One of the most common ways to immigrate to the USA is through an American relative. There are two types of relatives – the so-called immediate relatives and preference category relatives.

Immediate relatives include the spouse of an American citizen, the parent of an American citizen if the citizen is already 21 years old or older, and the unmarried child under 21 years of an American citizen. In some cases, the child of the spouse of an American citizen is also considered a child, if the marriage creating the relationship occurred before the child turned 18. Similarly, stepparents are considered parents when the marriage creating the relationship occurred before the child turned 18. In general, immigration through immediate relatives is the fastest way to immigrate to the USA since there is no numerical limit on the number of immigrants. In practice, however, the American bureaucracy is slow, and the process usually takes about 9-15 months to complete for immigration through an immediate relative.

Preference category relatives include unmarried children of American citizens who are 21 or older, married children of American citizens, siblings of American citizens if the citizen is 21 or older, spouses of green card holders, unmarried children under 21 of green card holders, and unmarried children over 21 of green card holders. The biggest disadvantage of preference category relatives compared to immediate relatives is that there is a numerical limit on the number of immigrants per year. Depending on the relationship category, the waiting time can range from seven to over twenty years in some cases. When the initial invitation is made by the American relative, the prospective immigrant obtains a priority date – the date the invitation was made. Each month, the State Department issues the so-called visa bulletin which indicates which priority dates can begin the immigration process that month. For more details, you can view the visa bulletin at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html. The advantage of preference category relatives compared to 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 an American citizen and invited him to immigrate in 2001. In 2012, Dimitris’s turn comes to immigrate to the USA. Dimitris can immigrate with his wife and any of his children who are currently unmarried and under 21. Thus, one can immigrate based on an American uncle – as long as the invitation is made in time, many years before the nephew turns 21 or gets married.