Family Based Immigration

If you have loved ones outside of the country, your family based immigration lawyer can help you bring them stateside. It can be complicated process, so you’ll need an experienced legal team. Fortunately, at The Law Offices of Ricky Malik, P.C., we have over 20 years of experience to help you through the process. Read on to see how family immigration services can make a difference, and contact us today to get started.

Family Based Immigration

Immigration can be challenging. There’s a lot of paperwork to fill out, interviews to take care of, and opportunities for delays and mistakes at every step. This process only gets more complicated if you’re trying to bring family members over to the United States. There will be a lot more paperwork, a lot more questions, and a whole different set of instructions for you and your loved ones.

No two families are alike, and no two immigration cases are alike either. You may be trying to bring a foreign-born spouse to the United States, but he or she may already have children. Depending on how old those children are, they may or may not be eligible to come to the United States as part of the family-based immigration process. And if you and your spouse already have children of your own, you’ll still need to sponsor them.

Sponsorship is a serious commitment, and there are requirements that you need to satisfy in order to bring over your family members. Between these requirements, your immigration applications, and interviews and background checks, the whole process can be pretty overwhelming. Fortunately, your family based immigration lawyer can help.

You can theoretically fill out your family visa petition all by yourself. But without legal oversight, you risk making serious mistakes that can delay the process. Your US family immigration lawyer can steer you clear of any major pitfalls, and can also help you and your loved ones prepare for any interviews. Many family based immigration attorneys also provide services for visas and asylum applications, which is extra helpful if you’re trying to get your family members to the US quickly.

Why Experience Matters In Family Immigration Cases

If you’re sponsoring your family members, you need a legal team you can trust. At The Law Offices of Ricky Malik, P.C., our experience makes all the difference:

• We have over 20 years of experience helping our clients with their immigration needs. We know what you should look out for during the process, and we know the best strategies for getting it done efficiently.
• We’ve helped countless clients with a wide range of immigration cases. Our practice areas include naturalization, family visas, deportation defense, and more.
• We deliver real results, and we’re committed to every case. In one recent case, we helped a client overturn a deportation order and obtain permanent residency.

You deserve the best life possible in the United States, and that means having your family with you. If you’re ready to get started, we’re ready to help.

Contact Us Today

At The Law Offices of Ricky Malik, P.C., our team can help you and your family start a new life in the United States. Contact us today, and see what a family based immigration lawyer from our firm can do for you.

Family Based Immigration Services

To immigrate to the United States, a foreign national must have a petition approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is filed either by a U.S. citizen or U.S. lawful permanent resident relative. This process is a core part of Family Based Immigration. (There are a few exceptions for self-petitions.)

On occasion a U.S. citizen living abroad can file an immigrant visa petition at an U.S. embassy or consulate or with the USCIS overseas, when the American citizen petitioner has been a resident there for the preceding 6 months and has host country permission to reside there. The U.S. Embassy must be contacted to determine eligibility for direct filing.

Unlimited Family-Based Immigrants – Immediate Relatives

 Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens (IR): These types of immigrant visas are based on a close family relationship with a U.S. citizen, including spouses, children, and parents. IR classification includes:

• Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR-1)
• Unmarried Child Under 21 Years of Age of a U.S. Citizen (IR-2)
• Orphan adopted abroad by a U.S. Citizen (IR-3)
• Orphan to be adopted in the United States by a U.S. citizen (IR-4)
• Parent of a U.S. Citizen who is at least 21 years old (IR-5)

Returning Residents (SB): Immigrants who lived in the United States previously as lawful permanent residents and are returning to live in the U.S. after a temporary visit of more than one year abroad.

Numerically Capped Family-Based Immigrants

These types of immigrant classifications involve specific, more distant, family relationships with a U.S. citizen and some specified relationships with a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). Under immigration law, there are fiscal year numerical limitations on family preference immigrants as explained below.

• Family First Preference (F1): Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their children, if any. (23,400)
• Family Second Preference (F2): Spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (over age 20) of lawful permanent residents. (114,200) At least seventy-seven percent of all visas available for this category will go to the spouses and children; the remainder will be allocated to unmarried sons and daughters.
• Family Third Preference (F3): Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and children. (23,400)
• Family Fourth Preference (F4): Brothers and sisters of United States citizens, and their spouses and children, provided the U.S. citizens are at least 21 years of age. (65,000)

 Note: Grandparents, aunts, uncles, in-laws and cousins cannot sponsor a relative for immigration.

Adoption

In order to confer immigration benefits on an adopted child, the adoption must occur before the child reaches 16 years of age.  Further, the adopting parent must have two years of legal and physi­cal custody of the child prior to submitting the petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). (There is an exception in the case of siblings that allows for adopting up to the age of 18: when one child is under 16 at the time of the adoption, that child’s sibling can be up to 18 years old at the time of adoption and still continue to qualify for status as a child.)