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Green Card for Parents of US Citizens | How to Sponsor your Parents in 2021 - YouTube
Channel: Maneesha Mukhi
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One of the perks of US citizenship is being
able to sponsor your parents for a green card,
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but you must meet certain criteria.
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Today, we're going to talk about how you as
citizens can sponsor their parents for a green
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card, what forms to fill out how long it takes
and how much it costs.
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People often ask me whether they should hire
an immigration lawyer or not to do this paperwork.
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And I'll give you my honest opinion in today's
video.
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For green card holders that want to sponsor
their parents, unfortunately, you can't.
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Not until you become a US citizen.
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Even if you are in the process of becoming
a US citizen and it's one year away, you cannot
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sponsor your parents.
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You are not able to sponsor your parents until
the day you take your oath ceremony and get
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that naturalization certificate.
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Until then, you cannot file.
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All right, let's dive into today's video,
for more information like this, be sure to
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subscribe to our channel and hit the bell
to be notified when I post a new video.
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Let's start with you, the US citizen, in order
to sponsor your parents for a green card,
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you need to meet the following criteria.
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You need to be able to prove that you are
a US citizen.
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You need to show that you are 21 years of
age or older.
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You need to be able to show that you have
assets or income that are at least 125% of
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the poverty guideline.
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Now, as you can see on the chart on the screen,
the dollar amount varies by the number of
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people in your household.
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So if it's just you and a partner, you need
to show income or assets of at least $21,550.
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And lastly, you can prove your relationship
to your parent.
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Now let's talk about your parents' eligibility
for a green card.
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A parent can be denied a green card or deemed
inadmissible for a past immigration violation,
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a criminal conviction, and various other reasons.
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If there is anything unusual in your parents'
background, it would be best to speak with
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an immigration attorney before filing a green
card application.
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There are several types of waivers that an
attorney can file to overcome some of these
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objections, but only an attorney can tell
you if any of those waivers apply to your
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unique circumstances.
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If there is nothing unusual, like an overstay
in your parents' background, then the process
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is fairly simple.
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It starts with filing form I-130, which is
the petition for an alien relative.
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If you're sponsoring both parents, you need
to file one for each parent.
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If your parents were not married at the time
of your birth and you're sponsoring your father,
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you will need to provide some additional evidence.
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You can sponsor a step parent, if your birth
parent married your step parent before your
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18th birthday.
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You will have to include a copy of the marriage
certificate and any applicable death certificates
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or divorce decrees.
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If your parent is outside the US, you start
with filing form i-130 and supporting documentation.
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You then mail it to the USCIS address that
is applicable to you.
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And I'll share a link in the description below,
so you can figure out which address is relevant
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for you.
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Within a few weeks, you should receive a notice
from the USCIS that acknowledges that they've
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received your application.
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The processing time for form I-130 varies
by service centers.
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According to the USCIS website, these are
the current processing times for the parents
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or spouse of a US citizen.
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As you can see, the Vermont service center
is the slowest, but processing times are constantly
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changing.
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And these are the average processing times
as of the filming of this video.
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So take these ranges for what they are, an
estimate but not a guarantee.
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I'm going to share a link in the description
below with the most up-to-date processing
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times by service center.
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All you do is select form I-130 in that first
dropdown, and then you select your service
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center and you'll get an estimate of the processing
times.
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If you're working with an attorney, they'll
also be able to share their more recent client
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experiences and what type of timelines they've
been experiencing.
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Once the I-130 is approved the USCIS will
send you an approval notice, also known as
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the I-797 notice of action.
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And approved I-130 in itself does not give
your parents any immigration benefit.
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It's simply the first step in the process.
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The USCIS will now forward your petition to
the national visa center, also known as the
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NVC for pre-processing where a case will be
created in the system for you, and a case
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number will be generated.
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Soon after the NVC will send you a welcome
letter with your case number and invoice number.
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You will use this information to log into
the consular electronic application center.
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In this portal, you will be able to manage
your case and check for status updates.
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The first thing you need to do after you're
receiving your NVC welcome letter is to pay
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your processing fees.
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There are two processing fees, the immigrant
visa application fee, and the affidavit of
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support fee.
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After you pay these fees, you'll be able to
apply for your immigrant visa through form
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DS-260, but it can take about a week or so
for your payment to post.
