Step By Step I-130 Instructions for NRIs

Do you likely to settle in the US?

It’s easy, if you get a favour from the native of that country. The lawful or permanent citizen of that country should prove relationship with certain alien relatives. Thereby, the non-resident of India or of some other country can immigrate to the United States.

What is Form i-130?

The Form i-130 mirrors A to Z details of the immigrant who is sponsored by the lawful citizen of the US. What the relationship is between the petitioner and the beneficiary-it should be mentioned explicitly in the form I-130. It straightly asks about the adoption, step relationship, previous marriage and the immigration history of the NRIs.

As per I-130 instructions, this form is divided into six sections, from A to F.   Let’s catch a cursory look into what instructions are mandatory to fill into.

Part A: About Relationship

Do keep in your mind that the US citizen has a privilege to sponsor any of the spouse, parents, brother/sister or a child. On the flip side, the lawful permanent citizen/green card holder can sponsor the spouse or a child only.

1. Select the type of relative you’re sponsoring to.
2. If sponsoring an adoptive child,

• Select the type of relationship among biological/stepparent or adoptive.
• Submit additional proofs of your relationship, if it’s petitioned for an adoptive relationship.
• The marriage of the stepfather or stepmother should occur before the child turns 18. Otherwise, sponsoring a visa could be difficult for the child.

3. If sponsoring the parents,

• File a separate petition for mother and father respectively.
• It’s self-explanatory.

4. If you’re getting a permanent residency from the NRIs,

• Select ‘Yes’, otherwise ‘No’.

Part B: About Petitioner

This section is meant to churn about the sponsor or the petitioner in particular. The country of domicile would definitely be pivotal in the whole process. If he is a licit green card holder, he could easily prepare Form i-864, which is known as the Affidavit of Support.

What this section asks about the petitioner comprises:

• Last name in all caps at the foremost position
• The sequence of the name should be Surname in All Caps, first name and then, the middle name.
• Mention the domicile. If the native lives outside America for work purpose temporarily and has an intention to come back, his country of domicile would be the same (i.e. America).
• If the petitioner lives outside permanently, he should enclose some concrete proofs in support.
• State the marital status. It should be the most recent. It means that the divorcee might have solemnized the marriage recently. In that case, the marital status should be ‘Married’.
• Write maiden name. It determines the name of the women before marriage. Some women swap their last name with the surname of their husband after marriage.
• Type the ‘A number’ that consists of the letter A (for Alien) trailed by eight digits. The USCIS (Immigration authority of the US) assigns this number if you’ve applied for the permanent residency as an NRI/ or you’re a temporary resident/ or, have been deporting.

If you don’t have it, leave it blank. Avoid writing ‘none’.

• Make sure that the legal process pertaining to your divorce is wrapped up, if you have been re-married. Otherwise, you have to hire an attorney.
• The permanent resident should write ‘N/A’. If the citizenship comes through naturalization, write the number mentioned on the top right of your naturalization certificate.
• If you’ve attained the permanent residency through marriage with the native spouse, you can’t sponsor a new spouse for 5 years. If that spouse dies in that time period or the matrimony terminated and was proven that it was not intended to deceive, you can get the green card. Enclose the evidences of your married life with the US native, like shared rent receipt, child’s birth certificate, club membership, utility bills & insurance policies.

Part C: About Beneficiary (Alien Relative)

• Naming conventions in sequence: Last name in all caps, first name in small letters and middle name in small letters.
• Write the most recent marital status. If you’re married post giving a divorce, you should write ‘Married’.
• Write the maiden name that is the name of the woman before marriage.
• Mention the social security number, if any. It’s assigned to those who got the work permit or work visa in the US before.
• Put down ‘A Number’ (Alien Number), if there is any.
• If your spouse is a petitioner/sponsor, ensure that you’re divorced legally before getting married to the current spouse.
• Mention your legal status along with I-94 number, date of arrival and expiry date of the authorized stay. Otherwise, you have to put down ‘without inspection’, if your entered illegally.
• Write the name & address of the employer. If self-employed, write it down. Write ‘none’, if you’re retired/ housewife or house-husband.
• Consult the attorney, if you’re caught up in immigration proceedings.
• Pen down the name of all children from the current as well as previous marriage.
• Mention the address of your sponsoring relative as it’s yours to avoid the suspicion of the USCIS officials. If you’ve a concrete reason to put another address there, enclose the description.
• Mention your address of the country, if you live outside the US. Put ‘None’, if you stay in the US.
• Write or type the name of the beneficiary in the script other than the Roman script, like Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Chinese and Hebrew etc. Since doing so online is not possible, you can download and write it manually later.
• If you illegally accommodate the US and are going to exit, your spouse could be probed later.
• If you’re eligible to apply for the Adjustment of Status, you can apply for it. But if you don’t want to continue living in the US, you don’t need to mention the consular processing. Your illegal stay prohibits applying for changing the status. But, if you’re from outside the US, don’t mention the city.

Part D: US Citizen/Permanent Residents

• You can file more than one petition at a time for your spouse, children or relatives. Their proceeding would go simultaneously.
• Fill the matrimonial details carefully. If your previous marriages were short-lived and you’ve petitioned all/most of the times, you would undergo doubts. The inquiry regarding fraud could be initialized.

Part E: Contact Details

• Put down your signature, date and phone number

Part F: Contact Details of the Person Filling Your Form

• Ink the signature of the person who is neither beneficiary nor petitioner
• Provide details of the attorney/Solicitor, if he is filling this form.
• Don’t write the name of the friends or relatives who would have helped you in filling this form.