HOW TO BRING YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO THE UNITED STATES
Any lawful U.S. citizen, whether by birth or naturalization, 21 years old or older, may petition for their brothers or sisters to immigrate to the United States. Unfortunately, U.S. permanent legal residents do not have such right and cannot sponsor their siblings for permanent residence.
The first step of the petitioning process is for the American citizen to file an I-130 Petition for an Alien Relative with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau. The cost for filing this petition is currently $ 355.00. However, the filing fees change frequently, thus it is very important to check the fee schedules for specific forms online at www.uscis.gov right before filing the paperwork.
Form I – 130 serves to prove the immigration authorities that your siblings are truly related to the American citizen filing the visa petition. For the purposes of immigration law the siblings must fall in one of the following categories:
- Legitimate brother and sister. This definition applies to individuals having the same mother and father on their birth certificate. A copy of the American citizen birth certificate and a copy of the brother’s or sister’s birth certificate must be added to the visa application to show that the two individuals have the same parents.
- Half- brother and half – sister. Individuals in this category have the same mother or father, but not both parents in common. Immigration law allows an American citizen to petition for their half siblings just as if they were full blooded siblings. A copy of the American citizen birth certificate and a copy of the half -brother’s or half - sister’s birth certificate must be added to the visa application to show that the two individuals have one parent in common.
- Stepbrother and stepsister. If the mother or father of an American Citizen married somebody who had children from previous marriage or relationship, the children of the stepfather or stepmother of the American citizen would be considered stepsiblings. A petition for stepsiblings may be filed only if the mother or the father of an American citizen married the stepparent before the U.S. citizen child turned 18 years old. A marriage certificate of the parent and stepparent must be added to the visa petition in addition to the birth certificates of the children.
- Adopted brother and adopted sister. An adopted brother or sister is defined as a child adopted according to the laws of the state or country of their residence. An American citizen can petition for an adopted sibling only if the adoption occurred before the 16th birthday of the adopted child. A copy of adoption decree must be added to the visa petition.
Once the petition is submitted by the US citizen and the USCIS determines that all of the paperwork is complete, they will send a receipt notice to the U.S. Citizen.
After the approval of the I-130 petition, the brother or sister of the U.S. Citizen must wait for a visa number to become available. The visa number availability is based on the date of filing of the immigrant petition and may be checked in the Department of State Visa Bulletin accessible online on the Department of State website.
Finally, when the visa number becomes available, the brother or sister will be notified to proceed to the local United States consulate to complete the processing for the immigrant visa.
If the sibling is legally in the United States when the visa number becomes available, he or she may apply to adjust their status to that of a permanent resident by using the USCIS Form I – 485.
For more details on the process of bringing your siblings to the United States, lists of documents required and assessment of your special circumstances, please contact Immigration Attorney Milda Goeriz at (925) 262 – 3884.