US Citizens Must File Separate Immigrant Petitions for Spouses and Children

US Citizens Must File Separate Immigrant Petitions for Spouses and ChildrenIt is well known that the U.S. citizens can petition for their relatives who are living abroad and bring them to the United States. Spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens are the relatives who belong to the immediate relatives category and siblings belong to the family preference category.

There are certain misconceptions about filing immigrant petitions as many believe that the minor children and step-children of U.S. citizens can be included in the immigrant petitions, Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative the U.S. citizens file for their spouses. But that is not true. The sponsoring U.S. citizens need to file separate applications for their spouses and their children.

U.S. citizens can bring their immediate relatives like their spouse, children and parents to the United States but they need to file separate applications for each relative they wish to bring to the United States. They need to remember that their children cannot be included in immigrant petitions, Form I-130, they file for their spouses. Similarly, siblings of U.S. citizens cannot be included in the immigrant petitions filed for parents even if the siblings are minors. U.S. citizens need to file separate immigrant petitions to get U.S. green cards for their siblings.

This does not apply to those who belong to the family preference categories. People who belong to the family preference and the employment categories can include their minor children in their petitions. This will help the minor children of the immigrants in preference categories to get immigrant visas as derivative beneficiaries. Hence, it must be remembered that children of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens will not become eligible for immigrant visas under derivative status.