I-130 FAQ Page
What is an I-130 petition??
An I-130 petition is an immediate relative petition that will allow immediate
relatives of US citizens or permanent residents to immigrate into the US
Who may file an I-130 petition??
Any United Stated citizen or permanent resident may file an I-130 petition.
Who can a U.S citizen/permanent resident file an I-130
petition for?
A U.S citizen may file an I-130 petition for his/her spouse, parents,
brothers/sisters, or children. A US permanent resident may file an I-130
petition for his/her spouse or children.
How many I-130 petitions may I file??
You may file one I-130 petition for each relative you intend to immigrate. This includes the children of immigrating
relatives. You may sponsor as many
relatives as you wish, as long as you can meet the I-864 financial requirements
to do so.
Where can I find the I-130 petition??
You can find the I-130 petition at any local INS office, or it may be
downloaded, or sent to you directly from here.
(You should also obtain the 2 G-325a biographical sheets from here as well. You
will need these to file your petition)
How long does the I-130 petition process take, and how
long will it be until my relative can come to the U.S??
The time frame varies, mostly depending upon if you are a citizen, and who you
are filing for. Spouses of US citizens will usually get their greencard in 6-12
months, while spouses of permanent residents may have to wait years. More
information on priority dates can be found here.
INS processing times can be found here.
And US embassy and consulates can be found here.
I want to marry my fiancé/fiancée who is here in the
US on a visa, can I marry him/her here in the U.S, and if I do, will he/she be
sent back to his/her home country until the I-130 is approved??
If your fiancé/fiancée is currently in the U.S legally on any type of visa
other than the J-1 visa (the J-1 requires a waiver by the USIA), and you are a
U.S citizen, then you CAN marry him/her, and he/she will NOT be sent back to
his/her home country unless the marriage took place while the spouse was under
deportation or if your fiancé/fiancée came to the US on a tourist visa with
the intent of immigration and marriage. (This is considered
immigration fraud.)
However, you must immediately file your I-130 along with forms I-485 and I-765 at a local INS district office. If your fiancé/fiancée DID come to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, and you are not yet married, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the K-1 visa should be filed instead of the I-130 to avoid a denial or deportation.
If you are already married, and your spouse came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the I-130 should be filed with the relative outside of the U.S to avoid deportation or denial. (Better safe than sorry)
My fiancé/fiancée came to the U.S on a tourist visa
and we intended to get married and for him/her to immigrate, he/she later
returned to his/her home country, and we are filing the I-130 outside of the
U.S., Does this mean our petition will be denied, and is what we did illegal??
No. It is perfectly o.k. to marry in the US on a tourist visa with the
intent to immigrate, as long as the intending immigrant returns to his/her home
country to file the I-130, and does not try to adjust his/her status and remain
in the US during the I-130 process, as that is illegal.
How much does the I-130 petition cost?
The form itself is free, but you must send a $110 dollar US money order or check
made
out to the "Immigration and Naturalization Services" when you file the
form.
May I file a I-130 petition while out of the country??
Yes. If you reside outside of the US, it may be possible for you to file the
I-130 petition through the nearest American consulate or embassy. Often
this is quicker than returning to the US and filing through the Service Centers.
List of Countries who allow Direct Consular Filing can be found here.
What is an affidavit of support...and do I need one??
The affidavit of support is a legally binding contract, that promises the
US government that the intending immigrant will not be a financial burden, and
will not collect welfare or public benefits until either he/she becomes a US
citizen, dies, abandons permanent residency status, or can be contributed with
40 quarters of work. (roughly ten years) All immigrants immigrating via the
I-130 petition must have an Affidavit of Support filed on behalf of them from
the U.S citizen or permanent resident who filed the I-130 petition for them.
Do I file the I-134 Affidavit of Support, or the I-864 Affidavit of
support for the I-130 petition??
You need to file the I-864 Affidavit Of Support. More information can be
found here.
On the Affidavit of Support Fact sheet, it says that I have to be residing
in the U.S to sponsor my relative. Is there any exception to this rule?
Yes, but the exceptions do not apply to most people. You should probably
check with the INS to see if you are one of the exceptions, but for people who
do not qualify for the exceptions, there is no time limit set for you to
re-establish your US residency. Basically, simply going back to the United
States, staying a couple of weeks, and opening up a bank account, leasing/buying
an apartment or house, or getting a job re-establishes your residency in the
U.S, making it possible to sponsor your relative.
I have heard that a K-1 visa is faster. What is a K-1 visa? And can I get
a K-1 instead of the I-130?
A K-1 visa is a fiancé/fiancée visa that enables U.S citizens to bring over
their fiancé/fiancée's for marriage. If you are not already married, and are
simply looking into both processes, I DO recommend the K-1 visa, as they are
generally processed faster. If, however, you are already married, you CANNOT
file for the K-1 visa, as it is reserved to fiancé/fiancée of US citizens only.
For more information on K-1 visas, the K-1 FAQ can be found here.
My fiancé/fiancée and I desperately want to be together. Can my
fiancé/fiancée come to the U.S on a tourist visa, and we get married and file the I-130 here to
avoid a lengthy separation??
