Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are spouses, children, and parents. In this case "children" are defined as unmarried and under 21 years of age. For parents of a U.S. citizen, the petitioning son or daughter must be at least 21 years of age.

The definition of "immediate relative" includes widows of U.S. citizens, provided that the foreign national was the spouse of the citizen for at least 2 years prior to the citizen's death and was not legally separated from the citizen at the time of his/her death.

NB : The petition for permanent residence has to be filed within 2 years after the citizen's death and before re-marriage.

The advantage of qualifying as an immediate relative is that there is no numerical limitation or backlog for sponsorship.

The Family preference categories are :

1st Pref - unmarried sons and daughters (any age) of U.S. citizens,

2nd Pref - spouses and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents,

3rd Pref - married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens,

4th Pref - brothers / sisters of U.S. citizens.

The Visa Bulletin, which is released each month by the U.S. State Department, provides the cutoff dates in each of the categories outlined above.

© The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.