How long to sponsor parents to us

In these cases you should consult an experienced immigration attorney before attempting to petition for a visa or submitting any applications to the government. If your parents are living abroad at the time you petition, the process will take months before they receive green cards. To begin, you should submit:. The NVC will then communicate directly with your parents concerning what else will be needed for their immigrant visa interviews.

These interviews will take place at the US Embassy or Consulate in their home country. Once all necessary paperwork has been submitted and filing fees received, you will need to submit an affidavit of support for each parent. If approved, your parents will be given 6 months to come to the United States. When they arrive at a US airport, a secondary inspection will be necessary so a Customs and Border Protection agent can review their paperwork.

If everything has been done properly, their passports will be stamped showing that they have been admitted as lawful permanent residents. View More Videos. The designated doctors set the fees for the medical examination. When seeing a designated doctor, your parent must print and bring a copy of Form I, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccine Record. This form is used to document the results of their medical examination.

They must fill Part 1 of the form but not sign until the doctor asks them to. After the medical examination, the doctor will give your parent a sealed envelope containing their medical records to submit to USCIS. Do not open or tamper with this envelope!

Your parent needs to bring this envelope with them, unopened, to their Green Card or Visa interview. If your parent is applying from inside the U. They can also bring Form I and the exam packet with them to their Green Card interview if necessary, but it's better to send everything in to USCIS before the interview and then bring the original to the interview.

It is now time to assemble the forms, supporting documents, and filing fees and mail your parent's paperwork to the U. We recommend including a cover letter at the front of the petition packet, which details the forms, fees, and supporting documents you are submitting to USCIS or the NVC..

It should include Forms I, I, and the following supporting documents:. The mailing address to use for USCIS differs slightly depending on which postal or courier service is being used. You can find the correct mailing address for the postal service used in our online filing instructions on our website. After your parent files their DS online, the NVC will send them a notice via mail or email confirming that they have received the DS, usually on the same day.

The next step will be to submit the required supporting documents to the NVC. Different consulates have different requirements for providing these documents. You will either upload, email, or mail the supporting documents to the NVC.

Some U. We recommend including a cover letter at the front of the petition packet, which details the forms, fees, and supporting documents you are submitting to the NVC. You can review the full list of required supporting documents for DS on travel. To learn more, check out our guides to filing Family Green Card Applications. When you submit your parent's Green Card application, they will receive update notices about their application at the mailing address they provided to USCIS.

For both permanent resident applications filed as an adjustment of status or under consular processing, your parent will receive a Form IC confirming USCIS has received their application. If they do this, they will send a Request for Evidence notice to the mailing address on your parents' application. At this appointment, they will have their photo and fingerprints taken.

When USCIS has finished processing your parent's application, they will send notice of a date, place, and time for the Green Card interview. The interview notice includes a list of required documents to bring along. If the interview is in the U. The interview is the last step of the Green Card process. The examiner may approve your parent's Green Card application at the interview, or let you know that they need more time to make their decision. They will contact your parent at the mailing address provided once they have made their decision.

We can help you prepare and file all of the required paperwork for your Parent's Green Card application for free with our simple web app. No, a Green Card holder cannot apply for a Green Card for their parents. Only U. The only time when a Green Card holder can apply for a Green Card for an immediate relative or family member is in the case that they are applying for a Green Card for their spouse or for their unmarried children who are minors under the age of Family-based Green Card applications like the Parent Green Card application generally have a much shorter processing time than other Green Card applications.

Typically, the entire process of applying for a Green Card for your parents can take anywhere from 7 to 15 months. The USCIS service center that the petition is filed with can impact the length of the processing time, depending on the amount of backlog the service center has to work through. You can learn more about the Green Card application timelines in our detailed filing guides.

If your parent needs to leave the U. You can find instructions on how to apply for Advance Parole in Step 6 above. However, if they forget or are unable to apply for Advance Parole, they may still be able to return under a V Non-Immigrant Visa from a consular office abroad. Your parent can work in the U.

You can learn all about Work Permits here. Once your parent has received their Green Card, they would need to stay in the U. Spending 6 months or more outside of the U. If your parent spends a year or more outside of the U.

This is called an Abandonment of Residence. There are multiple ways to check the status of your parent's Green Card application. N Application for Naturalization. N Application to Replace Citizenship Document. Apply For Citizenship N Replace Citizenship Document N Apply for Certificate of Citizenship N Citizenship Resource Center. Citizenship Cost Calculator. Green Card. Renew a Green Card I Replace a Green Card I Remove Conditions on Green Card I Get a Reentry Permit I Green Card Center.

Adjustment of Status. Green Card through Adjustment of Status. Adjustment of Status Application I