One of the most common ways to legally immigrate to the U.S. is through a U.S. citizen relative. There are two types of relatives – the so-called immediate relatives and the preference category relatives.

Immediate relatives are the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the parent of a U.S. citizen if the citizen is over 21, and the unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen. In some cases, the child of a U.S. citizen’s spouse is also considered a child, if the marriage creating the relationship occurred before the child turned 18. Similarly, a stepparent is considered a parent if the marriage creating the relationship occurred before the child turned 18. Generally, immigration through immediate relatives is the fastest route to immigrate to the U.S., since there is no numerical limit on the number of immigrants. In practice, however, the U.S. bureaucracy is slow, and the immigration process via immediate relatives typically takes about 9-15 months.

Preference category relatives are unmarried adult children (over 21) of U.S. citizens, married children of U.S. citizens, siblings of U.S. citizens (if the citizen is over 21), spouses of green card holders, unmarried children under 21 of green card holders, and unmarried adult children (over 21) of green card holders. The biggest disadvantage of preference category relatives compared to immediate relatives is that there is a yearly numerical limit on the number of immigrants. Depending on the category, the waiting time can range from seven to over twenty years in some cases. Once the initial petition is filed by the U.S. relative, the immigrant applicant receives a priority date – the date the petition was filed. Every month, the State Department issues the visa bulletin which lists which priority dates are current for beginning immigration processing. For more details, you can check the visa bulletin at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html. The advantage of preference category relatives over immediate relatives is that the entire family of the immigrant can immigrate – that is, the spouse and unmarried children under 21. For example, Dimitris has a brother who is a U.S. citizen who filed a petition for him in 2001. In 2012, Dimitris becomes eligible to immigrate to the U.S. Dimitris can immigrate together with his spouse and any children currently under 21 and unmarried. Thus, it is possible to immigrate based on a U.S. uncle – as long as the petition is filed early, well before the nephew turns 21 or gets married.