Who May File I-130 Immigrant Petition and Its Checklist
Updated on 10/21/2023
Do you want to help your family members to immigrate to the United States? If yes, you should get familiar with an I-130 immigrant petition. According to the immigration laws of the United States, as long as foreigners have eligible relationship with a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (LPR, or called green card holder) , they can immigrate to the United States through family-based immigration. Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, is the form to be used to establish such eligible relationship.
Eligible relationship under I-130 immigrant petition
Specifically, the following relatives of a U.S. citizen or LPR are eligible to immigrate to the United States through I-130 petition:
1. | Spouse of U.S. citizen |
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2. | Biological child of U.S. citizen | However, if the child was born out of wedlock and the natural parent is the father of the child, the child must be legitimated before 18 years of age or a bona fide parent-child relationship existed between the father and the child before the child reached 21 years of age. |
3. | Stepchild of U.S. citizen | Only if the marriage between the stepparent and the natural parent of the child lawfully occurred before the child turned 18 years of age. |
4. | Adopted child of U.S citizen | Only if the adoption took place before the child turned 16 years of age, or turned 18 years of age if his or her sibling has been adopted by the same U.S. citizen before such sibling turned 18 years of age. Meanwhile, the U.S citizen must have legal custody of and resided with the adopted child for at least two years before or after adoption. |
5. | Biological parent of U.S citizen | However, if the child was born out of wedlock and the natural parent is the father of the child, similar eligibility requirement as indicated in item 2 above. |
6. | Stepparent of U.S. citizen | Only if the marriage between the stepparent and the natural parent of the child lawfully occurred before the child turned 18 years of age. |
7. | Adoptive parent of U.S citizen | Similar eligibility requirement as indicated in item 4 above. |
8. | Biological sibling of U.S citizen | However, if either of them was born out of wedlock, and they have same natural father but different natural mother, similar eligibility requirement as indicated in item 2 above. |
9. | Stepsibling of U.S. citizen | Only if the marriage between the stepparent and the natural parent of the child lawfully occurred before the child turned 18 years of age. |
10. | Adoptive sibling of U.S citizen | Similar eligibility requirement as indicated in item 4 above. |
11. | Spouse of LPR |
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12. | Unmarried biological child of LPR | However, if the child was born out of wedlock and the natural parent is the father of the child, similar eligibility requirement as indicated in item 2 above. |
13. | Unmarried stepchild of LPR | Only if the marriage between the stepparent and the natural parent of the child lawfully occurred before the child turned 18 years of age. |
14. | Unmarried adopted child of LPR | Similar eligibility requirement as indicated in item 4 above. |
Not sure if you’re eligible to file an I-130 petition for your relative? You can free check eligibility through DYgreencard.com without providing any personal information. Free check your eligibility if you are a U.S. citizen and plan to file an I-130 petition for spouse, parent, child, or sibling, or if you are a lawful permanent resident and plan to file an I-130 petition for spouse/child.
What you need to know about filing an I-130 immigrant petition
1. A separate I-130 petition must be filed for each of eligible relative. There is only one exception to this rule. The exception is that if you are a LPR and you file an I-130 for your spouse. In such situation, your minor unmarried child can be included in such I-130 petition. In other words, you don’t need to file a separate I-130 petition for this child. However, as long as you become a U.S. citizen before the child gets the green card, or the child’s age under the immigration laws turns 21 years of age, the child can no longer be included in the I-130 petition for your spouse and you must file a separate I-130 petition for this child to start over the immigration process for the child. Accordingly, if you plan to become a U.S. citizen or your child will turn 21 years of age in the near future, you’d better file a separate I-130 petition for your child at the early beginning.
2. Filing of an I-130 petition is the first step of immigration process for your eligible relative. To obtain a green card finally, your relative must either apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate through Consular Processing, or file an I-485 adjustment of status application if he or she is inside the United States when filing the I-485 application.
3. Even an I-130 petition gets approved by USCIS, whether your relative could be eventually granted a green card, it much depends on whether he or she is admissible to the United States. The most commonly known grounds of inadmissibility include communicable diseases, certain criminal history, certain memberships or activities against national security, visa fraud, likely to become a “public charge”, or removed or deported previously.
4. If you are a U.S. citizen, and plan to help your immediate relative (means spouse, unmarried child under 21 years of age, or parent) immigrate to the United States, you may concurrently file an I-130 petition with I-485 adjustment of status as long as they are inside the United States.
5. If you are a U.S. citizen and file an I-130 for your non-immediate relative, or if you are a LPR, your relative must wait for an immigrant visa number become available before he or she may apply for an immigrant visa or file an I-485 adjustment of status application. Every month, the Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin to disclose immigrant visa number’s availability. The waiting time for immigrant visa number’s availability ranges from 2-20 years. Click here to learn more about immigrant visa number and visa bulletin.
I-130 checklist
Get a complete I-130 document checklist here. You can also learn more about what happened after filing an I-130 petition in our article I-130 Processing Time-What Happens after Filing.
At DYgreencard.com, with an affordable price, we can help you prepare a complete I-130 application package, or a concurrent filing of I-130 and I-485 application package. What you need to do is just answer a few simple questions and upload documents to our online platform. Then we take care of the rest.
DYgreencard — Immigration lawyer, at an affordable price.
Related Topics:
Form I-485 Adjustment of Status, Explained
I-130 Processing Time-What Happens after Filing
What Happens after Filing Form I-485?
How to Check Green Card Case Status?
Apply for Green Card through Consular Processing
Obtain Green Card through Marriage
Green Card through Marriage to U.S. Citizen Guide
Document Checklist for Marriage Green Card Application
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