Author: New York Immigration attorney
Adjustment of status for family members
Family based immigration is one of the most common ways of getting legal immigration status in the US. Parents can sponsor their children, siblings can sponsor siblings and children can sponsor parents. Stepchildren can sponsor their parents, and so do parents: they are allowed to sponsor their stepchildren.
However, for each of the above situations there are its own limitations. The success of adjustment of status for a family member depends on the immigration status of the relatives, their age (in case of a children) and marital status.
The following family members cannot sponsor each other: uncles/ants and nephews and nieces; grandchildren and grandparents; cousins.
It is best if a person consults with an experienced immigration attorney before he or she starts the process of sponsoring. One of the most common misconceptions is that a U.S. citizen parent can sponsor his or her child who is in the United States even if the child lost his or her immigration status. This may work only if the child qualifies as an immediate family member of the sponsoring party. It means the child is under 21 years old at the time of the adjustment of status, or the child’s age froze when the parent “filed” for him and now the child is physically older, but for legal purposes the child is still under 21.
In all other situations, a child will not be able to get adjustment of status or green card while in the US, if he or she overstayed the immigration status.
Let’s say a mother filed for the child when he was 22 and back then she was a permanent resident. Now she is a US citizen, and the child is 28. The child entered the country as a B1/2 7 years ago and fell out of status. Now, the child’s priority date on I-130 filed by the mother is current. The child files for adjustment of status, and at the interview gets denial. The denial is justifiable because an adult son or daughter of the US citizen (See: Who is a Child for Immigration Purposes ) is not an immediate family member of the US citizen and the gap in his or her status cannot be forgiven to such a child, and the child’ application will be denied and this person can be placed in removal proceedings.
Different categories of family members can be viewed HERE: VISA BULLETIN
Applying for adjustment of status can be costly. Consult with an Immigration attorney before starting paperwork: call us at 917-885-2261.