Family Immigration
For more than 60 years PPID has helped clients with Immigration law challenges. We provide expert guidance to individuals seeking Green Cards, enabling them to establish lawful permanent residence in the United States.
Our attorneys provide online and face-to-face legal consultations. Establishing a relationship and clearly understanding your needs is a critical first step toward success.
We speak Spanish, Chinese, Bulgarian, Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, and more. We go above and beyond to make sure that language is never a barrier between us and our clients.
Get answers to the most common Immigration law questions:
- How much does it cost to hire an Immigration Attorney in NYC?
- How can I get a Temporary Work Visa?
- Do I qualify for a Visa?
- How can a lawyer help me fight deportation?
- What are the grounds for deportation in New York?
- Can I seek Asylum in the United States?
- How can I sponsor a spouse, sibling or child?
PPID attorneys help you through the process of obtaining a U.S. Green Card and reuniting your family.
PPID’s immigration law practice is rooted in the principle of family reunification. Family immigration is one of the principal pathways through which individuals can immigrate to the United States. Keeping families together is important.
U.S. immigration law allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (green card holders) to sponsor certain family members for a visa that provides permanent residence (a green card). There are limits on the number of visas available in some categories, and the wait can be quite long in some cases.
Family-Sponsorship Categories:
Immediate Relatives: These are the closest family relations of U.S. citizens. There’s no yearly cap on visas for immediate relatives. They include:
- Spouses
- Unmarried children under 21
- Parents (if the sponsoring U.S. citizen is at least 21)
Preference Categories: Unlike immediate relative immigration, preference categories include the sponsored relative’s spouse and children under 21 years of age. However, yearly limits exist on the number of visas available in these categories. They include:
- F1: Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their minor children.
- F2: Spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (21 years of age and older) of lawful permanent residents.
- F3: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and minor children.
- F4: Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and minor children, provided the U.S. citizens are at least 21 years old.
Application Process: The process generally starts when the U.S. sponsor files a petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of the foreign family member. Once approved and if a visa is available, the sponsored relative and his or her spouse and minor children can apply to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR).
Waiting Periods: Some categories can expect to receive their green cards fairly quickly. For example, visas are always available for immediate relatives of US citizens and the wait depends only on how quickly the government reviews and processes these cases. However, other categories may have to wait for many years for a visa to become available in their category due to the annual caps on visas. Wait times vary based on the preference category and the sponsored individual’s country of birth.
Conditional Residence: In some cases, like when a foreign national marries a U.S. citizen and applies for permanent residence within 2 years of the date of marriage, the green card is conditional. The couple must then file a joint petition to remove those conditions before the two-year anniversary of the foreign national’s date of receiving the conditional status.
Impact on Naturalization: Having a U.S. family member can sometimes simplify the naturalization process. For instance, the typical requirement for becoming a U.S. citizen is five years of permanent residency. However, spouses of U.S. citizens can apply after only three years of residency if they meet all other eligibility requirements.
We can help you with Waivers, Adjustment of Status and Cancelation/Deportation.
You may have a successful career, a loving family and a happy life in the United States — and all of these are threatened if the government forces you to leave and return to a country you barely recognize. PPID Immigration and Deportation attorneys focus on protecting your ability to remain in the U.S. We have in-depth knowledge of deportation laws and use our experience to help keep your family together in the United States. Whether you’ve been targeted for removal due to an arrest, an alleged problem with documentation or some other issue, we advocate for you, counter unsupported charges and fight actions that threaten your American dream.
Waivers — If you can demonstrate that deporting you or your spouse would cause an extreme or unusual hardship for your family, you may be able to get a waiver of deportation depending on your status and the number of years you’ve spent in the United States. In these matters, the burden of proof is on the individual seeking a waiver, so it is important to act quickly and get help from an attorney who can prepare the strongest possible case on your behalf.
Adjustments of Status — Though you might have been admitted to the country on a temporary basis, the work you’ve done and the relationships that you’ve built here could justify a change under United States Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations. It is possible to adjust your immigration status based on your relationship with a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who holds a work visa. Your employer also may sponsor you.
Cancellations — A deportation order may be canceled if you can prove that you have been in the United States for more than 10 years, that you are of good moral character, and that your deportation would cause an “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to a spouse or child who is a citizen or legal resident.
Once you receive the Notice to Appear for a removal action, the clock starts ticking. PPID has more than six decades of experience handling all types of immigration, visa and naturalization issues. We’ll represent you in the master calendar hearing, develop a sound defense strategy for the merits hearing and make every effort to help you stay in the United States.
