Two groups of family-based immigrant visa categories, immediate relatives and family preference, are provided under the provisions of U.S. immigration law, specifically the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). You may wish to review our Directory of Visa Categories on usvisas.state.gov to learn more about these two categories of immigrant visas, as well as other types of immigrant visas to the United States, including our Diversity Visa Program.
To apply for an immediate relative or family preference immigrant visa, follow the steps on the Immigrant Visa Process on usvisas.state.gov. Once you have completed those steps, review the instructions given to you by the National Visa Center (NVC), along with the information presented on this website, for further guidance and instructions.
A foreign citizen must be sponsored by a U.S. citizen relative(s), U.S. lawful permanent resident, and be the beneficiary of an approved petition. A first step in the process is the sponsor filing a Form I-130, Immediate Relative Immigrant Visa Petition, for you as:
- An immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, this includes spouses, unmarried children under the age of 21, and parents of U.S. citizen petitioners 21 or older
- As orphan adopted by a U.S. citizen adoptive parent, while the child was adopted under 16 years old, and met orphan definition under INA
- a family member of a U.S. citizen fitting into a preference category, this includes unmarried sons or daughters over the age of 21, married children of any age, and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizen petitioners 21 or older
- a family member of a green card holder, this includes spouses and unmarried children of the sponsoring green card holder
Filing Fee is by check or money order that can be drawn on a bank or other financial institution located in the United States and it must be payable in U.S. currency. The check or money order should be made payable to U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For people residing abroad, they may see if there is a bank available locally that can write a cashier’s check/money order meeting these requirements. For additional questions or technical help with paying your fee, please call the USCIS Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.
Your immigrant petition must be approved by USCIS before you can begin the immigrant visa application process. Once you have completed the required steps, review the instructions given to you by the National Visa Center (NVC), along with the information presented on this website, for further guidance and instructions.
Note: There is no USCIS office at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
