These types of immigrant visa petitions are for close family of U.S. citizens, including spouses, children, and parents. Only family members of United States citizens (not Legal Permanent Residents) can benefit from Immediate Relative Petitions. The U.S. Citizen Petitioner must file a separate I-130 Petition for each Beneficiary in the Immediate Relative classification, even if the Beneficiaries themselves are related by marriage or blood.

For immigration purposes, Immediate Relative classifications include:

• IR-1 Spouse of a U.S. Citizen
• IR-2 Unmarried Child Under 21 Years of Age of a U.S. Citizen
• IR-3 Orphan adopted abroad by a U.S. Citizen.
• IR-4 Orphan to be adopted in the United States by a U.S. citizen.
• IR-5 Parent of a U.S. Citizen who is at least 21 years old

A step-parent may file an Immediate Relative Petition on behalf of a step-child, and vice-versa, only if the marriage creating the step-parent relationship occurred before the child’s 18th birthday.

Conditional Status

Legal Permanent Resident status will be “conditional” if it is based on a marriage that was less than two years old on the day the applicant is conferred status as a Legal Permanent Resident. Such permanent resident status is conditional because the applicant must prove that he or she did not get married to evade the immigration laws of the United States.

Within 90 days before the second anniversary of the date the applicant obtained conditional resident status, the applicant must file a Form I-751 (Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence) with a USCIS Service Center. Failure to file will result in loss of resident status, and late filings are permitted only with sufficient explanation of the reason(s) for being late in filing.

Widows of U.S. Citizens

The widows or widowers of U.S. citizens may file a Form I-360 petition for themselves with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). To be eligible for an immigrant visa as the widow/widower of a U.S. citizen:

• The marriage must have existed more than two years prior to death and the couple cannot have been separated at the time of death.
• The petition must be filed within two years of the death of the U.S. citizen spouse.
• The widow or widower may not remarry prior to admission to the U.S. as a permanent resident.

Immigrants who lived in the United States previously as lawful permanent residents, who never abandoned their intention of returning to the U.S., and who are returning to live in the United States after a protracted visit of more than one year abroad, caused by reasons for which they are not responsible. Visit the Permanent Residents section for more information.

Only United States citizens (not Legal Permanent Residents) can file a petition for a fiancé(e) to travel to the United States. The I-129F Petition is the first of three steps necessary for a foreign citizen beneficiary to come to the U.S. for marriage and residence. The process for bringing your fiance with you to the United States begins with a petition made to a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office. The Embassy cannot accept this petition and does not have the power to expedite this process. All communication regarding the status of your I-129F petition must be made directly to USCIS.

• First, the I-129F must first be filed with and approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Caracas cannot accept new Petitions for fiancé(e) visas.
• Second, USCIS sends the approved I-129F to the U.S. Department of State for visa processing overseas at a U.S. Embassy where the beneficiary applies for a fiancé(e) visa (K-1).
• Third, after the beneficiary receives a K-1 visa, the beneficiary must travel to the U.S.to legally marry the petitioner within 90 days of entering the U.S. The final step follows the marriage, when the beneficiary seeks legal immigrant status with USCIS.

The Petitioner must be a U.S.citizen, the Petitioner and Beneficiary must have met in person and both parties must be legally free to marry. &USCIS requires that the petitioner mail an I-129F to the regional USCIS center in the U.S.nearest to the petitioner's U.S.home for adjudication. The petitioner may expedite adjudication by:

• Listing a U.S.contact address, as well as an overseas or APO/FPO mail address, if applicable;
• Listing ALL children of the beneficiary, living or dead, regardless of their location, and attaching copies of their birth certificates;
• Explaining, in detail, the circumstances of the initial meeting and following courtship, using extra sheets as necessary;
• Attaching evidence of an on-going relationship, e.g. transportation tickets, travel orders, letters, telephone bills, photographs;
• Providing documentary evidence of the petitioner's U.S.citizenship and of the legal termination of any prior marriage of either party;and
• Enclosing the appropriate petition filing fee.

It generally takes USCIS a minimum of 6 weeks to adjudicate an I-129F Petition. Once approved, USCIS sends the petition to the National Visa Center (NVC) in Portsmouth, NH for internal clearances, and then to the U.S. Embassy closest to the beneficiary's residence overseas for K-1 visa processing. Receipt of the approved petition overseas takes approximately 4 weeks. An approved I-129F is valid for four months from the date of approval.

A K-1 visa will be delivered back to the applicant via Embassy-approved courier within several working days if the beneficiary is found to be qualified. A K-1 visa is valid for six months for a single entry into the U.S.The parties must marry and report their marriage to USCIS within three months after entering the U.S.The Beneficiary gains conditional legal resident status (CR-1) in the U.S.upon USCIS approval. If a beneficiary leaves the U.S.without having gained CR-1 status, the Beneficiary must re-qualify for a new immigrant visa.

Processing time for each case differs depending on the circumstances of the case, how quickly the petitioner files the I-129F, when USCIS approves it, how long it takes the NVC and U.S. Embassy to receive the approved I-129F, and when the beneficiary completes the necessary pre-interview steps.

Both the Petitioner and Beneficiary should realize that this process is mandated by U.S. law and that it is not possible to waive any steps for any reason. Thus, firm wedding arrangements should wait until after the beneficiary has the K-1 visa in hand. The K-1 visa is valid for six months from the date it is approved.

• First Preference (F1): Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S.citizens, and children if any.
• Second Preference (F2): Spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent resident aliens.
• Third Preference (F3): Married sons and daughters of U.S.citizens and their spouses and children.
• Fourth Preference (F4): Brothers and sisters of United Statescitizens, provided the U.S. citizens are 21 years of age or over.

• Priority Workers (E1): Persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; and certain multinational executives and managers.
• Members of the Professions (E2): Professionals holding advanced degrees, and persons of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts, and business.
• Professionals, Skilled and Unskilled Workers (E3): Professionals holding baccalaureate degrees, skilled workers with at least two years experience, and other workers whose skills are in short supply in the United States.
• Special Immigrants (E4): Certain religious workers and ministers of religion, certain international organization employees and their immediate family members, and specially qualified and recommended current and former employees of the United States Government.
• Investors (E5): Persons who create employment for at least ten unrelated persons by investing capital in a new commercial enterprise in the United States. The minimum amount of capital required is between $500,000 and $1,000,000, depending on the employment rate in the geographic area.

The Congressionally mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to persons who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
Citizens of

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is administered on an annual basis by the Department of State to provide for a new class of immigrants known as "diversity immigrants" (DV immigrants). The Act makes available 50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

The annual DV program makes permanent residence visas available to persons meeting the simple, but strict, eligibility requirements.  Applicants for Diversity Visas are chosen by a computer-generated random lottery drawing.

The visas, however, are distributed among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration, and with no visas going to citizens of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the past five years.  Within each region, no one country may receive more than seven percent of the available Diversity Visas in any one year. the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are eligible to enter the annual Diversity Visa lottery. For more information on entering the Diversity Visa lottery, please consult the U.S. Department of State.

Important Notice: NO fee is charged to enter the annual DV program. The US Government employs no outside consultants or private services to operate the DV program.  Any intermediaries or others who offer assistance to prepare DV casework for applicants do so without the authority or consent of the US Government.  Use of any outside intermediary or assistance to prepare a DV entry is entirely at the applicant's discretion.