There are two different ways to apply for a foreign child’s Green Card. Option #1 is used when the foreign child already lives in the US. Option #2 is used when the foreign child lives outside the US.
Option #1
When the foreign child already lives in the USA, the Green Card application process is done entirely inside the USA. The legal name for this process is Adjustment of Status.
The Green Card process for a foreign child that currently lives in the United States is as follows:
Step 1: Document Checklist
Once you hire our law firm, our Immigration Attorney will provide you with a detailed checklist of the documents needed to prepare your child’s Green Card application. This checklist is the most important part of the application, because it lays out exactly what will be needed to apply for the Green Card.
Step 2: Prepare Green Card Application
Once you have provided our office with the required documents, the Immigration Lawyer will prepare and submit your application to the US Government (USCIS).
Step 3: Work and Travel Permit
Once your child’s Green Card application has been submitted, your child may be eligible to receive a work and travel permit. With this permit, your child can receive a Social Security Number and work legally in the US while the Green Card application is pending. After the work and travel permit is issued, then we wait for USCIS to schedule an interview appointment for the child and the US Citizen parent.
Step 4: Green Card Interview
The last step of the process is the Green Card interview. The purpose of this interview is for a US Government Officer to review the Green Card application and to confirm that the child is truly the child of the US Citizen parent. This interview is done inside the USA at a US Government (USCIS) office. Prior to your appointment, the Immigration Attorney will prepare you for the Green Card interview. From time to time, the interview requirement is waived and no interview is required.
Option 2
When the foreign spouse lives outside the USA, the Green Card process includes 2 separate applications. Application #1 is filed inside the USA. Application #2 is filed outside the USA, at the US Embassy in the country where the child lives. The legal name for this process is Consular Processing.
The Green Card application process when the foreign child lives outside the USA is as follows:
Step 1: Document Checklist
Once you hire our law firm, our Immigration Attorney will provide you with a very specific checklist of the documents needed to prepare the child’s Green Card application. This checklist is the most important part of the application, because it lays out exactly what will be needed to apply for the Green Card.
Step 2: Prepare and Submit Application # 1
Once you have provided our office with the required documents, we will prepare and submit Application #1. Then we wait for an approval of Application #1 before moving forward.
Step 3: Prepare and Submit Application #2
Once Application #1 is approved, we start Application #2. Our Immigration Lawyer will prepare and submit Application #2 to the National Visa Center (US Embassy). Then we wait for the US Embassy to schedule an interview appointment for the child. This interview will be held at the US Embassy in the country where the child lives. The US Citizen parent is not required to attend the interview at the US Embassy. Any adult can accompany the child to the interview.
Step 4: Green Card Interview at US Embassy
Application #2 ends with a Green Card interview for the child. The purpose of this interview is for a US Government Officer to determine that the application is complete and to confirm that the US Citizen is the parent of the child. This interview is done at the US Embassy, outside of the USA, in the country where the child lives. Prior to this interview, our Immigration Attorney will schedule prepare the child (and the adult accompanying the child, if any) for the Green Card interview.
