In many instances, a parent who is not a United States citizen will marry someone who is a citizen. This person will typically enter the United States on a fiance visa in order to obtain a Greencard. The children of the non-U.S. citizen are also not citizens and want to obtain a Greencard. They will ask if their new step-parent can sponsor them for a Greencard. The answer to this question is yes, but there are certain conditions that must be met in order to make them an eligible sponsor. All step-children are considered direct relatives of the step-parent. However, for those children that are over the age of 18, they are only eligible for this person to be a sponsor if the marriage took place before that child turned 18 years old. In addition, the child must remain unmarried until after the Greencard is processed. If at some point during this process one of the children gets married, they are no longer eligible to have their stepparent be their Greencard sponsor and as a result, they will face significant delays in the process of obtaining a Greencard.
John Sesini is an experienced immigration attorney with offices in Green Bay and Milwaukee Wisconsin. If you have any questions regarding these matters, please contact the Sesini Law Group, S.C. and obtain your initial consultation.