U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) can petition for their foreign national relatives to become lawful permanent residents. U.S. Citizens can petition for their spouses, children under 21, their adult sons and daughters—whether married or unmarried—their parents, and siblings. LPRs can petition for their spouses, children under 21, and unmarried adult sons and daughters over 21. The first step in a family-based immigration petition involves establishing one of these qualifying relationships.
The second step involves applying for an immigrant visa or adjusting status to permanent residency. Certain relatives qualify as “immediate relatives,” meaning they are not required to wait for a visa to become available. These individuals can combine steps one and two, applying for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa simultaneously while establishing their qualifying relationship. Other relatives must wait for a visa to become available before completing the process to become LPRs, which requires a separate application for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status when a visa becomes available in their category.
Learn more about family-based immigration here.
Delgado Rompf Bruen LLC will evaluate your eligibility and assist you in gathering the necessary documents to prove your qualifying relationship and meet all other requirements for permanent residency. We will also help you determine if the K visa process, consular processing, or adjustment of status is the best option for your case. Our attorneys will evaluate your history to determine if you require a waiver of inadmissibility to apply for permanent residency. If you do, we will assist in determining your eligibility for a waiver and, if eligible, work with you to prepare your application.
The most important documents for the family-based immigration process establish the qualifying family relationship. Birth and marriage certificates often provide the best evidence for parent-child and sibling relationships. Certain parent-child relationships may also require additional documentation, such as adoption certificates, legal guardianship decrees, and evidence of financial support.
Spousal relationships require more than just a marriage certificate. These relationships are frequently scrutinized to ensure the marriage was not entered into solely for immigration benefits. Therefore, documents demonstrating the bona fide nature of the marriage, such as mortgage statements, rental agreements, and evidence of joint finances, are needed.
A list of documents that can be used to support a bona fide relationship can be found here.
Inadmissibility waivers also require substantial documentation. Delgado Rompf Bruen can assist clients in drafting affidavits and gathering documents to establish extreme hardship and other elements. A list of potential documents that can be used to support a waiver of inadmissibility application can be found here.
If you are interested in petitioning for a family member, Delgado Rompf Bruen is available for consultation. You can learn more about scheduling a consultation here.
I went through my Green Card and Citizenship applications with Elizabeth Rompf and every step of the way was fantastic. Incredibly professional, prompt, clear, and very attentive to details. I cannot recommend them enough! They're my absolute top pick for any immigration recommendations!
DRB helped us with securing a work visa for one of our staff members, communicated well, and helped explain the process.
I am full of gratitude while writing this review for Delgado Rompf Bruen Law. Thank you so much Marta for handling my case so beautifully. It has been only your diligence and professionalism in the work which guided my case to success. I am very fortunate to have you as an attorney. With other attorneys I've experienced ones who only took my money and promised to help me or never called me back. You're helping a lot of people with your honesty and great quality of work. I can't thank you enough. Yay, I am an American Citizen!
Elizabeth and her legal team were extremely helpful in my husband's green card case. They had us so prepared that the interview was a piece of cake. We didn't have a single issue. They were quick to reply to any questions we had and were very honest with us about any possible issues we could have. I would highly recommend her and her team.
I began working with Martha after a decade of having my immigration process handled by attorneys that worked for my employers and everything changed immediately. Martha was invested in my personal story and circumstances and took all the time I needed to talk me through the options and process. She was consistently professional, knowledgable, and compassionate. She even leveraged her network to get specific information about my interview site in the Bay Area which was invaluable the day of my naturalization interview. She's the BEST.
I've struggle for over 10 years to get my Permanent Resident status and have been represented by 4 immigration lawyers over that period. The last one I hired and who was able to resolve my immigration case is Elizabeth Rompf Bruen. The contrast of how she handled my case and the other 3 lawyers was obvious from the beginning. She was always available when I wanted to talk to her and provided the updates in my case as soon as she had one. I also noticed a different level of knowledge and expertise in comparison to the other 3 lawyers....
Marta was the most professional, accurate and caring lawyer I’ve encountered in the 6 years I’ve been living in the US, her work ethics are unmatched and without doubt was the best decision for my process. I recommend her to anyone that needs help, you will feel listened and she is incredible when it comes to explaining this procedures in a simple and straight forward manner. She will be my first option again when the time comes in the future.
Elizabeth has been my immigration attorney on multiple cases. She handled my 3 different cases over past 7 years including the recent immigration case that got approval last month. Whenever I need attorney help, the only person I reach out to is Elizabeth. She is knowledgeable and very professional in handling any case. Elizabeth always kept me informed about the status of my case. She is very responsive to my emails and phone calls. I highly recommend Elizabeth.
Elizabeth helped me file, process and ultimately successfully complete my Naturalization "journey" to become an American citizen. There were bumps on the road as the process is time-consuming, confusing (to me) and frequently frustrating... But Elizabeth (and her staff) were always responsive, clear, knowledgeable and reliable. I am today an American citizen and I would recommend her services to anyone anytime. She is great!
We contacted Martha after reaching out 3 immigration lawyers and having terrible experiences. When it comes to immigration issues it is easy to play with peoples’ hopes, Martha was fresh air. Since the first call, Martha was straightforward and realistic, she thoroughly explained the rules that applied, most common/possible outcomes in my case, time frames and the requirements I had to meet. She didn’t oversimplify things nor came up with patchwork solution (considering my level of anxiety at that time), she came up with long term solutions that would take up some time but also were attainable. Together we set...
