S. citizens who are either the parents, spouse, or unmarried children under 21 are unlimited and they are eligible for a Green Card straight away. However, immigrant visas for “Preference relatives” are not unlimited, but instead, have annual limits on how many can be approved. USCIS imposed numerical limitations for “Preference relatives” immigrating to the United States and it could be years before Immigrant visas becomes available in order for “Preference relatives” to able to join their family members in the United States.