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Client Guide
Who Can I Petition For?
This is an eligibility reference, not a filing guide: it answers who a U.S. citizen or green card holder is allowed to petition for, before any paperwork is prepared. If you already know which relative you want to sponsor and are ready for the mechanics of filing, see the I-130 Petition guide. If the relative in question is a spouse specifically, the Marriage Green Card guide walks through that case from petition to interview. Petitioning categories differ meaningfully depending on whether you are a citizen or a green card holder, which is the main distinction this guide is built around.
Overview
A quick reference for family-based immigration eligibility, depending on your own status.
If You Are a U.S. Citizen, You May Petition For:
- Spouse
- Fiancé(e)
- Unmarried child (any age)
- Married child
- Parent (if you are 21 or older)
- Sibling (if you are 21 or older)
If You Are a Green Card Holder, You May Petition For:
- Spouse
- Unmarried child (any age)
Good to Know
Green card holders cannot petition for a married child, a sibling, or a parent — those categories require U.S. citizenship. If you're a green card holder hoping to sponsor one of these relatives, naturalization may be the first step.
Wait times vary widely by category and country of birth. We'll walk you through a realistic timeline for your specific relationship.
The Distinction That Decides Everything: Immediate Relative or Preference
Being eligible to petition is the first question. How long the relative waits afterward is the second, and it is answered by which of two groups the relationship falls into.
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are the spouse of a citizen, the unmarried child under 21 of a citizen, and the parent of a citizen who is 21 or older. Congress does not cap this group, so a visa is treated as available at all times. These are the fastest family cases, and the wait is essentially the wait for USCIS to do the work.
Every other qualifying relationship falls into a family preference category: unmarried adult sons and daughters of citizens; spouses and unmarried children of green card holders; married sons and daughters of citizens; and siblings of citizens. These categories are subject to annual numerical limits, capped again by country of birth, which produces a queue. In the most oversubscribed combinations that queue is measured in years and sometimes in decades.
The petition paperwork is largely the same either way. The experience of the family is not.
What "Child," "Son or Daughter," and "Parent" Actually Mean Here
Immigration law uses ordinary family words in narrower ways than families do, and the definitions carry real consequences.
A "child" is unmarried and under 21. Once a person turns 21 or marries, they are no longer a child for these purposes, and the case moves into a different category with a different wait — or, if the petitioner is a green card holder and the child marries, out of eligibility entirely. The Child Status Protection Act can preserve a younger age for some beneficiaries whose cases were pending as they aged, but it does not apply to everyone and it is not automatic. If a child in your case is approaching 21, raise it early rather than later.
Stepchildren and stepparents can qualify, but generally only if the marriage creating the relationship took place before the child turned 18. Adopted children qualify under their own set of rules involving the timing of the adoption and legal custody.
A "parent" includes the relationships above in reverse, with the same timing requirements applied from the other direction.
Who Comes Along, and Who Needs Their Own Petition
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of family immigration, and it is worth being precise about.
In the family preference categories, the beneficiary's spouse and unmarried children under 21 can generally be included as derivative beneficiaries. One petition can carry a family.
In the immediate relative categories, there are no derivatives. If a U.S. citizen petitions for a parent, that parent's spouse and other children are not carried along. If a U.S. citizen petitions for a spouse, that spouse's children need their own petitions — each of which the citizen may be able to file separately, if the stepchild relationship qualifies.
Families routinely discover this at the worst moment. If your case involves anyone beyond the single relative you are petitioning for, map the whole household before filing anything.
Questions to Answer Before You Choose a Category
- Are you a U.S. citizen, or a lawful permanent resident? The answer changes what is available to you.
- If you are a green card holder, are you eligible to naturalize soon? For some relatives, waiting to file until you are a citizen is the faster route.
- Is the relative married or unmarried, and is that likely to change while the case is pending?
- Is the relative under 21, and how close to 21?
- What is the relative's country of birth? Waiting times are set by country of birth, not by current residence or citizenship.
