Family-based green card petitions under the Immediate Relative system are for the spouse, children (unmarried and under 21 years old), or parent of a U.S. citizen. The U.S. citizen can also sponsor a step child, or an adopted child, or a child qualified as an “orphan” under U.S. immigration law. The spouse (widow(er)) of a deceased U.S. citizen can file for a green card for themselves within 2 years of the U.S. citizen’s death.
Unlike other categories in family-based green card petitions, there is no waiting time or quota limitations on how many green cards can be granted for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
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Table of Contents
There are 5 main categories under the immediate relatives green card petitions:
Close Family Members of U.S. Citizen (IR)
- IR1 (or CR1): Spouse of U.S. citizen
- IR2: Unmarried children under 21 years old of U.S. citizen
- IR3: Orphan adopted abroad by U.S. citizen
- IR4: Orphan to be adopted in the United States by a U.S. citizen
- IR5: Parents of U.S. citizen (U.S. citizen must be at least 21 years old)
**Widow(er) of deceased U.S. citizens (self-petition)
**Same-sex marriages and marriages to transgender spouses are included in marriage-based green card petitions
For other more distant family members (siblings, unmarried children who are 21 years old or over, or married children) of the U.S. citizen, please see the family preference system.
The 5 main type of persons qualified under the immediate relatives green card petitions are listed below:
IR1(or CR1): Spouses of U.S. citizen
Under the IR1 (or CR1) immediate relative green card category, a foreign person married to a U.S. citizen is qualified to apply for a 2-year conditional green card (CR1) or a regular 10-year green card (IR1). If the couple has been married for over 2 years when the green card is approved and issued, the regular 10-year green card will be given. However, if the marriage with the U.S. citizen happened less than 2 years before the green card is approved and issued, a 2-year conditional green card will be given. The conditional green card is valid for 2 years and the couple has to file for a removal of conditions petition (Form I-751) together to change the 2-year conditional green card into a regular 10-year green card within 90 days prior to the expiration date of the 2-year conditional green card. If the 2-year condition is not removed, the green card status (permanent residency) will be terminated for the foreign spouse.
If a divorce or annulment happens before the conditions are removed from the 2-year conditional green card, a waiver will be required to show that the marriage was a union in good faith. Providing evidence such as having children together and owning property jointly can show the marriage was entered in good faith.
IR2: Unmarried children under 21 years old of U.S. citizen
Under the IR2 immediate relative green card category, the qualified foreign person must be (1) unmarried, (2) under 21 years old, and (3) a child of a U.S. citizen. A step-child can qualify for an IR2 immediate relative green card if the marriage between the U.S. citizen and the foreign spouse happened before the child was 18 years old.
An adopted child can also qualify if (1) the adoption was finalized before the age of 16, (2) the adoptive parents had legal custody for 2 years (which can be before or after the adoption), and (3) the child has lived with the adoptive parents for 2 years (which can be before or after the adoption). The legal custody must have been gained through a formal court procedure and the adoptive parents must show that they had exercised primary parental control over the adopted child if the adopted child continued to live in the same house as their biological parent during the 2-year residence requirement. The adopted child’s natural sibling who is (1) under 18 years old, (2) the natural sibling shares at least one biological parent with the adopted child, and (3) has been adopted or will be adopted by the same adoptive parents can also qualify under the IR2 immediate relative green card category.
IR3: Orphan adopted abroad by U.S. citizen & IR4: Orphan to be adopted in the U.S. by a U.S. citizen (IH3 or IH4 if orphan child is from a Hague Adoption Convention country)
Under the IR3 or IR4 immediate relative green card category, a newly adopted foreign child can qualify if (1) the child is deemed as an “orphan,” (2) is under 16 years old, and (3) is adopted overseas or is coming to the United States to be adopted by a U.S. citizen. The orphan child’s natural sibling who is (1) under 18 years old (2) the natural sibling shares at least one biological parent with the adopted orphan child, and (3) has been adopted or will be adopted by the same adoptive parents can also qualify under the IR3 or IR4 immediate relative green card category.
A child can be an orphan due to the death, disappearance, abandonment, desertion, separation, lost from both parents, or if the sole surviving parent is not capable of taking care of the child. The U.S. citizen must be either married or be at least 25 years old and have personally seen the orphan child before the adoption (or have satisfied all preadoption requirements of the orphan’s proposed residence). The adopted child of the U.S. citizen can automatically acquire their U.S. citizenship if the child is under 18 years old and at least one adoptive parent is a U.S. citizen.
