Get a Green Card for Your Family Member

Nearly everyone wants to come to the United States. And they seek out various ways in which they can achieve this goal of theirs. So they choose to enter the country with a non-immigrant visa, using which they can stay in the country temporarily; or they come with the immigrant visa - better known as the green card. The green card allows them to stay permanently in the United States. It is also their ticket to work here permanently.

Being a lawful permanent resident guarantees a lot of benefits, and we will look at those benefits in detail later. We will however discuss how being a green card holder benefits your family.

When you talk about coming to the US because it is a land of opportunities, you are looking to secure your future. And definitely for a majority of the people the future includes their family. As a green card holder yourself, you can sponsor a green card for your family. You can sponsor your spouse and your unmarried children who are below the age of 21.

Since you are a permanent resident only, you will be able to sponsor only your spouse and unmarried children below 21 years of age. Though you can sponsor them, they will not get the visas immediately. There is a wait list for the immigrant visa and your family will have to wait until visas are available for them.

If you are really keen on family unity and want your family with you in the United States at the earliest, your best bet yet may be to become a US citizen yourself. The rights of a US citizen are more than that of a lawful permanent resident. As a citizen you can sponsor your family for green cards and there is no wait time associated with the process for immediate members of your family.

Who are these immediate family members? Your spouse, unmarried children below the age of 21, and your parents. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that if you are a US citizen and want to sponsor a parent, you need to be above the age of 21. Simple isn't it. You don't have to wait for ages to get a visa.

The green card sponsoring process goes like this - you file a form to establish the relationship between you and the family member(s) you want to sponsor. While you are filing that petition you also need to establish that you can support them when they come to the United States and that they will not become dependent on the government for support/benefits.

Once this petition is approved a visa is made available for your family member(s). They will be called for an interview at the US consulate closest to where they reside. They will need to have had a medical examination by then and take the results along with the other requested documents. Once your relatives pass the interview successfully, they will be granted immigration visas and they can immediately come to the United States.

If you have been in the United States for 5 years as a permanent resident, you can apply for citizenship through the naturalization process. If you are in the US as a permanent resident, have been married to a US citizen for 3 years, you can apply for naturalization.

For permanent residents to sponsor their relatives, they will have to wait for a long time for visas to become available. For US citizens, the wait time is only as long as your initial petition is approved. Analyze your situation and see which route suits you best.

Why GreenCard Renewal is Important

Green Card enables a person to live and work in the US permanently. It also authorizes the person to file for US citizenship after being a green card holder for 5 years (3 years for conditional resident).Green Cards that are issued currently are valid only for 10 years after which the permanent resident has to go in for green card renewal. Regardless of the way a person obtains a Green Card, every permanent resident gets to live in the US for an unlimited time period and pursue any activity of their desire (provided, it is a legal one!).

Even though the permanent resident status holds good for the entire life term of that person, it is mandatory to go in for green card renewal. It is the utmost responsibility of a permanent resident to ensure that he/she has a green card that is up to date with all the latest security features. The Green Card is an official documentation of the permanent residency status and is synonymous to an identification card and

Importance of GreenCard Renewal

It is essential that Green Card holders who are over 18 yrs of age carry a valid Green Card with them at all times. Section 264 of the Immigration and Nationality Act stresses the importance of Green Card renewal. It states that, “Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him..” and “ ..Any alien who fails to comply with [these provisions] shall be guilty of a misdemeanor”.

In case a person is found to be with an outdated or expired green card, it will lead to them being convicted with 30 days in jail, a penalty of up to $100, or both of these. The US government has enforced strict adherence to the green card renewal process after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Another reason which stresses the need of going in for Green Card renewal is the role which it plays during international travel of the Green Card holder. A person with a valid and updated Green Card will find no difficulty in re-entering the US after an international travel. A US passport is only secondary as the Green Card alone will suffice for re-entry.

Green Card Renewal Process

Form I-90 has to be filed for both Green Card renewal and replacement. It is essential that applications for Green Card renewal should be filed in 6 months prior to the date of expiry of the card. Failing to do so will lead to the application being rejected by the USCIS. However, Green Card renewal applications that are received after the expiration of the Green Card will not be subjected to any penalization.

There is no such thing as Green Card renewal for conditional residents. All they can do is file a different application to remove the conditions within the 90 days before the expiry of their conditional green card.

