Policy for U.S. citizens sponsoring parents for U.S. immigrant green cards:
Under U.S. immigration law, spouses and unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens, as well as parents of U.S. citizens who are at least 21 years old, are classified as "Immediate Relatives." Immigration for immediate relatives is not subject to numerical quotas. Once the immigration application is approved, they may adjust their status within the United States or enter the U.S. via a visa from abroad.
Process for U.S. citizens sponsoring parents for U.S. immigrant green cards:
If the parents are already in the United States and entered with a valid non-immigrant status (excluding A, G, C, Visa Waiver, or J status with a two-year home-country physical presence requirement that has not yet been waived), they may apply for adjustment of status directly within the U.S. In this case, the "two-in-one" I-130/I-485 application procedure should be used to file with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox. The Chicago center is responsible for receiving the application and scheduling biometrics. A certain number of applications are approved at the center without an interview. If the center cannot approve the case, it will be transferred to the local USCIS office for processing, where an interview will be required before approval.
Regarding the question of whether parents need to maintain their non-immigrant status: The law does not require parents to have valid status at the exact moment of filing the I-485, only that they entered the U.S. legally. Once the I-485 is filed, their status becomes legal (authorized stay pending I-485 processing). During this period, they may apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), etc. However, there is a specific regulation regarding whether an I-485 applicant can apply for an "Advance Parole Travel Document": If the applicant has been out of status for more than 6 months at the time of filing the I-485, most USCIS offices will not approve Advance Parole. Some individual offices may still approve it, but they will warn the applicant that even with an "Advance Parole" document, there is still a possibility of being denied re-entry into the U.S., as being out of status for more than 6 months triggers a three-year bar on re-entry (being out of status for more than 12 months triggers a 10-year bar). Therefore, in your specific case, if your parents wish to visit China while waiting for the I-130/I-485, you should organize the documents as soon as possible and strive to file before their B-2 status expires, or at the very least, before they have been out of status for 6 months. If they do not wish to travel, this issue does not need to be considered.
Important notes for U.S. citizens sponsoring parents for U.S. immigrant green cards:
File the I-130/I-485 at least 60 days after the parents' entry; otherwise, there may be issues regarding immigrant intent, which could lead to the denial of the I-485 application.
The following forms and documents are required for the application (please remember that there are no derivative beneficiaries for immediate relatives, so you must file two separate applications: one for your father and one for your mother).
Application materials for U.S. citizens sponsoring parents for U.S. immigrant green cards:
1. I-130 and a $355 filing fee;
2. A copy of your Certificate of Citizenship (or "Citizenship Paper"); for immigration application purposes, the Certificate of Citizenship may be photocopied;
3. Your birth notarial certificate (In China and Taiwan, the government does not issue a birth certificate similar to those issued by U.S. state governments. A complete birth certificate should contain basic information such as the infant's name, date and place of birth, and parents' names. Due to the lack of such birth certificates, the current practice in China is to obtain a "Birth Notarial Certificate" for the citizen. This birth notarial certificate is generally accepted by USCIS and consulates and can serve as an applicant's original birth certificate, though it is not strictly required. The true original birth certificate is the Household Register (Hukou). The Chinese Hukou is issued and maintained by the Public Security Bureau system. The Hukou lists the head of the household, and other family members are listed based on their relationship to the head of the household. From a legal perspective, the Hukou is not scientifically rigorous because it does not provide information on who a person's biological parents are. For example, if Zhang Lin is the head of the household and Wang Ping is the wife of the head of the household, when you reach Zhang Hong's page, it says "eldest daughter of the head of the household." This proves that Zhang Lin is Zhang Hong's father and Wang Ping is Zhang Lin's wife, but it does not necessarily mean that Wang Ping is Zhang Hong's biological mother. After Zhang Hong marries Dong Qiang, they establish a new Hukou, and Zhang Hong is removed from the Zhang Lin family Hukou. This makes it even more impossible to know who Zhang Hong's biological parents are. Therefore, you must have a birth notarial certificate to truly prove that your parents are your biological parents. In China, to apply for a birth certificate, you must hold your Hukou and a certificate from your employer or the neighborhood committee.)
4. I-485/G-325A, with a $1,010 filing fee. This fee includes the costs for adjustment of status, employment authorization card, advance parole, and biometrics. Even if you do not apply for the latter three, the filing fee remains $1,010. If your parents are over 79 years old, they do not need to provide biometrics.
5. Father's or mother's birth certificate and marriage certificate. Since many parents are over 70 years old and did not obtain birth or marriage notarial certificates before coming to the U.S., these two items can be very difficult to produce. Please see Question #34 for detailed procedures. (If a naturalized Chinese citizen intends to apply for a green card for elderly parents, they must first resolve the issue of their birth and marriage notarial certificates.)
6. Proof of the father's or mother's legal entry (This can be an I-94 card, a visa stamp, or an entry stamp in the passport. Note that applying for a green card is independent of whether the passport is valid.)
7. I-864 or I-864 and I-864A, along with all financial documents required by the forms. These documents include the sponsor's employment verification letter, the three most recent pay stubs, the most recent year's W-2 and 1040 tax returns, and the most recent bank deposit statements. (If the annual salary on the W-2 is higher than the legal standard, you do not need to attach bank deposit statements.)
8. Your parents must undergo a "medical examination," and the results must be obtained before the application can be mailed;
9. Once the application is submitted to the immigration center, a receipt will be issued after a preliminary review. If documents are missing or do not meet legal standards, the Chicago center will not return the entire application but will issue a Request for Evidence (RFE). If the requested documents are not submitted, the consequence is that the employment authorization card and advance parole cannot be processed or approved. The supplementary documents must be mailed directly to the Chicago center. One or two months later, the Chicago center will mail a notice for biometrics. Finally, the interview notice will be mailed from the Chicago center. After receiving the interview notice, you must prepare for the interview. The law does not require you to attend, but it is best to do so. Your parents must attend.
Such an interview can be considered the simplest and easiest of all immigration interviews. If you are truly too busy to attend, or if you are not in the city where your parents reside, you should provide your phone number to USCIS, and they may call you to verify that you are still alive.
The above is the complete content of the detailed guide to the process of U.S. citizens sponsoring parents for U.S. immigrant green cards. If you have more questions regarding U.S. investment immigration, you can consult the customer service on the Worldway Immigration official website.
