1. Live in the United States.

Your parents will be able to live legally in the United States.

2. Work in the United States.

Your mother or father will be able to legally work in the USA.

3. Social Security Number

Your parent(s) will be able to receive Social Security Number(s).

4. Driver’s License

Your parent(s) will be eligible to apply for a State Driver’s License.

5. Eligibility to Apply for US Citizenship

One of the major benefits a Green Card offers is that a Green Card opens the door to apply for US Citizenship. After being a Green Card holder for 5 years, your mother and father may apply for US Citizenship.

6. Parent can apply for a Green Card for other family members

Once your parent(s) has a Green Card, your parent(s) may apply for a Green Card for his/her spouse and any other child of your parent.

There is one main requirement when a US Citizen applies for a Green Card for his/her foreign parent:

The US Citizen must prove that his/her parent is actually his/her parent. This is normally proven with the birth certificate of the US Citizen son/daughter who is applying for the foreign parent’s Green Card.

There are two different ways to apply for a foreign parent’s Green Card. Option #1 is used when the foreign parent already lives in the US. Option #2 is used when the foreign parent lives outside the US.

Option #1

When the foreign parent already lives in the USA, the Green Card application process is done entirely inside the USA. The legal name for this process is Adjustment of Status.

The Green Card process for a foreign parent that currently lives in the United States is as follows:

Step 1: Document Checklist

Once you hire our law firm, our immigration attorney will provide you with a detailed checklist of the documents needed to prepare your parent’s Green Card application. This checklist is the most important part of the application because it lays out exactly what will be needed to apply for the Green Card.

Step 2: Prepare Green Card Application

Once you and your parent have provided our office with the required documents, the Immigration Lawyer will prepare and submit the Green Card application to the US Government (USCIS).

Step 3: Work and Travel Permit

Once your parent’s Green Card application has been submitted, your parent may be eligible to receive a work and travel permit. With this permit, your parent can receive a Social Security Number and work legally in the US while the Green Card application is pending. After the work and travel permit is issued, then we wait for USCIS to schedule the parent’s Green Card interview.

Step 4: Green Card Interview for Parent

The last step of the process is the parent’s Green Card interview. USCIS will interview the foreign parent and the US Citizen son/daughter who is petitioning for the Green Card. The purpose of this interview is for a US Government Officer to review the Green Card application and to confirm that the parent is really the parent of the US Citizen son/daughter. This interview is done inside the USA at a US Government (USCIS) office. Prior to your appointment, the Immigration Lawyer will prepare you and your foreign parent for the Green Card interview. From time to time, the interview requirement is waived and no interview is required.

Option 2

When the foreign parent lives outside the USA, the Green Card process includes 2 separate applications. Application #1 is filed inside the USA. Application #2 is filed outside the USA, at the US Embassy in the country where the foreign spouse lives. The legal name for this process is Consular Processing.

The Green Card application process when the foreign parent lives outside the USA is as follows:

Step 1: Document Checklist

Once you hire our law firm, our immigration lawyer will provide you with a very specific checklist of the documents needed to prepare the parent’s Green Card application.

Step 2: Prepare and Submit Application # 1

Once you and your parent have provided our office with the required documents, the lawyer will prepare and submit Application #1. Then we wait for an approval of Application #1 before moving forward.

Step 3: Prepare and Submit Application #2

Once Application #1 is approved, we start Application #2. Our immigration lawyer will prepare and submit Application #2 to the National Visa Center (US Embassy). Then we wait for the US Embassy to schedule an interview appointment for the foreign parent. This interview will be held at the US Embassy in the country where the foreign parent lives. The US Citizen son/daughter is not required to attend the interview at the US Embassy.

Step 4: Green Card Interview at US Embassy

Application #2 ends with a Green Card interview for the foreign parent. The purpose of this interview is for a US Government Officer to determine that the application is complete and to confirm that the foreign parent and the US Citizen parent are really related. This interview is done at the US Embassy, outside the USA, in the country where the foreign parent lives. Prior to this interview, our immigration attorney will schedule an appointment to prepare the foreign parent for the Green Card interview.