Exploring the Land of Opportunities: Sponsorship Visa for the USA

“The United States of America is one of the most popular immigration destinations in the world, offering countless opportunities for immigrants to start a new life, pursue their dreams, and enjoy a better standard of living through the Sponsorship Visa of USA.”

A sponsorship visa is a type of visa that allows a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to sponsor a foreign national for immigration to the United States. This type of visa is also known as a family-based visa, as it is typically used by family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents to join them in the country.

To apply for a sponsorship Visa of USA, your sponsor must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The petition should include evidence of the qualifying relationship between you and your sponsor, as well as any supporting documentation required by USCIS.

Once the petition is approved, you will be assigned a priority date based on the date the petition was filed. This priority date will determine when you are eligible to apply for a Visa.

If you are outside the United States at the time your visa becomes available, you will be required to attend an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country.

If you are already in the United States when your visa becomes available, you may be able to adjust your status to permanent resident without leaving the country.

Establishing a Qualifying Relationship for Sponsorship Visa in the USA

You must have a qualifying relationship with a U.S. citizen or permanent resident sponsor. Qualifying relationships include:

1. Spouse
2. Parent
3. Child (including stepchild and adopted child)
4. Sibling (including half-sibling and stepsibling)
5. Fiancé(e)

In addition to having a qualifying relationship, you must also meet certain other eligibility requirements, such as passing a medical exam and obtaining a police certificate.

Fulfilling Sponsorship Responsibilities

when you are sponsorship Visa of USA citizen or permanent resident, your sponsor assumes certain responsibilities. These responsibilities include:

• Financially supporting you for a specified period of time
• Agreeing to repay any public funds you may receive during that time
• Helping you adjust to life in the United States

The sponsor’s financial responsibilities begin as soon as you arrive in the country, and typically last for a period of ten years.

SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP – IR-1

To encourage families to reunite, the United States allows the citizens and legal permanent residents to invite their foreign family members to come to the U.S. IR-1 is the immediate relative category, to invite the spouse. Eligibility is given below:

Must be legally married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident
The one residing in the U.S. should have a valid address and documentation to prove his residency status.
He/she should also have enough financial resources to support the foreign spouse

FIANCE` (E) VISA – K-1

This category of non-immigrant visa is for anyone residing in a country other than United States, who wishes to get married to a citizen of United States. You will be required to marry the citizen within 90 days of your arrival in the US. Failure to comply by this rule goes against the laws and could result in your removal from the United States.

Eligibility and requirements:

• Both should be above the legal age of 18 to get married.
• Both should not be married to someone else at the time, and if you are, then there should be evidence that the marriage is dissolved.
• The marriage must be permissible under the law of the United States.
• Within the past two years, the US citizen and his/her fiancé must have met in person at least once. Evidence of this must be provided in terms of photographs, travel records of any other documents. This requirement will only be waived off under extreme cases, such as not being permissible under the culture to meet before marriage.
• The US citizen must have enough financial resources to sponsor his/her fiancé.

UNMARRIED CHILD UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE OF A U.S. CITIZEN – USA IR-2

The IR-2 visa is a U.S. immediate relative visa, for children of U.S citizens, who are unmarried and are under 21 years of age. If the child is under the child status protection act, being treated as under 21 years old, then he/she can also be granted the visa.

The children with IR-2 visa can live in U.S. and attend school. They will eventually also qualify to apply for green card and will be able to work in the U.S. without an Employment Authorization Document. The IR-2 visa does not have an annual cap. As long as applicants qualify the eligibility criteria, he/she can obtain it.

Children with IR-2 visas who are under 18 years, gets U.S. citizenship as soon as they enter U.S. and live with their parents in the U.S. Children over the age of 18 become permanent residents and get their IR-2 green cards. They can apply for citizenship when they are eligible.

Eligibility (for the child):
The child should be under 21 years old and unmarried
The child should be living in a foreign country
The child and the parent who is a U.S. citizen must have lived together for a minimum of 2 years
The parent should be a U.S. citizen
Other parent gives consent to adopt the foreign child

ORPHAN ADOPTED ABROAD BY A U.S. CITIZEN – USA IR-3

U.S. citizens who want to adopt children from foreign countries and bring them to the U.S. can do so if the child has a valid U.S. visa and is allowed to enter the U.S. IR-3 can be applied for once the adoption procedure is completed in the child’s home country. Under this classification, the child can live in the U.S. with the adopted parents, enroll in a school or college, and eventually be a U.S. citizen when eligible.

The procedure for the application may differ according to the country that the child is being adopted from. However, there are a few countries from where adoption is not permissible due to political reasons.

Eligibility and Requirements:
The child must be under 21 years old and must be from a country which qualifies for adoption under the U.S. laws
The child must fulfil the adoption requirement of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act
The parent in the U.S. must have a valid residence/address and must clear the eligibility test for adoption by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
The U.S. citizen must plan to relocate the adopted child to the U.S.

Note: If the parent (U.S. citizen) has already adopted the child and lived with him for two years, the child does not need to apply for IR-3 and would rather qualify for IR-2 visa

ORPHAN TO BE ADOPTED IN THE U.S. BY A U.S. CITIZEN – USA IR-4

This classification of visa allows the citizens to complete the adoption process after bringing the child to U.S. This allows the child to live legally in the U.S., study or work without needing an Employment Authorization Document.

Eligibility and Requirement:
The child must be under 21 years old and must be from a country which qualifies for adoption under the U.S. laws.
The child must fulfil the adoption requirement of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.
The parent in the U.S. must have a valid residence/address and must clear the eligibility test for adoption by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
The U.S. citizen must plan to relocate the adopted child to the U.S
The parent in the U.S. must take legal guardianship of the child in the foreign country, and also adopt in the U.S

FAMILY PREFERENCE VISA

Family visa comprises of four categories, depending on the relationship with the U.S. citizen:

F-1 Visa – The U.S. citizen’s unmarried children, and their minor children are eligible for this type of visa
F-2 Visa – Spouse, minor or children under the age of 21 years are eligible for this type of visa
F-3 Visa – The U.S. citizen’s married children, and their spouses and minor children are eligible for this type of visa
F-4 Visa – If the U.S. citizen is at least 21 years old, his/her siblings and their spouses and minor children are eligible for this type of visa

Note: Family preference visa is not issued for grandparents, aunts, uncles or in-laws.

PARENT OF A U.S. CITIZEN WHO IS AT LEAST 21 YEARS- USA IR-5

After becoming a citizen of the United States, you can bring your immediate family members to the country. IR-5 visa allows the U.S. citizens to bring their parents from their home country into the U.S. Apart from reuniting with their children, the parents also enjoy the liberty to legally work without an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), once they are issued with an IR-5.

This classification of visa does not have a yearly cap and therefore anyone who meets the eligibility criteria can obtain the U.S. visa.

Eligibility and Requirements:
The U.S. citizen must be 21 years or older
The U.S. citizen must have enough financial resources to support his/her parents, at least until the time his/her parents start working.
The U.S. citizen must have a valid address and living there
Proof of relationship through a valid birth certificate

For more details please contact our senior immigration consultants and advisors.