I-130 Visa Lawyer, Boston MA

Immediate Relative Categories

United States citizens may file immigrant visa petitions on behalf of immediate relatives. 

Immediate relatives are defined by immigration law as a United States citizen’s:

• Spouse;
• Unmarried children under twenty-one years of age; and
• Parents (if the U.S. citizen is twenty-one years of age or older).

Immediate relatives have special immigration priority and there is always a visa available for them.

Preference Relative Categories

United States citizens and lawful permanent residents may file immigrant visa petitions on behalf of preference relatives. 

Preference relatives are divided by immigration law into five categories:

• First preference (F1) – Unmarried Sons and Daughters, 21 Years of Age and Older, of U.S. Citizens;
• Second preference (F2A) – Spouses and Children (Unmarried and Under 21 Years of Age) of Lawful Permanent Residents;
• Second preference (F2B) – Unmarried Sons and Daughters, 21 Years of Age and Older, of Lawful Permanent Residents;
• Third preference (F3) – Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens; and
• Fourth preference (F4) – Brothers and Sisters of U.S. Citizens (if the U.S. Citizen is 21 Years of Age and Older).

Immigrant visas for preference relatives are numerically limited each fiscal year. Therefore, some family preference relatives must wait in what is known as the “visa queue” for a visa to become available. 

I-130 Petitions

Filing an I-130 petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is the first step in sponsoring a family member for an immigrant visa.

Separate I-130 petitions must be filed for each eligible relative.

Derivative beneficiaries do not require a separate I-130 petition or filing fee. Rather, the information of derivative beneficiaries should be included in Part 4 of the principal family member’s I-130 petition.

United States citizens can include a derivative spouse and/or unmarried children (under twenty-one years of age) in the same I-130 petition as the following immediate relatives:

• Unmarried sons or daughters (twenty-one years of age or older);
• Married sons or daughters (of any age); and
• Brothers or sisters (United States citizen must be twenty-one years of age or older).

Lawful permanent residents can always include a preference relative’s unmarried children (under twenty-one years of age) in the same I-130 petition.

Derivative beneficiaries apply for an immigrant visa along with the principal sponsored relative.

Priority Dates

Priority dates are used to determine an immigrant’s place in the visa queue. When the priority date becomes available, or is “current,” immigrants may be able to apply for adjustment of status and obtain lawful permanent resident status, if otherwise eligible.

An immigrant visa is available to an immigrant when their priority date is earlier than the cut-off date shown for their preference category and country of chargeability in the applicable chart in the Visa Bulletin.

Preference categories are explained above. Country of chargeability is generally the foreign national’s country of birth.

The priority date of a family-sponsored immigrant petition is the date that the I-130 petition was properly filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Visa Bulletin

The Visa Bulletin allows immigrants to check their place in the immigrant visa queue.

How long immigrants must wait for an immigrant visa depends on their priority date, preference category, and the country to which the visa will be charged.

Application Process

United States citizen or lawful permanent resident files an I-130 petition with supporting documents with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Electronic Filing

Electronic filing is available for I-130 petitions. To electronically file an I-130 petition, you must create an account with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Costs

The fee to file an I-130 petition is $535.

USCIS filing fees are not refundable, regardless of any action U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services takes on the application.

If you electronically file an I-130 petition, you may pay your fee online. If you file an I-130 petition by mail, you may pay the fee with a money order, personal check, cashier’s check, or by credit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions.

Checks should be made payable to the “U.S. Department of Homeland Security.”

Processing Time

How long immigrants must wait for an immigrant visa depends on their priority date, preference category, and the country to which the visa will be charged.

Visa retrogression may further impact processing times.

Visa retrogression occurs when more people apply for an immigrant visa in a particular category than there are immigrant visas available for that month. In these circumstances, the cut-off date on the Visa Bulletin moves backward to an earlier date.