- Does the relative have anyone — a spouse, children — who needs to immigrate with them?
- Is there anything in the relative's history that could raise an inadmissibility issue later, such as prior unlawful presence, a removal order, or a criminal record?
- Can you meet the financial sponsorship requirement, or will you need a joint sponsor?
A Change in Your Status Can Change the Case
Petitions are not frozen at the moment they are filed. If a green card holder petitioner naturalizes while a petition for a spouse or minor child is pending, the case can move into an immediate relative category, which is generally faster. Tell us when that happens — the upgrade is not always automatic and sometimes has to be requested.
Changes on the beneficiary's side matter too. A beneficiary who marries, divorces, or turns 21 may move between categories, and in some situations may lose eligibility. Marriage of a son or daughter of a green card holder is the sharpest example, because there is no married-child category for a green card holder to move into.
What Eligibility Does Not Guarantee
Being eligible to petition for someone is not the same as that person being eligible to receive a green card. The petition establishes a relationship. The relative still has to be admissible, which is a separate analysis involving immigration history, criminal history, prior misrepresentations, and other grounds.
A relative living in the United States without status faces a further question that has nothing to do with the relationship: whether they can adjust status here at all, or whether they would need to depart for a consular interview and what departing would trigger. Our waivers of inadmissibility guide covers what happens when the answer is complicated.
This is why we ask about difficult history early. A petition filed without knowing the answer to these questions can still be approved and still leave the family no closer to a green card.
Who This Guide Is Not For
This is an eligibility reference. It does not walk through the filing. If you already know which relative you are petitioning for and want to understand the petition itself, see the I-130 guide.
If you are engaged rather than married and your partner is abroad, no petition on this page applies — the fiancé(e) route uses a different form and is covered in the K-1 guide.
If you are a U.S. citizen married to a foreign national and want the full sequence through the interview, see the marriage green card guide. If you are the person being asked to sign the financial sponsorship contract, see the affidavit of support guide.
If the relative in question is a survivor of abuse by a U.S. citizen or green card holder family member, they may be able to file for themselves without the abuser's involvement — see the VAWA self-petition guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can a U.S. citizen petition for?
A U.S. citizen may petition for a spouse, a fiancé(e), an unmarried child of any age, a married child, and — if the citizen is 21 or older — a parent or a sibling.
Who can a green card holder petition for?
A lawful permanent resident may petition for a spouse and for an unmarried child of any age. Green card holders cannot petition for a married child, a sibling, or a parent; those categories require U.S. citizenship. For some families, naturalizing first is the faster path.
Why do some family petitions take so much longer than others?
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — spouse, unmarried child under 21, and parent of a citizen 21 or older — are not subject to an annual numerical limit, so visas are treated as available at all times. Every other family relationship falls into a preference category with annual limits set by category and by country of birth, which creates a queue that can run for years.
What happens if my child turns 21 while the petition is pending?
Turning 21 or getting married moves a beneficiary out of the child category and into a different one, with a different waiting time — and for a green card holder petitioner, marriage of a son or daughter ends eligibility, since there is no married-child category available to a permanent resident. The Child Status Protection Act can preserve a lower age for some beneficiaries, but it does not apply to everyone. Raise an approaching 21st birthday with your attorney early.
Can my relative bring their spouse and children on the same petition?
In the family preference categories, a beneficiary's spouse and unmarried children under 21 can generally be included as derivatives. In the immediate relative categories there are no derivatives — a parent, spouse, or child petitioned for as an immediate relative cannot carry their own family members along, and separate petitions are needed where the relationships qualify.
I am a green card holder. Should I file now or wait until I naturalize?
It depends on the relative. For a spouse or minor child, filing now preserves a priority date, and the case can often be upgraded if you naturalize while it is pending. For a married child, a sibling, or a parent, there is nothing to file until you are a citizen. This is a common question to bring to a consultation, because the right answer turns on your naturalization timeline and the relative's category.
General information only — not legal advice.