Green Card & Immigrant Visas I-130 Family-Based Petitions 

I-130 Family-Based Petitions 

A U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States can petition for certain family members to immigrate to the United States and receive lawful permanent residence (i.e., a green card). The U.S. only recognizes certain family relationships as eligible for a family petition.

There are two main categories for family-based petitions: “immediate relatives” and “preference category” relatives. 

Immediate Relatives: An adult U.S. citizen (age 21 and older) can file an I-130, Petition for Alien Relative on behalf of their: 

• Spouse
• Parent
• Unmarried children under 21 years of age. 

The U.S. government does not place any limit on the number of immediate relative petitions that can be granted each year. This means that there is no waitlist to receive an immigrant visa. You must only wait for the time it takes to process your petition. 

Preference Category Relatives: The second category of family-based immigration is for “preference” cases. 

The preference cases are divided into the following categories: 

• F1 Visa – Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens
• F2A Visa – Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents 
• F2B Visa – Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents
• F3 Visa – Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens
• F4 Visa – Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens

Preference cases have a waitlist that can substantially vary depending on your family relationship. The more distant the relative, the longer you must wait.  The reason for the waitlist is that the U.S. government has a quota of how many people could receive an immigrant visa per year.

The waiting period for each category is updated every month on the U.S. Visa Bulletin, which can be found here (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html). 

Boyadzhyan Law can assist with preparing and filing your I-130 visa petition, as well as consular processing. More importantly, we follow each case until completion, and address any issues that may arise throughout the process, such as when the government does not believe the marriage is genuine and issues a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) or a Notice of Intent to Revoke (NOID). 

Attorney Gary Boyadzhyan takes a hands-on approach for each case to make sure it is fully documented and positioned for success. 

Contact Boyadzhyan Law for a free initial case evaluation. (818) 572-4100 | info@boyadzhyanlaw.com