Bringing Family Together: How US Citizens Can Get Green Cards for Their Parents

Unique visas designed for family members of U.S. citizens are the Immediate Relative (IR) family-based visas. Designed to allow foreign-born parents of U.S citizens a route to become legal permanent residents, the IR-5 visa provides the right to indefinitely live in the U.S. and to work lawfully in the United States without an employment authorization document (EAD).

Bringing parents to the United States may provide improved family unity, safety, employment, and frequently a higher quality of life for every family member.

Should you be a U.S. citizen, at least 21 years old, and both your parents and you qualify and are acceptable, you could bring them to live with you! This is a comprehensive reference on the IR-5 visa, also called the parent green card.

How To Sponsor A Parent Of A US Citizen For Permanent Residency?

The qualifying criteria for a green card application enables a parent to apply by being somewhat straightforward. You have to be a U.S. citizen at least 21 years old if you are a son or daughter wanting to petition a parent.

The application starts with your parents submitting an immigrant visa petition. Each parent will need their petition if both of them want to immigrate. To present a strong petition, you must satisfy three fundamental criteria:

The petitioner—son or daughter—must be a U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age; the parent must be either biological, step, or adoptive mother or father; and you must prove the parent-child relationship.

Permanent residents cannot sponsor a parent for a green card. The ideal course of action is for the permanent resident to naturalize as a U.S. citizen and then apply for the parent.

What Documents Must Be Submitted With An IR-5 Visa?

Should the Immigrant Visa Unit of the Embassy handle your application, you must have the original or certified copy and one photocopy (apart from your passport and passport-style pictures) of the following documentation for every family member seeking a visa.

Even if they were already turned in with your petition to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, all documentation is necessary. Never send any original paperwork to NVC.

On the interview day, you must present all the necessary documentation to the Embassy. You have to check every part for comprehensive information on the needed papers. Bring the proper paperwork to your interview to ensure your application is accepted.

Please do so as soon as the Immigrant Visa Unit contacts you with a request to submit scanned copies of your documentation before your interview. Should you lack a scanner, you can take the pictures of documents on your smartphone. Your visa interview calls on you to bring the original documentation.

How Long Does It Take To Obtain An IR-5 Visa?

Usually, the application for and receipt of the IR5 visa takes up to a year overall. Like other U.S. visas, the IR-5 visa application procedure is several-stage, and the precise timing relies on the following:

• Like the I-130, how fast forms are handled.
• The U.S. embassy’s or consulate’s backlog in your parents’ home country
• Outside elements are influencing processing timeline such as availability of parent’s Form DS-260 civil documents

The COVID-19 epidemic is one outside element that has tested many companies in recent years. Based on recent National Visa Center (NVC) backlog data, 409,645 qualified IR-5 visa applications are awaiting interview scheduling in July 2022. This exceeds 2019 by more. On average, only 60,656 candidates were awaiting monthly interview scheduling that year.

Although most of the waiting period is in your control, one of the most remarkable advantages of the IR visa category is that it provides family members with a means of immigration to the United States free from limitations or yearly restrictions.

Conclusion

Once the parent beneficiary receives the IR-5 visa, you may ask about its duration. The actual concern to address is the lifetime of the green card. Usually, parents acquire green cards for ten years. You may renew a green card numerous times, however, as required. The parent might instead seek citizenship via naturalization.

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