Visas
immigrant visas
Family Based Visas
Who is eligible?
Family-based immigrants are defined as: brothers and sisters and adult or married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, or spouse of a U.S. permanent resident. There are numerical limitations to these categories of immigrants, meaning there will be a waiting period after your petition is approved and before you can apply for U.S. immigration.
Family First Preference (F1):
Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and their minor children, if any.
Family Second Preference (F2):
Spouses, minor unmarried children and unmarried sons and daughters (age 21 or older) of lawful permanent residents.
Family Third Preference (F3):
Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and their spouses and minor children.
Family Fourth Preference (F4):
Brothers and sisters of United States citizens and their spouses and minor children provided the U.S. citizen is at least 21 years of age.
How do I apply?
The first step in this process is for the petitioner to file a Form I-130 immigrant visa petition on behalf of his or her foreign relative. The fee for filing I-130 petition is $355. The petition must be filed at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in the United States.
Once the priority date of the approved I-130 petitions becomes eligible for processing -- or "current"-- the National Visa Center will send the applicant a detailed list of supporting documents needed to apply for the immigrant visa. The NVC will also send the visa applicant the form DS-3032, Choice of Address and Agent Form and the petitioner an Affidavit of Support with the processing fee bill.
Upon completion, the National Visa Center will forward the petition to the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm. Please note that the National Visa Center will also be responsible for scheduling the applicant for an interview at the Embassy.
Numerical Limitations
Whenever there are more qualified applicants for a category than there are available places, the category is considered oversubscribed. Immigrant visas are issued in the chronological order in which the petitions were filed until the numerical limit for the category is reached. The filing date of a petition becomes the applicant's priority date. Immigrant visas cannot be issued until an applicant's priority date is reached. In certain heavily oversubscribed categories, there may be a waiting period of several years before a priority date is reached. Check the Visa Bulletin for the latest priority dates.
New Immigrants
Learn more about the rights and responsibilities of lawful permanent residents in our new pamphlet entitled
“Now That You Are A Permanent Resident”