Understanding the Various Family-Based Immigration Green Card Categories

This immigration law guide provides a brief outline of the immigration process involved in family based immigration preference categories and is useful in determining in what category a family member would qualify and what that means. This discussion is aimed at explaining the family based immigration categories and does not discuss green card eligibility requirements.

What is a Preference Category?

When preparing a family based immigrantion (green card) petition for a family member there are various categories in which the family member may fall. The importance in understanding the preference categories arises out of the fact that depending on the category in which a family member is classified, if they qualify at all, the processing times may vary greatly. The processing times vary greatly as there limited visa numbers available to each classification. Accordingly, the specific visa categories get back logged and thus processing times are affected. Please see Step 7 discussing what a priority date is and where to find the current family based priority dates. Before turning to the various preference categories it is important to note that there is an "Immediate Relative" category which is not subject to any numerical limit.

Immediate Relatives

Before turning to the various preference categories it is important to note that there is an "Immediate Relative" category which is not subject to any numerical limit. To qualify for this category one must be the child, spouse or parent of the U.S. Citizen who is filing the petition on your behalf. Per the regulations, a child must be under the age of 21 and unmarried at the time the petition is filed. Further, in order to apply for a parent, the petitioning U.S. citizen must be the son or daughter of the beneficiary, and must be at least 21 years of age.

First Preference Category

This preference is made for the unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens

Second Preference Category

This category is broken down into two parts. Part 2A is for the unmarried children and spouses of a legal permanent residents. Part 2B is for the unmarried sons and daughters of legal permanent residents.

Third Preference Category

This category exists for married sons and daughter of U.S. citizens.

Fourth Preference Category

The fourth preference category includes brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.
What is a Priority Date and how do I check the current dates?
The priority dates can be found at the Department of State website. A priority date is a date based on the filing date of the form I-130, which is the first form that must be submitted in a family based immigrant petition for a family member in any of the preference categories discussed above. This priority date is very important as you use this date to track when there are visa numbers (green cards) available for your family member, and accordingly indicates when the I-485 petition may be filed. The dates in the visa bulletin, associated with each preference category, indicate that cases with those priority dates have visas currently available.

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Immediate Relative: Green card petitions filed for the spouse, child (unmarried and under 21 years of age), and parents of a U.S. Citizen.

Preference Category: This green card category is reserved for the following family members: (1) Unmarried son or daughter (age 21 and over) of a U.S. Citizen parent; (2A) Spouses or unmarried children (under 21 years of age) of a legal permanent resident; (2B) Unmarried sons or daughters age 21 and over of a legal permanent resident; (3) Married sons and daughters of a U.S. Citizen; and (4) Brothers and sisters of U.S. Citizens where the citizen is at least 21 years of age.