IR5: Parents of U.S. citizen
Under the IR5 immediate relative green card category, the qualified person must be (1) a biological parent, step-parent, or adoptive parent of a U.S. citizen, (2) the parent-child relationship must have formed before the U.S. citizen turned 18 years old (or 16 years old if the U.S. citizen was adopted), and (3) the sponsoring U.S. citizen must be at least 21 years old. Fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law of U.S. citizens are not parents under U.S. immigration law.
Marriage Status Change for Children of U.S. Citizens
If the child of a U.S. citizen under the immediate relative (IR) system gets married before they obtain the green card, their immediate relative (IR) family-based green card petition will be lowered to the third preference family-based green card petition (F-3 married children of U.S. citizens) which will be affected by annual visa quotations and will typically have a longer wait time for their green card.
If the married child of a U.S. citizen under the third preference family-based green card petition (F-3 married children of U.S. citizens) gets divorced before they obtain the green card, their third preference family-based green card petition will be upgraded to the first family preference system (F-1 unmarried children of U.S. citizens).
In both situations, the priority date of the original family-based green card petition can still be used, however, the USCIS service center, National Visa Center, or consulate or embassy will need to be notified of this change in marital status so they can change it into the appropriate green card category for the family-based green card petition.
The immediate relatives green card petitions have four main requirements that need to be satisfied: evidence must be provided to the USCIS to show that (1) the sponsoring person must be a U.S. citizen, (2) the family relationship between the foreign person and the U.S. citizen is qualified and real, (3) the foreign person will not become a public charge (typically the U.S. citizen must have income that is at least at the 125 % of the federal poverty level), and (4) the foreign person is admissible to enter the United States.
Evidence Required for the Immediate Relatives Green Card
A general (not exhaustive) checklist of what is required for an immediate relatives green card is listed below. Please note the documents required for adopted orphans (IR3, IR4, IH3, IH4) are different from what is listed below.
The Person Sponsoring The Immediate Relatives Green Card Petition Is A U.S. Citizen
- Two passport photos of the U.S. citizen
- U.S. passport (valid and unexpired)
- Birth certificate
- Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship (issued by the USCIS)
- Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) issued by a U.S. consulate or embassy
- U.S. consular officer’s verification of U.S. citizenship with valid U.S. passport
- Documents that show legal name change (e.g., court judgment of name change, marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption decree)
The family relationship of the U.S. citizen and their foreign spouse or children
- Two passport photos for each person
- Marriage certificate between U.S. citizen and their foreign spouse
- Birth certificates (it should show names of both parents)
- Documents that show legal termination of all prior marriages of the U.S. citizen and their foreign spouse (e.g., divorce decree, annulment order, death certificate of prior spouse)
For adopted children, additional documents must be provided:
- Final adoption decree (must have taken place before the child turned 16 years old and it should include the name of the adoptive parents, the date and place of adoption)
- Documents that show there were 2 years of legal custody of the adopted child
- Documents that show there were 2 years of joint residency (living at the same address) with the adopted child
The marriage is bona fide (real)
- Documents that show joint ownership of property
- Lease that shows joint tenancy of a common residency (living at the same address)
- Documents that show combined financial resources
- Birth certificates of children born by the U.S. citizen and foreign spouse
- Affidavits from a third party who has personal (first-hand) knowledge that the marriage is real (it should include the affiant’s full name, address, place of birth, date of making the affidavit, and the detailed explanation of how and what the person knows about the marriage)
- Any other documents that can show the marriage is ongoing
The foreign person will not become a public charge in the United States
- Affidavit of Support (Form I-864)
- Documents that show the U.S. citizen’s income is at least at the 125% of the federal poverty level (e.g., most recent tax returns, bank statements)
The foreign person is admissible to enter the United States
- Passport (expiration date must be more than 6 months than the time intended to stay in the United States)
- Two passport photos
- Police certificates (it should include the country of residence and all countries that the person has lived for at least 6 months since 16 years old)
- Sealed medical examination form
If the person is filing for an adjustment of status, the foreign person must provide additional documents to show that they have been maintaining a valid nonimmigrant visa status during their time in the United States:
- Passport pages (it should include biographical page, related U.S. visas, admission stamps, parole stamps)
- Arrival/Departure Record (Form I-94)
- Documents that show the persons valid nonimmigrant status (e.g., I-20, I-797)
- Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA) OR Form I-864EZ (Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA) *Petitioner must be at least 18-year-old to sign
- Documents that show the financial support for or financial condition of the person (e.g., Form W-2 for the past three years, employment verification letters)
- Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record (Form I-693)
- Family-based green card petition (it should include Form I-130 and all required documentation) if filing the adjustment of status (Form I-485) concurrently
- Receipt notice or approval notice (Form I-797) of the family-based green card petition (Form I-130) if not filing the adjustment of status (Form I-485) concurrently
The total time an immediate relatives green card takes is consisted of the processing time for (1) the immediate relatives family-based green card petition (Form I-130) with the USCIS and (2) the change of status when the person’s priority date becomes current by filing the Form I-485 application if adjusting status within the United States or the DS-260 application if doing consular processing at a U.S. consulate or embassy located outside the United States. For immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, there is no wait time for the priority date to become current and thus the change of status application is usually filed concurrently (at the same time) as the (IR) immediate relatives family-based green card petition.
