Immigrant Visa Petition Package

A lawful permanent resident of the United States with relatives living abroad is pretty common. This raises questions about the immigration process involved in helping immediate relatives to get a green card.

The process for this goes through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Unfortunately, trying to get through the process is not the most straightforward thing in the world.

That’s where Citizen Concierge comes into the mix. We offer web-based assistance to our clients to ensure that they can accurately complete the requirements of the USCIS office or their cash back!

If you’re looking to have your loved ones become green card holders, let’s take you through everything you need to know in a way that’s super easy to understand!

Let’s start things off simple. Effectively, the form I-130 petition is meant to help you confirm that the relationship between you and the alien relative is a legitimate one. It’s the centerpiece of the whole process, which explains why the first step will be to complete the form.

Typically, once you can satisfy the USCIS that the relationship is legitimate, you will be approved. Following that, your relative is then free to apply to become a lawful permanent resident of the USA.

As you’d imagine, anyone who plans to file form I-130 must be a lawful permanent resident or a US citizen. Only those over the age of 18 years old may file. This person will need to verify their immigration status, which will usually mean presenting their green card or a copy of their US passport. Failure to do this means that you simply can’t file the form.

We mentioned the relationship side of things earlier. To validate this, you’ll need to use an accepted form of documentation, such as a marriage certificate, birth certificate, or records outlining adoptive relationships.

The alien relative will also need to meet any security, medical, or other immigration forms paperwork requirements and paperwork requirements and should be admissible to the United States.

While family members can proceed with their applications after approval, they will still need to acquire an immigrant visa. Depending on if consular processing or adjustment of status is at play, you may find the case being forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) automatically upon approval.

Let’s take a quick moment to dive a bit deeper into what makes you ineligible as the person seeking to file the petition. These principles will apply even when you can prove that the relationships in the following section exist:

1. Any spouse in a marriage where both persons were not physically present at the wedding ceremony.
2. Any spouse who became a green card holder themselves through any prior marriages to a green card holder or US citizen. Exceptions are made for naturalized US citizens or green card holders who have had that status for no less than five years.
3. Any spouse who married the person being filed for during immigration court proceedings. This will speak to someone who is facing deportation.
4. Any adopted child or parent, if the adoption took place after the child turned 16 years old.
5. Any biological parent who obtained a green card or US citizenship through adoption themselves.
6. Family members such as grandparents, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandchildren, or parents-in-law.
7. Any stepchild or stepparent if the marriage that created the step relationship happened after the child’s 18th birthday.
8. Any relative at all where the USCIS determines that the marriage took place purely for immigration benefits.

Some of these exclusions do come with exceptions if the appropriate supporting documents can be provided in these situations. Citizen Concierge can help you to identify where these kinds of exclusions may apply to you.

So it’s great that you’ve decided to seek professional assistance, but remember that you can’t just file for anyone you feel like. Let’s talk about that for a moment. You know the requirements you need to meet before you’re eligible to file. Who can you file for, though?

According to the USCIS website, you can file for any family member who would be eligible for a family-based green card. Immediate relatives, in this sense, are defined as parents, spouses, and offspring of US citizens. Children need to be under the age of 21 years old.

While siblings, unmarried children over the age of 21, and married children of any age also fall under the bracket, the prior set of individuals is given more priority, which means they tend to be processed quicker.

We can assist you in understanding who may be eligible based on your situation and the documentation you’re able to provide.

The I-130 petition for an immediate relative can be filed either online or via the mail. Online filing requires that an account is created with the USCIS. While you may initially think this to be a chore, it is helpful in the sense that you can use it to upload supporting evidence, view case correspondence, and check the status of your case.

Some people may find themselves in a situation where they are unable to provide all the primary documents required for filing. For example, providing a marriage or birth certificate may be a challenge. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your application will automatically be denied.

In this case, you’ll need to provide a letter to the relevant authorities to confirm the nonexistence of the document.

Should you submit your petition without any of the documents required, the USCIS reserves the right to send you a Request for Evidence (RFE). Again, this is not always the end of the road, but it can seriously drag out the process.

As you can imagine, while not always the case, there’s also the fact that missing documents may mean officials deny the application.

Where a required document isn’t present, you’ll need to submit secondary evidence, which speaks to alternative documentation that can be used to aid the USCIS in making its decision on your request.

The applicable form of secondary evidence will differ based on the missing document. However, you will typically be required to get some kind of confirmation from the body or agency that would usually provide such documentation that yours is not available and cannot be provided.

You don’t need us to tell you that managing to secure approval is a huge step in the right direction. Sure, it’s not necessarily the end of the process since there may be a consideration for immigrant visas, but it’s still a huge victory for a family.

A foreign national is now a step closer to becoming a lawful permanent resident of the United States and can be with family no less. It means that they can live in the US like normal citizens and can even work too!

It’s also nice that, as a citizen, they can travel in and out of the country knowing that there is still a future in the USA awaiting them.

The benefits don’t end with the relatives, though, as the US citizen sponsoring the alien relative also has quite a bit to gain. Completing the process successfully is a demonstration of the fact that the sponsor is responsible and capable enough to support the family member.

Such a demonstration does not go unnoticed when the same sponsor may wish to file future applications.

Of course, there’s the fact that this is a gateway for families to be reunited in a way that goes beyond what you’d typically get from a visit. There’s a chance for everyone to live on an equal playing field, with the family member able to access public benefits, become a citizen, and more!

While it would be nice to feel as if your petition approval will be guaranteed, the reality is that’s not the case. Unfortunately, some people will be denied, and this could be for different reasons. Thankfully, one denial doesn’t necessarily mean that the journey is over, as it is possible to reapply after a certain timeline has passed.

