How to sponsor your parents for a green card as a U.S. citizen
If you are a U.S. citizen and 21 or older, you can sponsor your father and your mother for permanent residence. The parents of a citizen are immediate relatives: they do not wait in line for a visa number.
Requirements
You are a U.S. citizen. A permanent resident, a green card holder, cannot sponsor their parents.
You are 21 or older.
Each parent needs their own I-130 petition. If you sponsor both, that is two petitions, each with its own fee.
How the relationship is proven
To sponsor your mother: your birth certificate, showing her name.
To sponsor your father: your birth certificate with both parents' names and, if your parents were married when you were born, their marriage certificate. If they were not married, additional evidence may be requested: legal acknowledgment or proof of the relationship between you and your father before you turned 21.
Stepfather or stepmother: the marriage to your father or mother must have taken place before you turned 18.
If you changed your name, for example through marriage, the document that proves it.
If your parents are outside the United States
You file the I-130 and, once approved, the case moves to the National Visa Center (NVC) and then to the interview at the consulate in your parents' country. This is consular processing.
If your parents are in the United States
If they entered legally, with a visa or a parole, they can usually apply for adjustment of status: the I-130, the I-485, the I-864 and the medical exam are sent together. If either of them entered without inspection, talk to an attorney before filing anything and before they leave the country.
Your financial commitment (I-864)
You sign the I-864, committing to support your parents above 125 % of the poverty line. Each parent you sponsor counts toward your household size. If your income is not enough, you can add a joint sponsor.
Costs
For each parent, the I-130 costs USD 675 on paper (USD 625 online). If they adjust status, add USD 1,440 for the I-485 and, if they want a work permit, USD 260 for the I-765. In consular processing, the State Department charges USD 325 for the visa and USD 120 to review the I-864, and USCIS charges USD 235 before travel.
Before you start
First gather your proof of citizenship, your birth certificate and, if it applies, your parents' marriage certificate, and check that the names match across all of them. If your parents have tourist visas and plan to travel to file from inside the United States, decide the path before they travel: entering as a tourist with a settled intention to stay is something USCIS looks at.
Informational content only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship; each case depends on its own facts. Fees change: confirm them at uscis.gov/fees before paying.
Responsible for this content: Camila Giraldo Bolívar, attorney admitted in New York and Colombia. GB Partners, Calle 5 A # 39-93, oficina 702, Medellín, Colombia. Phone and WhatsApp +57 305 234 6543. www.gbpartnersllc.com
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