Factors that influence the processing time usually include but are not limited to where the person was born, if there was any Request for Evidence (“RFE”) issued, and the caseload of the USCIS service center, National Visa Center (NVC) and the U.S. consulate or embassy.
A rough estimate for the Form I-130 petition under the (IR) immediate relatives green card petition is around 8 to 18 months and premium processing is not available.
After the immediate relative green card petition is approved by the USCIS, the person must change into a green card visa status. Changing into the green card visa status (the lawful permanent resident immigrant visa status) is the final step in being able to work freely and live permanently in the United States. There are two ways to obtain the green card visa status: adjustment of status and consular processing.
Adjustment of status is usually for a person who is already in the United States with a valid nonimmigrant visa status and has maintained a lawful visa status throughout their time within the United States. On the other hand, consular processing is for a person living outside the United States or for a person who is ineligible in adjusting their status in the United States.
For a person who is residing overseas (outside the United States) or a person who is ineligible for an adjustment of status with the Form I-485 application, consular processing must be done to obtain the immediate relative family-based green card visa status (i.e., lawful permanent resident). Consular processing usually involves the person attending an in-person interview at the U.S. consulate or embassy located in their home country. In certain circumstances, a person can do consular processing in another country as a “Third Country National.”
After the interview approval at the U.S. consulate or embassy, the person would have to be admitted entry into the United States by the CBP officer at the border (usually at the airport). In other words, the person would have to physically enter the United States after their interview approval as the final step for their immediate relative family-based green card visa status to be activated.
For a person who is already in the United States with a valid nonimmigrant visa, there are usually two options available to obtain the immediate relative family-based green card visa status (Lawful Permanent Resident):
(1) Adjustment of Status: this is the more commonly chosen option where the person would file a Form I-485 application to adjust their status without leaving the United States. The person would attend an in-person interview at a local USCIS office in the United States and the interview approval would serve as the final step for their immediate relative family-based green card visa status to be activated.
The adjustment of status application (Form I-485) can be filed when the person’s priority date becomes current in the Visa Bulletin which means that there are no backlogs in visa availability for the person’s country of birth (not country of citizenship). This can happen while the green card petition (Form I-130) is still pending (i.e., before approval) with the USCIS or after the green card petition (Form I-130) is approved by the USCIS. It can also happen in concurrent filings (Form I-130 and Form I-485 sent together) where the person’s priority date is already current at the time of filing the green card petition (Form I-130) to the USCIS. For immediate relative family-based green card petitions, the adjustment of status application is usually filed concurrently because the person’s priority date would be current at the time of filing their immediate relative green card petition.
When the adjustment of status application (Form I-485) is filed, applications for the employment authorization document (Form I-765, commonly known as the “EAD card”) and the travel document (Form I-131, commonly known as “Advance Parole”) can also be filed at the same time.
The EAD card allows unrestricted employment where a person can change their job freely and can legally work for any employer in the United States, unlike a work visa such as an H1B visa which restricts a person to work for a specific employer in the United States.
Advance parole allows a person to travel internationally while their adjustment of status is still pending. If a person has a pending adjustment of status application (Form I-485) with the USCIS but leaves the United States without advance parole and does not have a certain valid nonimmigrant visa status (H1B visa, H4 visa, L1 visa, L2 visa, K3 visa, K4 visa, V visa) that allows international travel, their adjustment of status will be considered abandoned.
(2) Consular Processing: this is usually chosen if a person cannot show that they have maintained their lawful visa status in the United States or when the processing time for consular processing is much faster than the adjustment of status.
The immediate relative green card petitions are for a U.S. citizen’s close family members such as their spouse, dependent children (unmarried and under 21 years old), step children (marriage happened before the step child turned 18 years old), adopted children, and parents. The U.S. citizen must be at least 21 years old to sponsor a green card for another person.
