Brothers and Sisters are eligible to apply for permanent resident status which
belongs to the category of F-4--family fourth preference. This category is
assigned a numerical limitation. What’s more, the spouse and minor children of
the beneficiary can immigrate with him or her together without filing a separate
petition.
1. Qualification
(1). Petitioner
① US Citizens
② Have sufficient financial ability to support the intending immigrant siblings
③ Be qualified as a sibling of the beneficiary.
(2). Beneficiary
A Sibling is a brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or adopted brother or
sister. For the necessary sibling relationship to exist, each person must have
been a child of at least one of the same parents. The siblings need not share
the same biological parents as long as both became children at the appropriate
time. (before 16 in cases of adoption, and before the age of 18 for
stepchildren)
2. General Case Procedure
First, file I-130 form along with other supporting documents to the USCIS. After
that, the petitioner will receive I-797 approval notice and the USCIS will
transfer the case to NVC (National Visa Center). For categories like F-4 which
need to wait for quotas, NVC sends out Visa fee payment bill when the
petitioner's priority date is close to becoming current . After the payment, NVC
will send out package 3.
Then, finish package 3 and send it back to NVC. NVC will transfer the case to US
consulate appointed after background-check (If pass it, package 4 will be send
to you). Around this time, the beneficiary needs to get medical examination and
be prepared for the consulate interview.
Finally, if the interview goes well, the beneficiary will be approved to have
his or her immigrant visa.
3. Filing Material
Application Letter
I-130 Form
Filing Fee
Supporting documents: for primary documents, the petitioner has to provide
certificate of Citizenship or Naturalization, birth certificate, FS-240(report
of birth abroad of a US citizen); for secondary documents, school records,
baptismal certificate and so on.