Reuniting your family in the USA is possible.
The family petition is the first step for a citizen or permanent resident to request residency for a relative. We help you prepare the documentation with the sensitivity and professionalism this dream deserves.
Every family is different and every case has its particulars. We review your situation calmly, explain which documents you need, and prepare a complete file that clearly demonstrates the family relationship.
The family petition is the process through which a U.S. citizen or permanent resident requests residency for a relative. It is filed with USCIS on Form I-130 and serves a single purpose: to prove that the relationship exists and that it is one the law recognizes.
It is worth being clear from the start: an approved I-130 does not grant status on its own. It is not a green card, it does not authorize work, and it does not protect against removal. It is the foundation on which residency is later built, through one of the two paths explained below.
It depends on your own status. The law distinguishes between what a citizen can request and what a permanent resident can request.
You can petition for your spouse; your children, single or married and of any age; your parents, if you are 21 or older; and your brothers and sisters, also if you are 21 or older.
You can petition for your spouse and your unmarried children of any age. A resident cannot petition for parents, siblings, or married children: for that, they first need to become a citizen.
This distinction weighs most on the waiting time. Immediate relatives of a citizen —spouse, unmarried children under 21, and parents of a citizen over 21— have no annual visa limit: as soon as the petition is approved, the case can move forward.
All other relatives fall into the preference categories, which do have a limited number of visas each year.
F1: unmarried sons and daughters of a citizen, 21 or older. F2A: spouses and unmarried children under 21 of a permanent resident. F2B: unmarried sons and daughters of a resident, 21 or older. F3: married sons and daughters of a citizen. F4: brothers and sisters of a citizen over 21.
The date USCIS receives your I-130 becomes your relative’s priority date: their place in line. Every month the Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin, which shows how far each category has advanced by country of birth. When the priority date falls within that cutoff, a visa is available and the case moves to the next stage.
When you petition for your spouse, the I-130 is accompanied by Form I-130A, with the biographical information of the person you are petitioning for. And here the focus shifts: it is not enough to prove that the marriage exists, you have to prove that it is real, that is, entered into in good faith and not just to obtain an immigration benefit.
That proof is built from a shared life: a lease or deed in both names, joint bank accounts, insurance policies naming one spouse as the other’s beneficiary, tax returns, photographs from different moments with family and friends, and birth certificates of children in common, if any.
In any petition, the file rests on two kinds of proof. First, your status as petitioner: U.S. passport, naturalization certificate, or green card. Second, the relationship with your relative: for a child, their birth certificate listing you as parent; for your parents, your own birth certificate; for a sibling, both birth certificates showing at least one parent in common.
Documents not in English need a certified translation. If there were previous marriages, the divorce decrees or death certificates showing they ended are also submitted. An unexplained name change or a date that does not match between documents is exactly what triggers questions.
With the I-130 approved and a visa available, the case follows one of two paths. If your relative is inside the United States and meets the requirements, they can obtain residency without leaving the country through adjustment of status (Form I-485). If they are abroad, the case moves to the National Visa Center and ends with an interview at the embassy or consulate: that is the consular process.
When your relative is an immediate relative, is in the country, and entered with inspection, the I-130 and the I-485 can often be filed together in a single package. In the preference categories, that is only possible once the priority date is current.
Petitioning for a relative in a category that no longer applies —for example, forgetting that a child married or turned 21— changes the line they wait in. Submitting certificates without a certified translation, or with incomplete translations. Leaving boxes blank or signatures missing: USCIS returns the package and the priority date is not set.
In marriage-based petitions, submitting little evidence of a shared life, or evidence concentrated only in the weeks before filing. And not reporting a change of address to USCIS: requests for evidence have deadlines, and a letter sent to an old address can cost the case.
We start with an appointment where we review who is petitioning for whom, which category your relative falls into, where they are, and what documents you both have. If the petition does not apply, we tell you at that first appointment. If it does, you receive a written quote before paying anything.
In the United States we prepare the documentation: we transcribe the forms, organize the evidence of the relationship in the order the agency expects to see it, check signatures and translations, and submit the file at your direction. We have attorneys licensed in Colombia, and service is available in Spanish and English, online or in person.
Tell us about your case and we will explain clearly how to move forward. If it does not qualify, we tell you at the first appointment.
Juliana Gómez Altamirano · Attorney licensed in Colombia