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During this stage of the process, you also submit
form I-864 to prove that you, the US citizen,
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are able to support your parent financially.
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Once the forms are submitted and the fees
are paid, the parent will be able to schedule
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an interview at the consulate where the immigrant
visa will be approved.
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With that immigrant visa, they can enter the
United States and they must do so within six
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months.
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Their physical green card, their permanent
resident card will be mailed to them soon
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after they arrive in the US.
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If your parent is already living in the
US legally, such as on a work visa, you could
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file form I-485 to adjust their status, at
the same time as you file form I-130.
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You would also file form I-864 at the same
time.
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If your parent is here on a tourist visa,
I would recommend speaking with an immigration
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attorney because the intent when you come
here on a tourist visa is to stay here temporarily.
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So it is tricky.
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If your parent is undocumented, I definitely
recommend speaking to an immigration attorney
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because the process is much more complicated.
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A medical examination is also required of
all green card applicants, whether you're
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in the US or outside the US and you have to
go to a USCIS approved doctor.
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If your parent is outside the US your parent
will be given instructions on how to locate
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a USCIS approved doctor in their home country.
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If outside the US, the parent must complete
the medical exam before his or her interview
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at the consulate.
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And you must take those results in a sealed
envelope to the interview.
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If you are filing form I-485 for a parent,
that's already legally in the US, at your
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medical exam the doctor will give you a sealed
envelope, which will contain form I-693.
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You will send the sealed envelope along with
your form 485, all in one package.
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So how much does all of this cost?
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If you choose to do this yourself without
the help of an immigration lawyer, here is
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a breakdown of all the filing fees, depending
on where your parent lives.
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I just want to point out that as of the filming
of this video, the USCIS is in the process
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of raising filing fees, but they're quite
minimal for the categories that I talk about
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here.
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So I've included the fees that are current
as of today, but if you're watching this video
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later in 2020 or 2021, I would check the filing
fees on the USCIS's website, and they might
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be $20 to $30 more than the chart that you're
seeing right now.
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As you can see through the consular process
for a parent abroad, you're looking at roughly
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$1000, plus the medical exam.
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From within the US if your parent is here
legally, and you will be adjusting their status,
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you're looking at roughly $1,800 in total.
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Now let's talk about whether you need to hire
an immigration attorney or not.
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If your parent has no unusual circumstances,
and you have the time to fill out the paperwork,
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it is certainly doable without an immigration
attorney.
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However, if you are stressed about your immigration
situation, or don't have a lot of time, then
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I would recommend working with an attorney
because mistakes are less likely, and it can
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save you a lot of time and headache.
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When you fill it out yourself, you have to
be extra careful that you don't make any mistakes,
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because mistakes can be very costly.
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With that said, I've personally used immigration
attorneys for all my green card and citizenship
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paperwork, but I also have friends that didn't
and they got their green cards just fine on
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their own.
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So really it's a matter of what you are comfortable
with and what your budget allows.
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On average, based on the attorneys in our
network, which are primarily in New York,
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it will run you anywhere between $1,300 to
$2,500 in legal fees to get one parent's paperwork
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done by an immigration attorney.
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If you're sponsoring both parents, you can
usually work something out with the attorney,
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so that it's not double the price of that.
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But again, that varies from attorney to attorney.
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And remember, your attorney can be based anywhere
in the US.
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Immigration law is federal, so it doesn't
matter where the attorney's located, just
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make sure it is an actual licensed immigration
attorney.
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Lastly, I want to add that this video is being
filmed while there's an immigration ban in
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place.
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Currently, the administration is not allowing
the issuance of immigrant visas for parents
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of US citizens through the end of 2020.
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However, if you haven't even yet filed your
I-130, I don't think you need to worry about
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this right now, because it will take you at
least seven to 14 months to get the I-130
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approved, and then get your welcome letter
and then get an interview at the consulate.
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So by then we might be in a very different
place.
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So I would encourage you to go ahead and file
your paperwork and not worry too much about
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the visa bans that are currently in place,
whenever you watch this video.
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Because you first have to go through a series
of forms and get them approved before visa
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bans even start to matter.
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I hope the green card process for the parents
of a US citizen is a little more clear to
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you right now.
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If you have any questions, let me know in
the comments.
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And if you found today's video helpful, hit
the like button below, be sure to subscribe
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to the channel, and I will see you in the
next video.
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