Lawful Permanent Residents
If you are a lawful permanent resident applying to bring an unmarried, minor child or an unmarried son or daughter to the United States to live and you are the mother of the child, you must file the following with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
A copy of your alien registration card
A copy of the child’s birth certificate showing your name and the child’s name
If anyone’s name has been legally changed (if it differs from the name on his or her birth certificate), evidence of the name change must be submitted.
Beneficiaries Who Wish to Bring Children
How do I bring my children to the U.S. if I am the beneficiary of the petition?
If your U.S. citizen parent, brother or sister is petitioning for you on Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and you are married, your spouse and/or children do not require a separate visa petition. If you are unmarried and 21 years of age or older, your children do not require a separate visa petition. In both cases, your spouse and/or children will be included in the visa petition your immediate relative is filing for you. If you are unmarried and under 21 years of age, you will need to file a petition for your children once you obtain lawful permanent resident status. See Following-to-Join Benefits.
Following-to-Join Benefits
Please note: This section is only applicable to lawful permanent residents who did not gain their LPR status as the immediate relative of a U.S. citizen.
If you had children before you became a lawful permanent resident, and your children did not physically accompany you to the United States, and you would now like your children to join you in the United States, your children may be eligible for following-to-join benefits. This means that you do not have to submit a separate Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for your children, and your children will not have to wait any extra time for a visa number to become available. In this case, you can simply notify a U.S. consulate that you are a lawful permanent resident so that your children can apply for immigrant visas. If, however, you immigrated to the U.S. as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen who did not or could not petition for your children, you will need to file a separate I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. In this case, see How Do I Bring My Child, Son or Daughter to Live in the U.S.?
Your children may be eligible for following-to-join benefits if:
You immigrated on the basis of a fiancй(e) petition
You immigrated on the basis of a diversity immigrant application
You immigrated on the basis of an employment-based petition
You immigrated on the basis of a petition filed by your brother or sister
You immigrated on the basis of an immigrant petition filed by your U.S. citizen parent(s) when you were married or when you were unmarried and over 21 years of age
You immigrated on the basis of your relationship with your lawful permanent resident parents when you were unmarried
Also, for your child to be eligible for following-to-join benefits, he or she must:
Be unmarried and
Be under 21 years of age and
Have been a child from a marriage of yours (the marriage must have existed at the time of your admission to the U.S.) or
Have been a stepchild from a marriage of yours (the marriage must have existed at the time of your admission to the U.S.) or
Have been legally adopted prior to your admission to the U.S., and otherwise qualify as an adopted child under the immigration law.