A person cannot lose the Permanent Resi­dency status easily without doing something intentionally to renounce it. Green Card renewal enables a Lawful Permanent Resident to maintain a current documentation of his/her valid residency status and a majority of them are quite happy with this. What they tend to overlook is the fact that they cannot exercise their votes and elect their representatives with the permanent resident status. After being a permanent resident for 5 years (3years for conditional residents) , they can think about the next step of becoming a US citizen.

H-2B Visa Application Process

The process for an H-2B visa begins with the U.S. employer filing ETA Form 9141, Application for Prevailing Wage Determination, with the Chicago National Processing Center (CNPC). Next, the U.S. employer should submit a job order with the State Workforce Agency (SWA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) serving the area where the employment is intended. After receiving the application, the SWA will check the job order request for errors or omissions, prepare a job order, and keep it in the Employment Service System for 10 days (but not more than 120 days) before the workers are actually needed.

After filing the application with the SWA, the U.S. employer has to show that it has made all efforts to recruit U.S. workers for a specific job before beginning to recruit foreign nationals to fill that particular position under an H-2B visa. This process begins by contacting local unions. The employer should maintain copies of any correspondence with the unions contacted as well as a record of the outcome and any qualified referrals received from the union. The U.S. employer should also post two printed advertisements for three consecutive days in a general circulation newspaper, including one Sunday newspaper, in the area of the intended employment. Alternatively, the employer can post its advertisement in a professional, trade, or ethnic publication, depending on which course of action is most appropriate for the occupation and most likely to bring responses from U.S. workers. These advertisements must be published at the same time that the SWA job order is posted.

After the U.S. employer has completed its recruitment process, the employer continue the H-2B visa application process by submitting an ETA form 9142, Application for Temporary Employment Certification, along with Appendix B.1 and a Recruitment Report to the CNPC. This application can be filed up to 120 days before the workers are needed. A certifying officer at the CNPC will review the applications to confirm that they are compliant. Next, the U.S. employer must file a visa petition, Form I-129, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). On approval of the visa petition, the employee abroad will submit his or her own application for an H-2B visa to a U.S. consulate. The employee can use their visa to enter the U.S. and claim their H-2B visa status.

After mailing in the petition, the employer should receive a Form I-797, Notice of Action, within a few weeks, which is confirmation that the H-2B visa papers are being processed and also acts as a receipt for the fee submitted. If USCIS wants further information before deciding whether to issue an H-2B visa for the foreign worker, it will issue a Request for Evidence. The employer should provide the extra data requested and mail it to the USCIS service center. Instructions on where to send the additional evidence as well as a deadline for submission will be detailed on the Request for Evidence.

Which Form to file for citizenship?

Applicants must meet certain eligibility requirements before applying for US citizenship. Being at least 18 years or older and a being a permanent resident (Green Card holder) now and during all of the past 5 years are few of the requirements. You should have resided in the United States for a continuous period before filing of the citizenship application. If you are not married to a U.S. citizen, you should have resided in the U.S. for a continuous period of five years after admission to the U.S. as a permanent resident. If you are married to a U.S. citizen, you should have resided in the U.S. for a continuous period of three years following your admission to the U.S. as a permanent resident.

A prolonged absence from the U.S. will break the continuity of your residence in the U.S. for naturalization purposes. Additionally, you should have met physical presence requirements too. It means that you have actually been in the United States. Prior to applying, you should have resided in your current state for at least 3 months.

If you are applying for US Citizenship, you should file Form N-400 , Application for Naturalization with the USCIS. Certain supporting documents should be send with your N-400 application. Documents that are in a foreign language should be accompanied by a full English language translation while submitting to the USCIS. In such cases, the translator should certify the translation as complete and accurate, and also by the translator's certification that he/she is competent to translate from the foreign language into English.

The filing fee for the citizenship application is $595.00. Additionally, a biometric fee of $85.00 is required when filing this Form N-400. You may submit one check or money order for $680 for both the application and biometric fees. If you are filing under the military provisions , you do not require a filing fee.

The processing time for the citizenship application and US Visas application can vary from five months to more than two years depending on where and when you choose to file your application. Then the swearing-in ceremony for receiving the certificate will take place from 1 to 180 days after the interview, although in a few USCIS district offices, it can take another one or two years. The length of time for the entire process depends on the number of Citizenship applications the USCIS offices receive in each state. Additionally, making a mistake on your application can cost you even more time. So always ensure that your application is complete and error- free.