U.S. Citizen Spouse Under the Immediate Relative Green Card
The U.S. citizen’s spouse under the immediate relative family-based green card petition can obtain a 2-year conditional green card (CR1) or regular 10-year green card (IR1) based on their marriage to a U.S. citizen. If the U.S. citizen and their foreign spouse has been married for over 2 years when the green card is issued, then the green card issued will be a regular 10-year green card. On the contrary, if the U.S. citizen and their foreign spouse is married for less than 2 years when the green card is issued, then the green card issued will be a 2-year conditional green card where the couple will have to file a removal of conditions petition (Form I-751) to change it into a regular 10-year green card.
If the couple gets divorced before the removal of conditions petition is approved, the foreign spouse will need to file for a waiver and show that the marriage was entered in good faith. If the 2-year conditional green card is not successfully changed into a regular 10-year green card, then the foreign spouse’s green card status will end.
Widow(er) of deceased U.S. citizens can self-sponsor their own family-based green card petition within 2 years of the U.S. citizen’s death.
U.S. Citizen’s Children Under the Immediate Relative Green Card
There are several types of children that are seen as a U.S. citizen’s child under the IR2 immediate relative family-based green card petition: a (1) U.S. citizen’s child: unmarried and under 21 years old, (2) step-child: the marriage between the U.S. citizen and the foreign spouse must have happened before the child was 18 years old, (3) adopted child: the adoption was finalized before the age of 16, the adoptive parents had legal custody for 2 years, and the child has lived with the adoptive parents for 2 years, (4) the adopted child’s natural sibling: the natural sibling is under 18 years old, shares at least one biological parent with the adopted child, and has been adopted or will be adopted by the same adoptive parents
There are also several types of children that are seen as an orphan adopted by a U.S. citizen under the IR3 or IR4 family-based immediate relative green card petitions (IH3 or IH4 if the orphan child is from a Hague Adoption Convention country): (1) the adopted orphan: deemed an “orphan” and is under 16 years old, and (2) the orphan child’s natural sibling: the natural sibling is under 18 years old, shares at least one biological parent with the adopted orphan child, and has been adopted or will be adopted by the same adoptive parents.
U.S. Citizen’s Parents Under the Immediate Relative Green Card
The U.S. citizen’s parents under the IR5 immediate relative family-based green card petition must be the biological parent, step-parent, or adoptive parent of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old, and their parent-child relationship must have formed before the U.S. citizen turned 18 years old (or 16 years old if the U.S. citizen was adopted). Fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law of U.S. citizens are not parents under U.S. immigration law.
If you have an immediate relative family-based green card (family members of U.S. citizens) immigration question, please fill out our contact us form or send us an email with some basic information about your background and your immigration needs. We will do our best to respond within 48 hours.
How we can help?
Kylie Huang Law’s immigration attorney will help identify whether the client qualifies for an immediate relative family-based green card petition and whether there are other green card options available to the client. We will work closely with our clients to prepare their immediate relative family-based green card petition and we will also strategize on how the immediate relative family-based green card petition should be presented in the filings and in the interview to achieve the best chances of approval. It is advised and common practice to retain an immigration attorney for certain unusual immediate relative family-based green card petitions due to the complexities in the immigration process and visa requirements.
What does the typical process look like to retain (hire) us?
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- Fill out the form (with some basic information on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment online
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom meeting)
- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming contents of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the status of the case
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
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- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule an appointment
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (signing a contract to hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming contents of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the status of the case
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
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- Fill out the form (on what your immigration needs are)
- Sign up and log into the client portal to schedule appointment
- Attend scheduled appointment (typically a phone call or zoom)
- Retainment (hire us)
- Start processing case
- Gathering required documents
- Preparing paperwork
- Confirming content of documents that will be submitted
- Filing the case
- Following up on the case status
- Close the case when a final determination is issued
RELATED ARTICLES
- Family Based Green Card Overview
- Marriage Based Green Card (IR1 / CR1 / F2A)
- Married Children (F3) & Unmarried Children Over Age 21of U.S. Citizen (F1)
- Brother and Sister of U.S. Citizen (F4)
- Parents of U.S. Citizen (IR5)
- Spouse of Deceased U.S. Citizen (EB4)
- Family Members of Green Card Holders (F2A / F2B)
- Spouse of U.S. Citizen Green Card Checklist (IR1 / CR1)
- Widow(er) of U.S. Citizen Green Card Checklist (EB4)
- Children of U.S. Citizen Green Card Checklist (IR2 / F1 / F3)
- Sibling of U.S. Citizen Green Card Checklist (F-4)
- Parents of U.S. Citizen Green Card Checklist (IR5)
- Spouse of Green Card Holders Checklist (F2A)
- Children of Green Card Holders Checklist (F2A / F2B)