Green Cards for Your Family: Sponsorship Categories

Many people in the United States have family members living in other countries, and wonder whether they can bring them here. It's a myth that if one immigrant settles in the United States, that one can get green cards (permanent residence) for the whole extended family, and so on. The truth is both more limited and more complex.

Who You Can Help Immigrate

You can petition to bring family members to the United States (often called "sponsoring" them) only if you are a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident (green card holder). Even then, you can bring in only those family members listed on the chart below. Before reading the chart, click the links explaining the meanings of "immediate relative" and "preference relative."

Who Can Sponsor Who

Who You Are	Immigrants You Can Petition	The Immigrant's Category
U.S. citizen age 21 or older	Parents	Immediate relative
U.S. citizen (at least age 18, for financial sponsorship purposes)	Spouse	Immediate relative
U.S. citizen (at least age 18, for financial sponsorship purposes)	Minor, unmarried children	Immediate relative
U.S. citizen	Married children or adult children	Preference relative (1st preference)
U.S. citizen age 21 or older	Brothers and sisters	Preference relative (4th preference)
U.S. permanent resident	Unmarried children	Preference relative (2nd preference -- 2A or 2B)
U.S. permanent resident	Spouse	Preference relative (2nd preference)

Notice who is not on this list: grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents-in-law, and other extended family members.

However, if allowed to immigrate to the United States, most of the people on the above list will be permitted to bring their own spouses and children with them. And it is true that once someone has a green card, they can sponsor other people on the list.

How Long Must Relatives Wait?

Immediate relatives can get green cards without worrying about waiting periods or numerical limits. Preference relatives may have to wait between approximately four and 23 years before being allowed to apply for their visa or green card.

Also, only a certain percentage of the green cards go to any one country each year. That means if a particularly high number of people from certain countries submit petitions -- as is often the case with India, Mexico, China, and the Philippines -- their family members end up waiting even longer than others.

Because of the annual limits on how many green cards (immigrant visas) are given out, and the unpredictability of how many people submit petitions each year, no one can say exactly how long each applicant will wait.

As a general rule, applicants in higher preference categories wait less time. The average wait these days from most countries (excluding India, Mexico, China, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines) is as follows:

Current Average Waiting Period

Type of Preference Relative	Preference Category	Average Wait
Adult, unmarried children of U.S. citizens	First preference	Seven years
Spouses or children of permanent residents	Second preference	Four years for spouses and for minor children (2A); eight years for adult children age 21 or over (2B)
Married children of U.S. citizens	Third preference	Ten years
Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens	Fourth preference	Eleven years

The longest waits are endured by siblings of U.S. citizens (4th preference) from the Philippines -- currently a staggering 23 years.

How to Start the Application Process

The family member who you will sponsor will have to go through a multi-step application process. It's your job as a U.S. citizen or green card holder to start the process, by submitting a visa petition. (For more information, see Nolo's article The Visa Petition: The First Step for Family and Employment Green Cards.) Your family member can't enter the U.S. until both the petition and subsequent applications have been approved.

For more information on obtaining a family-based green card, see Nolo's article How to File a Green Card Application; for details and help applying, see the book How to Get a Green Card, by Ilona Bray (Nolo) or, for married or engaged couples, see Fiance and Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration, also by Ilona Bray (Nolo).

Sponsor vs. Petitioner

Although the term commonly used to describe a U.S. citizen or resident who helps someone immigrate is "sponsor," this isn't the technical term. You "petition" for your family member, so you're a "petitioner." Your incoming family member is called a "beneficiary."

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