Family Immigration
At Genesis Law, we work tirelessly to bring families together. Most individuals come to the U.S. alone and are forced to be separated from their loved ones by complicated immigration process and long waiting times for family-member Green Cards.
Every year, more than 500,000 persons obtain lawful permanent residence in the US through the process of family-based immigration. A US citizen may sponsor the following relatives for lawful permanent residence: spouses, children, adult sons and daughters, parents, brothers, and sisters. A green card holder, or a Permanent resident, is limited to sponsoring spouses, children and unmarried adult sons and daughters. Except for "immediate relatives", who are spouses, children and parents of US citizens all other categories of relatives are subject to a numerically-limited preference system.
Visas
The help we offer our clients begins with the first step of submitting of a visa petition to the USCIS. From there, we built a case that is uniquely tailored to your situation to ensure a favorable outcome. We have extensive experience in successfully completing the immigration cases based on:
- Marriage to a U.S. Citizen
- Fiancee Visa
- Parents and Children of U.S. Citizen
- Siblings of U.S. Citizen
- Spouse and Children of Green Card Holders
- Removal of Conditions for Spouse of U.S. Citizen
- Adoption
Contact us our immigration law office in Lowell, MA anytime to talk about family immigration and your particular situation. We will listen to you and work with you to bring your family to the United States.
Citizenship
Once a Green Card is obtained, most immigrants begin thinking about becoming U.S. citizens. Our skilled immigration lawyers will consider and investigate every detail to make sure that your naturalization application is successful. We provide help with completing N-400 applications, counsel on passing the naturalization test, and accompany our clients to interviews.
To be eligible for naturalization, you must:
- Be a lawful permanent resident of the United States for 5 years, or 3 years if married to a U.S. citizen for a minimum of the 3 years (certain exceptions apply to persons who have honorable service in the U.S. Armed Forces);
- Be physically present in the United States for over 50% of the required residency period;
- Take an oath of loyalty to the United States;
- Be able to speak, read and write simple words and phrases in the English language (there are certain exceptions to this requirement);
- Pass a test in US history and government.
Naturalization is an extremely complicated process that requires detailed knowledge of the ever-changing immigration law. Lack of that knowledge main contain a number of surprises for the applicants. Even a small mistake many years ago may stand in your way. For example, immigrants with past criminal history who file for immigration without legal help may lead to removal proceedings. On the other hand, some applicants may find out that they are already U.S. citizens by operation of law of that an applicant's inability to speak English may not necessarily be an obstacle to being naturalized.
Here are some of the common obstacles to obtaining U.S. citizenship:
- Voting in U.S. elections as a permanent resident
- Separation from spouse
- Failure to pay child support
- Failure to pay taxes
- Failure to register for selective service
- Being absent from the U.S. for a long period of time
Family Law Specializing in Immigration Law
Contact our naturalization experts to make the U.S. citizenship application process as smooth and as fast as possible. Located in Lowell serving all Massachusetts