Sponsoring Family to USA?
Are you a United States of America citizen looking to sponsor your Canadian fiancée? Do you know if you are eligible to sponsor your family member? Do you think your family member is eligible to be sponsored? Many people do not know most of these things which is the number one culprit of failed sponsorship applications. Another reason many people receive unsuccessful applications is because they misunderstood a section of the application or forgot to include an important documents. Do not worry, if you contact Akrami & Associates we will determine both yours and your family member’s eligibility and help you by providing step-by-step assistance throughout your sponsorship process and ensuring that you are not missing any documentation.
The Different Types of Visas under the US Family Class
For United States family-based visas, there are four different types you can choose from depending your situation/which family member you are going to be sponsoring. Let’s start off by talking about each type of visa. The four different visas are, the Fiancée Visa, the Spouse and Children Visa, the Immediate Relative Visa (also known as IR), and the Family Preference Visa.
US Fiancée Visa
The fiancée visa is issued to a person who is engaged to an American citizen. When you, the sponsor (American citizen), apply to sponsor your spouse to the states, you need to marry your fiancé(e) within 90 days of them coming to America. Once your fiancé(e) is in America, they will then need to apply for a Green Card. A green card is also known as a permanent residency card. A permanent residence card is a card that allows an individual to work and live in the United States. Fiancée visa is also known as a K-1 visa. A K-1 visa if you do choose to sponsor your foreign fiancée, you are required to complete an application called “petition for alien fiancée”.
Spouse and Children Visa
The spouse visa, likewise its name, is a visa you may choose to apply for when you wish to sponsor your spouse (who resides in a different country) to the United States of America. To be eligible to sponsor your spouse you have to be married to the partner and having the marriage certificate.
Immediate Relative Visa
An immediate relative is a family member who is either your spouse, parent or unmarried children. The main requirement to obtain an immediate relative visa is that you, the sponsor, must be a US citizen. In order to acquire an immediate relative visa, you are required to complete the I-130 form. An I-130 form is a Petition for Alien Relative form. Basically, what this form consists of is a lot of space for you to provide your own personal information such as you name, address, date and place of birth, security number etc. Along with these personal questions there are also many spaces to provide information on the person you are going to be sponsoring. The immigration officers/government wants to know if you and the “family member” you are going to be sponsoring are legitimately relatives and not just pretending to be for the sake of the sponsorship. In order to prove that you both are immediate relatives, you will need to provide a lot of documentation proving that you two are indeed related and are immediate relatives.
Family Preference Visa
A family preference visa is much like an immediate relative visa however it has two main differences than that of the immediate relative visa. The two main differences is that for an immediate relative visa, you need to be a United States of America citizen whereas for a family preference visa, you (as the sponsor) do not have to be a U.S. citizen, instead to only have to possess a green card. Spouses and children are eligible to be sponsored by a U.S. green card holder. All in all, a family preference visa is very similar to an immediate family visa.
Who is eligible to sponsor or be sponsored?
In order to be eligible to be sponsored, or vice versa (to sponsor) you have to meet certain requirements. In order to be eligible as a sponsor, the first and most important requirement is that you have to be a permanent resident or citizen of the United States of America. As the applicant, or the person being sponsored, there are quite a few requirements in order to be eligible for sponsorship. You, as the sponsor, must be the age of 18 or over to be eligible for sponsorship. Instead of talking about who is eligible for sponsorship, let’s talk about who is not eligible. If you have committed a previous offence (whatever it may be) depending on how long it has been from the offence and the severity of it, you may not be eligible to sponsor. Another circumstance in which you cannot sponsor a member of the family-class is if you did not pay off an immigration loan, or if you declare bankruptcy, in which case you are financially unstable to take care of anyone you are thinking of sponsoring.
What Documents are Required when applying for US Sponsorship?
As with every government application form you have to include the required and mandatory documentation that is related to your case/situation. Documents are very crucial to your sponsorship process. The main source of documentation includes a photocopy of your current valid passport, a nonimmigrant visa application, which is the DS-160 form, confirmation page. Confirmation and Instructions page printed from this website, you also are required to include a colour photo of you which has been taken within the last 6 months. Family members of the applicant should present an original marriage certificate, if they are the spouse, and/or birth certification for the accompanying unmarried children under the age of 18 (if applicable). Many visa types require additional documents. The most important piece of documentation you are required to include is a copy of proof of your legal status in Canada. As you may know by now, in order for you to be eligible for sponsorship, you must be a permanent resident or citizen of Canada. The most common type of sponsorship is spousal sponsorship. The extra documents required for spousal sponsorship are two petitions, the first being the petition for alien relative, Form I-130, and the second being a petition for alien fiancé(e), which is form I-129F.
Contact Akrami & Associates Today!
At Akrami & Associates, we understand how intimidating and confusing it may be to sponsor a family member who falls under the family-class especially because there are so many categories that one can/may fall under. When you choose to work with the staff at Akrami and Associates, we will tell you which category you or your family fall under and we will help you with your sponsorship by providing you with our knowledge and experience on the topic of sponsorship. At Akrami and Associates we have dealt with over 15,000 cases and the firm has a very high success rate. We have helped hundreds of people with their cases and can help you with yours too! Don’t take any chances by completing the application by yourself, hire Akrami & Associates to increase your chances of a successful application and sponsorship. Remember, it doesn’t matter how big nor how small your case may be, at Akrami & Associates we will do our absolute best to solve your case with a successful outcome because there is always a way!