Immigrant visas
Family-Based Immigration
The Immigration and Nationality Act allows for the immigration of foreigners to the United States based on relationships to U.S. Citizens or Legal Permanent Residents. Family-based immigration falls under two basic categories: unlimited and limited.
Unlimited Family-Based
Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens (IR): Beneficiaries include the spouse, widow(er) and unmarried children under 21 years old of a U.S. Citizen. It also includes the parents of U.S. Citizens who are 21 years of age or older.
Returning Residents (SB): Immigrants who lived in the United States previously as Legal Permanent Residents and are returning to live in the U.S. after a temporary visit of more than one year abroad. To qualify for SB status, returning residents must prove that circumstances beyond their control kept them abroad for more than one year.
Limited Family-Based
Family First Preference (F1): Beneficiaries include unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens, as well as any unmarried minor of less than 21 years old they may have.
Family Second Preference (F2): Beneficiaries include spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (21 years of age or older) of Legal Permanent Residents.
Family Third Preference (F3): Beneficiaries include married sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens, as well as their spouses and children.
Family Fourth Preference (F4): Beneficiaries include brothers and sisters of U.S. Citizens, as well as their spouses and children. U.S. Citizens must be at least 21 years of age to file F4 petitions.
Numerical Limitations
Whenever there are more qualified applicants for a category than there are available numbers, the category will be considered oversubscribed and immigrant visas will be 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.