Under normal circumstances, the USCIS will process a case within 2-3 weeks. Upon getting the application, a receipt notice will be sent to the applicant, which will be complete with the processing time you can expect. After that, the petition will be taken over by the relevant US consulate.

You can’t do much about the fact that the final decision is a discretionary one, though your chances are drastically improved by accurately meeting the application requirements, which is why we’re here to help!

The qualifications are carefully and explicitly laid out by law, and these will be used to determine whether approval or a denial happens. The reason for the decision will not be ambiguous since the original applicant will be informed of the motivation behind it.

If you didn’t comply with all the requirements, while reapplication is an option, it’s technically not the only one. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) allows applicants to appeal denied petitions.

When errors are the reason for denial, the most important thing is to fix them. That’s the best way to increase the chances that you won’t have to deal with yet another denial or more delays than necessary.

Fulfilling the requirements of the I-130 form isn’t the easiest thing to pull off without the right kind of assistance in your corner. The form is divided into five parts, with the immigrant being referred to as the “beneficiary” or “your relative” throughout. Let’s quickly take a look at what you can expect from each of these five sections:

1. This is where you will indicate the type of relationship that you have with the relative. You’ll need to select whether the person is a child, sibling, parent, or spouse. Bear in mind that while US citizens can sponsor people falling under any of these relationship categories, a lawful permanent resident may only sponsor spouses or unmarried children.
   Adoptive relationships will come with a few additional questions that you’ll need to answer, but these are not difficult to answer.
2. In this section, you’ll be confirming your marital information and address details.
3. Here, you’ll be required to throw in biographic information, which speaks to the ethnicity and race of the immigrant.
4. This is where information on the person you intend to file for is requested. Details about the beneficiary’s entry information, family, unauthorized stay, unlawful entry, and more are requested here, as are marital details. The marital information, in particular, is crucial to the whole process, and you may be asked for additional information about it, so be ready just in case.
5. Details about filings you may have done for this beneficiary or any other family members will be provided here.

You may be surprised at some of the simple mistakes that people make, which lead to their forms not being accepted. Here is a quick rundown of tips to keep in mind for the filing process:

1. It’s essential to put your signature in the space that has been provided for it. Unsigned forms will be rejected and returned with no exception.
2. If you’ve already submitted the form online, do not mail a physical copy of it to the USCIS.
3. There have been different iterations of the form, so you want to ensure that whichever one you’re using is the current edition. Thankfully, it’s not hard to be sure of this.
4. Printed pages should have the page and edition numbers clearly visible at the bottom. Of course, all pages need to be from the same form edition. If it is that the page numbers are not visible or there’s an edition mismatch, you may find your application being rejected.
5. The entire form is to be completed unless you are explicitly told by the instructions that you can skip one or more items based on certain conditions. Failure to meet this requirement may lead to rejection because of missing information.
6. Black ink should be used whenever answers are being handwritten. On that note, the handwriting needs to be clear for easy readability when the time comes to process the form.
7. If multiple filings are being done, it’s in your best interest to send the payment for each of them separately. Should you decide to make one big payment, the rejection of any one of the forms will lead to the rejection of all of them simultaneously.
8. Correction fluid, highlighters, or tape should not be used. The USCIS uses scanners as a part of the process, and they will not be able to properly read information that has been obscured in any of these ways.
9. Whenever multiple forms are being filed, it’s essential to ensure that your personal details, such as your name and date of birth, are written the same way on all of them.
10. The correct fee must be paid. Wherever there are incomplete or incorrect fees paid, you will face rejection. You can use the USCIS fee calculator to determine how much you should pay at any time.

No law states that you need to get the assistance of any independent firm to file your petition. The USCIS designed the system for individuals to be able to file on their own, and if you attempted to do so before, you are aware of this.

However, leaning on the assistance of those with experience in the field is one of the best ways to improve the chances of your form being approved.

Citizen Concierge has been helping and will continue to help clients to accurately file their petitions to maximize their chances of USCIS approval. It’s our sheer expertise in the market that helps our clients to see the value that we provide.

We recognize that the parameters of each situation can be different, and we want to ensure that you fill out the form and provide supporting documents based on your unique one.

Let’s take a quick moment to clarify the fact that we’re not associated with the USCIS or any government entity. Additionally, we advise our clients not to take the information we provide as legal advice, nor should they request a legal consultation since we aren’t a law office. Professional legal advice should always be sought from an attorney.

Be that as it may, our framework was planned by genuine movement lawyers, and the aim is to ensure 100% accuracy with your filing. We don’t think there’s any reason for you to be a part of the typical refusal and dismissal rate statistics when our framework is designed to ensure the USCIS endorses your request.

With Citizen Concierge, you can get started in just a few easy steps:

1. Before you invest your valuable time or make any payment, answer our easy online questions to verify your eligibility.
2. Securely save your progress as you go, and pay only after completion and satisfaction.
3. Download a tailored checklist, complete with your application and accompanying documents that are ready to sign.
4. File confidently with the peace of mind that everything was done perfectly. As you can imagine, well-prepared applications have better chances of being processed more quickly than others.

What if we told you that you’d be saving, on average, $850 when you compare our service to hiring an immigration lawyer? For only $139, you get the following in the immigrant visa petition package:

• Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
• Personalized guidelines with supporting documents
• Form I-130A Supplement filling assistance if the beneficiary is a spouse
• e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance, Form G-1145
• Reach out to our specialists with any inquiry you may have

We know that applying for USCIS form approval can be a nightmare, but this shouldn’t mean having to agonize about it, especially in a landscape where complex terminology and high attorney costs don’t make things any better.

Thankfully, our straightforward process simplifies the entire ordeal as you aim to take one step closer to not only being physically united with your relatives, but also having them be able to become green card holders or permanent residents themselves.

Call our experts today at 786-551-1119 or get started here today!