Family Based Immigration

Reunite your family in the United States with our immigration lawyers’ help
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Family Based Immigration Attorney In Houston, Texas

How Can I Bring My Family Members To The United States?

If you’re a United States citizen or are a green card holder (lawful permanent resident), you can bring eligible family members to the U.S. To do so, they need to apply for a family-based immigrant visa so they can become lawful permanent residents themselves. Our experienced immigration lawyers can help you and your family members collect all the documents and fill out the paperwork they need to apply. Working together, we can help you complete all the steps that can bring your loved ones to the U.S. to stay.


Your status determines which relatives or future relatives may be eligible to immigrate. In order to sponsor a family member, you must be a:

  • U.S. citizen
  • Green card holder (permanent resident), or a
  • Refugee or asylee admitted within the past 2 years


Your status determines which relatives or future relatives may be eligible to immigrate. In order to sponsor a family member, you must be a:

  • Husband and wife: To immigrate through this process, your spouse must either be a Lawful Permanent Resident or a U.S. Citizen. The petition requires establishing that the marriage is bona fide and that a relationship existed between the spouses prior to their marriage, among other requirements.
  • Sons and daughters or children of U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents. Petitions require that the family relationship be established by substantiating documentation in order to be approved. There are certain requirements that are different if the Petitioner is a U.S. Citizen or a Lawful Permanent Resident.
  • Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens: Only U.S. citizens may petition for their brothers and sisters to come and live in the United States. Permanent residents cannot petition for their siblings.


Visa Preference categories are grouped generally as follows:

  • First preference: Unmarried, adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
  • Second Preference: Spouses and unmarried children of green card holders and unmarried adult sons and daughters
  • Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
  • Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens


Contact Edward Law Group to schedule a consultation with a lawyer today. 281-900-7226

Which Family Members Are Eligible to Apply for a Green Card?

If your relative is already in the United States, he or she may apply to adjust status to become a Lawful Permanent Resident after a visa number becomes available by submitting Form I-485. To be able to apply for adjustment of status your relative must be eligible to do so and only certain immigrants are only able to do so. To verify to see if you can apply, please contact our office. If your relative is outside of the United States, your petition will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC will forward your petition to the appropriate U.S. consulate when a visa becomes available for Consular Processing. Your relative’s preference category will determine how long he or she will have to wait for an immigrant visa number.

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If you have been married for less than two years when you receive your marriage-based green card, you must file to remove conditional status within 90 days of the expiration. This is because you will be a conditional resident due to the marriage being under 2 years. You will need to demonstrate that you are in a legitimate marriage to do so. However, if you find yourself in a situation where the marriage is not going as planned and divorce is on the horizon, we can assist you with conditional residence as well. It is possible for you to still stay in the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident.


How Long Will My Family Members Need to Wait?

Immediate relatives may apply for a visa without a wait, while preference relatives must usually wait since the U.S. limits the number of immigrant visas for each country. It’s of the utmost urgency for your preference relatives to file their petitions as soon as possible since the USCIS processes these by the date on which your relatives file. In countries where there are many people applying for immigrant visas to the U.S., the wait can be extremely long – often stretching into several years before you can enter the U.S. Our experienced immigration lawyers can help get the process started. Get in touch with us today.

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