No. For your Fiancé/fiancée to come to the U.S on a tourist visa or I-94
with the intent of immigration and marriage, is immigration fraud, and could
result in your fiancé/fiancée being banned from the U.S for 10 years. A K-1
visa(I-129f) should be filed in this case.
How often is the I-130 petition denied??
Not very often, but nonetheless, it happens.
What are grounds for the INS to deny an I-130 petition??
There are several grounds for which the INS can deny your petition. Not
being honest with them, or insufficient proof of citizenship, criminal record or
US residency
are the most common, however, as earlier said, a denial is rare.
What happens if I later discover that I forgot some of the forms needed to
go with the I-130 petition...will I be denied??
No, in most cases the INS office or service center that you filed with will
send you a form requesting additional information.
What happens if my I-130 petition is denied?? Can I appeal??
Yes, you can appeal, but how to do this is a mystery to me. If for some
reason your I-130 petition is denied, then I highly recommend seeing an
immigration lawyer.
O.k. so my petition has been approved...now what??
If your relative is in the U.S, and you are also filing for adjustment of
status, then please look here.
If your relative is outside of the U.S, please look here.
So now that my petition has been approved, does that mean that my relative
is a permanent resident??
No. An approval of an I-130 petition only means that your relative can file
for an immigrant visa, or Adjustment of Status, and does not give your relative
any rights until the INS or a consulate officer interviews your relative and
makes a decision on whether or not your relative can become a lawful permanent
resident.
Does everyone filing the I-130 petition have to have an interview??
Yes. Everyone who files the I-130 and is approved, will eventually at some
time or another have an interview with either a consulate officer or INS officer
before he/she can receive a greencard.
Who needs to be present at the interview??
If your relative is outside if the US, then only the intending immigrant
needs to be present. If your relative is inside the US, then BOTH of you have
to be present for the interview.
If my relative is approved at the interview, will he/she receive his/her
greencard that day??
No. If your relative is in the US, he/she will receive a stamp in his/her
passport until he/she receives the greencard later by mail, and if your relative
is outside the US, he/she will be issued an immigrant visa that will handed
over to a customs officer at his/her port of entry, and will be issued a stamp
in his/her passport until he/she receives the greencard by mail.
My relative is outside of the US, and will be issued the immigrant visa,
how long is an immigrant visa good for??
The immigrant visa is good for only 6 months, and your relative will have to
immigrate to the U.S before the 6 month period is up, or he/she will lose
his/her visa, and will have to start ALL over again!
O.k., I heard somewhere about conditional permanent residency...what the
heck is it, and does it apply to me??
Due to immigration fraud, the INS gives ALL immigrants by marriage a
conditional permanent residency greencard unless the couple has been married for
over 2 years at the time of interview. The conditional permanent residency
greencard is valid for only 2 years from issuance (the day your passport is
stamped by customs or INS), and the couple must file then I-751
form to remove conditions 90 days before the 2 years is up, or the immigrant will lose his/her greencard.
For more information on Removal of Conditions go here.
What happens if a death or divorce occurs before the conditional status is
removed?? Will the immigrant be automatically deported??
No. Read the INS Rules on filing after a death or divorce
here.
I filed the I-130 petition for my spouse, and after he/she received
his/her greencard, I discovered that the marriage was for only immigration
reasons. Am I still financially bound to him/her through the I-864, and can I get
him/her deported??
Yes and no. If your spouse is still under conditional permanent residency
status, then you may have a shot at getting out of the I-864 financial responsibility, and could possibly get him/her deported if you can prove to the
INS that the marriage on the immigrants part was for immigration purposes only
and not for love as you had thought. (This is EXTREMELY hard to prove though) If
your spouse does not have conditional status, then you are out of luck my
friend. You are bound financially responsible until either your ex-spouse becomes
a citizen, dies, abandons their permanent residence, or can be contributed to 40
quarters of work. (roughly 10 years!!)
I keep hearing about a new K-3 visa for spouses of U.S citizens... What is
it, and can it help me??
To file for the K-3/K-4 visa you must already have
pending I-130. This visa is non-immigrant, like the K-1, but is usually
processed faster than the I-130. If you do have an I-130 pending, check out the
K-3 here.
Do you have any tips on speeding up the process??
There are a lot of things that you can do to speed up the process, and to
avoid any delays. I highly recommend that before you even attempt to file the
I-130 petition and embark on the immigration process, that you make several
copies of all legal documents (birth certificates, death certificates, etc)
and that you have all of your U.S tax returns and information readily available. Not
having enough copies of legal documents and tax and
medical records can slow the process down. It is better to have too many
copies of these documents, than to not have enough! Also, RESEARCH, RESEARCH,
RESEARCH!
A good resource for information is alt.visa.us.marriage-based newsgroup. You can find it by using your news reader such as Outlook or Netscape, or just click the link above and it will take you to Google's listing for the NG.
Also try to contact others who have used the INS office or service center that you plan on filing your petition with, and who have already had experience with the consulate or embassy abroad that your relative will be going through. It is always good to know as much as you possibly can about the immigration process, and to try and get the inside scoop on how these INS service centers or district offices operate. Each consulate and INS office or service center operates differently, and having that "inside edge" and knowledge can really help! Be prepared and try to cover all of your bases, and you shouldn't have any delays!