IR Visa Lawyers

"What is IR-1?
IR-1 is an immigrant visa for the spouse of a US citizen. Unlike the spouse of a Green Card holder who is subject to impact of the F-2 schedule, the spouse of a US citizen can immediately apply for the IR-1 visa classification to obtain Green Card.
As a reminder, according to US legal requirements, de facto marriages that involve the couple living together without undertaking legal procedures is not recognized, therefore you must obtain a legally binding marriage certificate. Applicants who have been married for more than 2 years will be granted a 10-year Green Card after the IR-1 application is approved, while applicants married for less than 2 years before applying will be granted a CR-1 (conditional relative) Visa and a temporary Green Card with a 2-year limit. You and your spouse must apply together to the USCIS to remove the conditional status within the 90 days before the two-year anniversary of the spouse’s entry into the US on his or her immigrant visa in order to obtain the 10-year Green Card.
If your spouse is currently in the US, you can simultaneously submit Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) and I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) to apply for adjustment of status in the US. If your spouse is abroad, you need to first submit Form I-130 to the USCIS, and checkmark the ‘adjust status overseas’ option; the USCIS will notify the consulate of your spouse’s home country when processing your application. After I-130 has been approved, your spouse can then apply for IR-1 at their local consulate to come to the US to reunify with you. "

"What is IR-2?
IR-2 is an immigrant visa for unmarried children of US citizens under the age of 21. IR-2 allows the foreign-national children of US citizens to live in the US with their US citizen parents (only one parent is required to be a US citizen), allowing them to obtain Green Cards in the US, and study or work in the US without the need for an Employment Authorization Document. Just like IR-1, IR-2 Visa is not subject to the restrain of F-2 schedule, and the applicants can immediately file for an application and obtain the Green Card. The IR-2 applicant is also protected by the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), which means that if the children reach 21 years of age after the Green Card application has been submitted and is pending, your children would not be seen as ageing-out and ineligible for Green Card; under the protection of CSPA, your children’s Green Card application will be processed as below 21 years of age.
If your children are currently in the US, you can simultaneously submit Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) and I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) to apply for adjustment of status in the US. If your children are abroad, you need to first submit Form I-130 to the USCIS, and checkmark the ‘adjust status overseas’ option; the USCIS will notify the consulate of your children’s home country when processing your application. After I-130 has been approved, your children can then apply for IR-1 at their local consulate to come to the US to reunify with you. "

"What is IR-3?
IR-3 is an immigrant visa for orphans who have been adopted by US citizens abroad and have completed valid adoption procedures in the adopting country. According to the requirements of federal law, after valid adoption procedures have been completed in a third country, there is no need to repeat the procedure upon return to the US, with exception to a few states. Under the provision of The Hague Conventions, whether the place of adoption is a party to The Hague Conventions may result in differences in adoption procedures. For more specific information regarding the adoption procedure, please refer to our special article.
IR-3 visa is also not affected by the constraint of schedule; applicants can immediately apply and obtain the right to stay and continue their studies in the US; after meeting the minimum working age, they can also work in the US without Employment Authorization Document. "

"What is IR-4?
Many US citizens wish to bring their foreign-national parents in a third country to come and live in the US, then the IR-5 Visa would be the best choice.
IR-5 is a humanitarian visa designed to satisfy the foreign-citizen parents’ wishes for family unification; as beneficiaries, the parents being brought to the US must receive a certain level of financial support from the US citizen petitioner to avoid increasing the burden on the American society. Therefore, the petitioner of IR-5 must be at least 21 years of age, and provide I-864 (Affidavit of Support) to prove that the parents can receive his or her financial support instead of relying on US public welfare programs."