Immigration India USA

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

US citizen child can sponsor his parents working on H1B visa in USA for a Green card at age 21. Proof of financial support is required. No green card number limit.

Written by Anil Gupta
  Anil Gupta  
Updated 13 Aug, 24
Get Green card fast on H1B if US born citizen child sponsors?
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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:
  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

Can a US-born citizen kid sponsor their parent working on H1B?

Yes, the kid can sponsor his/her parent working on an H1B visa in the USA for a Green card, but only if he/she is 21 or older.

Even if the kid reaches the age of 21 and sponsors their parents, he/she has to show sufficient money/income source and pay income taxes to support parents.

The child has to apply on his own and fill out the affidavit of support (Form I-864).

Can the H1B visa working parent’s Green card be expedited by a US-born child?

The sponsorship by the Adult kids is counted under family immigration (limited yearly Green cards) for non-immediate relatives.

A parent on an H1B visa with a US-born kid is an immediate relative including any unmarried sister or brother under the age of 21 and eligible to get a US green card immediately (no yearly limits and no waiting Queue).

A green card is ALWAYS available for an immediate relative of a US citizen. This can prove to be a blessing in disguise for an Indian EB2 H1B worker, who can get the sponsorship from a US-born child citizen and ditch the extremely long H1B visa waiting queues.

Can Parents on H1B stay in the US without visas if US citizen kid sponsors?

In the H1B case, it is recommended for the parent to maintain the H1B status, till the time child turns 21. H1B visa status needs an employer and continuous employment to stay and work in the USA.

When the kid turns 21, he can sponsor the parents as an immediate relative.

H1B workers will not be able to stay in the US beyond the 6-year limit, on H1B unless, they have their green card under-processing and have i140 approved.

Can My Child refuse to sponsor me for My Green card?

Yes, your adult child can refuse to sponsor you for the green card.

Maintain harmonious relations with your child until you get the green card. The processing time itself might take 2-6 years.

Can a US-born kid sponsor a green card for parents who are not on H1B/returned to India?

Yes, the US-born citizen kid can sponsor parents who have returned back to India.

The same holds for people who have got Canada PR and moved to Canada. Their US citizen kid can sponsor them when he/she turns 21 and then they all can come to the USA with Green card.

Need Help File Application?

If you need help filing, use AM22Tech’s hassle-free visa extension and EAD filing service to file your application with USCIS.

Your application is filed within 1-2 days if you have all the documents ready and uploaded.

Your passport-size photos are edited and printed automatically. You just need to upload your photos online in our app and we take care of the rest.

I have 2 kids. One is a US citizen but the other was born in India. Can my US citizen sponsor my parents and my other kid too?

Yes, your US citizen child can sponsor parents which is you and the India-born siblings.

The only requirement is that the brother or sister will be counted in the family immigration queue (F4) where there are limits on the number of green cards and country of birth conditions.

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