Hobart Family Immigration Lawyer

Hobart Family Immigration Lawyer

Wanting to bring your family members to the U.S. to live long-term makes perfect sense, but to do it legally, the family immigration visa process must be followed. Dealing with the U.S. government, and all the complicated and technical rules they impose on this process is practically impossible for the average person to follow. Given the stakes, a family visa petition should be handled with the utmost attention and care, which the family immigration attorneys at Kriezelman Burton & Associates, LLC can do. Your citizenship status and the relationship with your family member will determine how the process goes, and our Hobart family immigration attorneys will help you understand the entire family visa process from beginning to end. Without this guidance, your petition is at risk for delay and rejection; our family immigration attorneys will do everything possible to bring you and your loved one through this multi-step process as efficiently as possible to avoid triggering more governmental red tape.

Threshold Question

How the government classifies and processes a family immigration visa petition will be controlled by whether the U.S. sponsor is a citizen, and if the non-U.S. family member is immediate or more removed. Immediate relatives are considered to include spouses, minor children, and parents. The availability of visas depends upon whether the U.S. sponsor is a citizen or permanent resident. No restrictions are placed on U.S. citizen petitions for immediate family, but everyone else is organized by a complicated preference system. Only a certain number of visas are allotted for family visa petitions for permanent residents and non-immediate family members for U.S. citizens, meaning a long wait lies ahead. It is possible to shorten that wait time if a permanent resident becomes a U.S. citizen while a petition is under consideration. Otherwise, applications are processed as they are received.

What Does the Government Want to See?

Once it is clear what type of process a petition will receive, a Petition for Alien Relative is filed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Sufficient documentation and meeting age and financial requirements are critical to the petition moving through the process and a Green Card being issued. Specifically, the U.S. sponsor must be at least 21 years old and be able to prove he/she can support the family member if they are permitted to remain on a permanent basis. If the petition is approved, an application will be opened and the foreign family member asked to submit documents that identify who they are, their financial resources, and medical information.

Seeing the Doctor

All countries have an interest in monitoring the health of individuals who come into their borders for the presence of a disease or illness that could threaten the health of the domestic population. Thus, to maintain control over the introduction of dangerous illnesses, new immigrants are examined to determine if they carry signs of certain diseases the government wants to keep out —  Hence, the mandatory nature of these procedures and why they must be completed in order for a visa to be issued.

Appointment at the Consulate

Finally, assuming all of the above is completed, an interview will be scheduled with a U.S. consulate, where questions will be asked to see if the family member meets U.S. standards for immigrant visa applicants. In addition to the applicant, the U.S. sponsor, attorneys, and third-party representatives commonly appear at these interviews, as well.

Get Help

The immigrant visa process involves many steps that must be successfully completed to give the applicant a fair chance at approval. Satisfying all of the legal requirements without legal guidance is extremely difficult and can lead to an application being delayed or denied. The attorneys of Kriezelman Burton & Associates, LLC know exactly what is necessary to obtain a family immigrant visa and will work with you to build the best possible application for consideration. Contact the Hobart family immigration firm to schedule an appointment.