User:Vipul/Form I-130

Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative is a form submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (or, in the rare case of Direct Consular Filing, to a US consulate or embassy abroad) by a United States citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident petitioning for an immediate or close relative (who is not currently a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident) intending to immigrate to the United States. As with all USCIS petitions, the person who submits the petition is called the petitioner and the relative on whose behalf the petition is made is called the beneficiary.

Approval of the petition can be used by the beneficiary to obtain a United States visa in the Immediate Relative (IR) or Family-Based Preference (F) category at a US consulate or embassy abroad, and, once the relative has immigrated to the United States, to obtain a Green Card. For relatives already present in the United States it can be used to change status.

For petitions filed by United States citizens, each I-130 petition can be on behalf of only one beneficiary, so a petitioner seeking to petition for multiple relatives (for instance, a spouse and children) must file separate I-130s for each of them. For lawful permanent residents, an exception is made in the case for the beneficiary's unmarried children.

Types of relationships between petitioner and beneficiary
Form I-130 can be used for the following categories of relatives:


 * Immediate Relative (IR): This category is not numerically limited, and includes the following subcategories:
 * IR-1: Spouse of a US citizen. Need to be married for at least two years.
 * IR-2: Unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen, provided the marriage to the biological parent occurred before the child was 18, and at least two years prior to obtaining the visa.
 * IR-5: Parent of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old.
 * Family Preference (F) (not to be confused with F visa, the student visa in the US):
 * F1 (First Preference): Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (F1-1).
 * F2 (Second Preference): Spouses (F2-1), minor children (F2-2), and unmarried sons and daughters (age 21 and over) of Lawful Permanent Residents (F2-4).
 * F3 (Third Preference): Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (F3-1).
 * F4 (Fourth Preference): Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens (F4-1).
 * Conditional Resident (CR):
 * CR-1: Spouse, married for less than two years. Path to temporary residence that can be converted to permanent residence within two years of moving.
 * CR-2: Unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen, provided the marriage to the biological parent occurred before the child was 18, and less than two years prior to obtaining the visa.

There are two subcategories of the IR category for which Form I-130 is not the appropriate form: IR-3 (orphan adopted abroad by a U.S. citizen) and IR-4 (orphan to be adopted in the U.S. by a U.S. citizen). For these categories, the appropriate forms are I-600 and I-600A (if the orphan is from a non-Hague Convention country) and I-800 an I-800A (if the orphan is from a Hague Convention country).

There are some subcategories of the F category that cannot be specified on Form I-130: these include the minor children of those in the F1-1 category, and the spouses and minor children of those in the F3-1 and F4-1 categories.

Note that Form I-130 cannot be used to obtain approval for K visas for fiancé(e)s. The appropriate form for that purpose is Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e).

Relation with the overall immigrant visa process
While there is only one Form I-130, there are three different ways the form could be used:


 * 1) The case that both the petitioner (a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident) and beneficiary are both legally present in the United States: In this case, the Form I-130 may be filed by the petitioner concurrently with a filing of Form I-485 by the beneficiary relative for adjustment of status.
 * 2) The case that the beneficiary relative is outside the United States: In this case, Form I-130 (also called the standalone Form I-130 to distinguish it from the previous case) is the first of a three-step process. The remaining two steps are:
 * 3) * The National Visa Center adds the beneficiary's name to a queue of people awaiting immigrant visas. After a wait time (that varies based on the category), the beneficary is granted a visa number. Note that IR visas are not subject to numerical limits, whereas F visas are, but both go through the NVC.
 * 4) * The beneficiary can use the visa number to apply for a visa at the United States embassy or consulate abroad.
 * 5) The case that the petitioner is a United States citizen who has been living abroad continuously for at least six months, along with the beneficiary: In this case, the petitioner may be able to opt for Direct Consular Filing. This means that Form I-130 is filed with a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad rather than with USCIS. The approved petition can then be used by the beneficiary to apply for a visa. This process bypasses the USCIS and NVC, and has a shorter overall timeframe, but is only available in some countries and under restricted circumstances. Note that non-citizens cannot use Direct Consular Filing, so in particular DCF cannot be used for the F2 category.

Forms submitted alongside
The following forms may be submitted alongside Form I-130:


 * Form G-325A, by both the petitioner and beneficiary, providing biographical information about their relationship (no additional cost, submitted only if required by the other form).
 * Form G-1145, requesting e-notification of acceptance (optional, free).

Addresses
All (non-DCF) applications from outside the United States, as well as all applications with a concurrent Form I-485 (adjustment of status) must be filed with the Chicago lockbox facility. Standalone Form I-130s need to be filed at either the Chicago or the Phoenix lockbox facility, where the choice of facility is determined by the home address of the petitioner used on the form. DCF applications need to be filed at the appropriate U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

Filing fees
As of May 2015, the filing fee for Form I-130 is $420. There are no filing fees for the accompanying forms that need to be filed along with this form (G-325A and G-1145). However, this fee does not include:


 * In the case the beneficiary is already in the United States, the fee for Form I-485 (filed separately by the beneficiary, so not part of the petition), which can range from $635 to $985 depending on the category.
 * In the case the beneficiary is not in the United States, the immigrant visa application processing fee that, as of May 2015, is $325.
 * The $165 USCIS immigrant fee, which is needed to process the immigrant visa packet and produce and send to the applicant the Green Card.

Related forms

 * Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e), is similar, but does not grant permanent resident status. Rather, it is used to obtain nonimmigrant K visas (that differ from most nonimmigrant visas in that they can be obtained despite immigrant intent).
 * Forms I-360 and I-600 are the two other forms that are eligible for Direct Consular Filing in some cases.
 * Form I-140 is the other main form that grants immigrant status, and that has a similar process going via the National Visa Center.