Читать книгу U.S. Citizenship For Dummies - Jennifer Gagliardi - Страница 17

In order to use family connections to immigrate to the United States, you must have a close relative already living here who is willing to sponsor you. So how close is close? If your relative is at least 21 years old and a U.S. citizen, born or naturalized, they may sponsor you if you are their

 Husband or wife

 Unmarried child under age 21

 Unmarried son or daughter over age 21

 Married son or daughter

 Brother or sister

 Parent

Citizens may not sponsor their grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, or anyone else.

Legal permanent residents, or green-card holders — those legally living and working in the United States who have not become naturalized citizens — may only sponsor their

 Husband or wife

 Unmarried children of any age

Legal permanent residents (green-card holders) may not sponsor brothers or sisters, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, or anyone other than their spouse and children.

But wait, it’s not so easy. Beyond having a willingness to sponsor you, your relative must meet certain criteria in order to be eligible to become a sponsor:

 Your relative must be able to provide documentation of their own immigration status — as a lawful permanent resident or as a United States citizen (born or naturalized).

 Your relative must be able to prove that they can financially support you (and any other family members they are financially responsible for) at 125 percent above the government-mandated poverty level. In other words, in order for a sponsor to bring a relative to live permanently in the United States, the sponsor must be both willing and able to accept legal responsibility for financially supporting that family member. You can find more information about how to meet this qualification in Chapter 3.