Can US Citizen Kid Sponsor H1B Parent’s Green Card at Age 21?

A USA green card is the ambition of every H1B worker in the USA. Most get it within 1-2 years except Indians and Chinese due to the long backlog that’s based on country of birth.

As per CATO Institute’s estimate, an Indian’s waiting time to get a green card through EB2 or EB3 employment-based queue will be 150+ unless the US immigration law is changed.

Our Green Card visa estimate app also projects similar timelines for Indians waiting in an employment-based queue.

Due to the multiple-decade backlogs and the mental stress of maintaining the H1B employer sponsorship till you get the green card, many are trying to devise new strategies to keep the motivation on.

One of the strategies is to file a petition in the immediate family member category.

Rules

A US citizen can sponsor an immediate family member for a US green card. This immediate family sponsorship has special treatment in US immigration law:

• No yearly limit on the number of Green card
• No country of birth limitation
• No visa bulletin dates required
• A Green card number is always available for immediate relatives

You are an immediate relative if you are:

• The spouse of a U.S. citizen;
• The unmarried child under 21 years of age of a U.S. citizen; or
• The parent of a U.S. citizen (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older).

Process

1. File Application to Sponsor the parent and/or siblings using form I-130.
   • The child will need to fill I-130 for each parent/sibling.
   • The child can sponsor any sister or brother who was born outside the US.
2. The parent is physically present in the US:
   • File Adjustment of Status application using form I-485
   • You can file both I-130 and I-485 together at the same time if the parent is physically present in the US.
   • Parents can also file Form I-765 for a work permit and I-131 for a travel permit until they receive the green card.
3. If the parent is physically outside the US, the parent will need to wait for I-130 approval.
   • Once I-130 is approved, the parent will file a DS-260 with the US embassy to get a Green card stamp on the passport instead of form I-485.
4. Get approval and a Green card.

Processing Time

The total processing time depends on the USCIS service center. You can check the current processing time for the type of applications here.

Estimated time:

1. Form I-130 approval is mandatory and usually takes about 2-4 years.
2. Form I-485 approval takes about 1-2 years.

The best case scenario is when your child sponsors you at the age of 21 and if USCIS processing speed is good, you might get the plastic permanent residency card in hand within 3 years. I.e. when the child turns 24, you will have it.

The worst-case scenario is probably going to take about 6 years in our opinion. Hence, if a kid is sponsored immediately after turning 21, then, you can expect to be greened by the time the Kid turns age 27.

Affidavit of Support

It is important to note that simply sponsoring the parent when the kid turns 21 is not enough. The kid needs to prove that they have the financial ability to support his parents in the US.

This financial support has to be proved and signed by the adult son/daughter using form I-864.

It does not matter if the parents are currently living in the US using a visa like H1B (with approved I140).

Since this application is separate from the employer-sponsored category, it has its own set of documents to prove the Green card claim.

Prepare Child Financial Profile

Almost all Indian families will be able to have financial sponsorship requirements fulfilled easily using their savings.

We suggest to have this financial set up to make it easy and start preparing for it now:

1. Create a bank account in your US citizen kid’s name while he is young. I suggest creating this account as soon as the kid turns 14 or before.
   • Keep adding some amount in it monthly (like $100 to whatever you can) to have a good balance by the time he turns 21.
   • Even better option: Pay the amount to the kid as a salary (once he turns 14) and claim this amount as expenses in your LLC (if you own one). Money stays within the family and you make it completely tax-free.
2. Create a Roth IRA account [OPTIONAL] (with companies like Fidelity, Charles Shwab, etc.) in Kid’s name and keep depositing the maximum allowed amount by the IRS every year.
   • This will help you save income tax and also help create your kid’s bank balance.
3. Kid’s W2 or Business Income at age 21
   • It would be easier if the kid had a job with a regular W2 income or a regular business income.
   • Let kids have some kind of work so that regular income can be proved on paper.

FAQ