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What Is the Role of Immigration Lawyers in Family Reunification?

You and your family will face many challenges when trying to legally immigrate to the United States. Common topics of concern include the selection of visa you should apply for and the evidence you need to qualify for the visa. It is crucial to seek the assistance of a knowledgeable family immigration lawyer who can help you with the visa application process and the challenges that arise along the way. In this post, we will discuss what a family immigration lawyer does and why they are so crucial for family-based immigration cases.

What is Family-Based Immigration?

U.S. immigration law allows for individuals to immigrate based on certain family relationships. A U.S. citizen or U.S. lawful permanent resident may sponsor certain close family members for immigrant visas. This sponsorship ultimately allows the foreign national family member to obtain a visa to legally reside in the United States on a permanent basis.

The process and timeframes for family-based immigration is heavily dependent upon whether the foreign national qualifies as an “immediate relative” or under one of the family preference categories. Immediate relatives – parents and spouses of U.S. citizens – have the shortest processing time, often less than one year. U.S. law also allows for other family relationships to qualify for immigrant visas in the “preference categories,” but securing an immigrant visa in one of the preference categories takes many years. The relationships that qualify under the preference categories are:

  • Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens;
  • Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens;
  • Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents;
  • Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents; and
  • Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens.


As you can see, not every family relationship will qualify for a family-based visa. Notably, an aunt/uncle or cousin relationship is not sufficient on its own to qualify for an immigrant visa. Also, certain life events can make an individual no longer eligible for an immigrant visa. For instance, unmarried sons and daughters of Permanent Residents are eligible to immigrate to the United States, but if they become married then they are no longer eligible to immigrate.

What Do Family Immigration Lawyers Do?

A family immigration lawyer is a lawyer who has experience specifically in family-based immigration. Not every immigration lawyer will have experience in the area of family immigration law. You will want to find an attorney who has experience in this specific area since this makes it more likely that they will know how to best approach your immigration case. This is especially true when it comes to family-based immigration, as these cases can be especially complex.

Here is a breakdown of what a family-based immigration lawyer provides throughout the immigration process.

Advice and Guidance

Family immigration is challenging because it is not a one-size-fits-all area of law. The “best” visa option will depend on each person’s individual situation. If you do not have any experience with family-based immigration, this selection process can be very confusing and stressful. An immigration attorney can examine your situation and provide advice on the best immigration options for your situation. They can help you understand what visas you are eligible for, how quickly you could qualify for each specific visa, and the pros and cons to each visa so that you can make an informed decision as to the best option for you.

The family-based immigration process can take many years to complete, and those long timescales create challenges that must be addressed. A strategy that makes sense in scenarios when the visa will be issued in one year may not make sense if the visa will not be issued for 10 years or more, as is common for applications in the “preference categories.” Many significant life events can happen over these long timescales (births, deaths, marriages, divorces, graduation, retirement), and it is better to plan for these events from the start of the process rather than try and address them after they have occurred.

For instance, some visa categories require the individual to be unmarried. If the individual is currently unmarried it may initially appear to make sense to immediately file for an immigrant visa under the unmarried category. However, if that individual has plans to become married before the visa can be issued, applying in a category that requires the individual to remain unmarried for 10 years or more may not meet their needs. Depending on the circumstances it may make more sense to wait to file the visa application until after the individual has become married.

A family immigration lawyer can help guide you through the legal consequences of these long timescales and the intervening life events, and help you select a strategy that will best suit the needs of you and your family.

Application Preparation

The process of applying for a family-based immigration benefit involves the completion of many different government forms, as well as providing the government with significant supporting evidence.

Selection and completion of the correct immigration forms applicable to your situation is vital. Family-based immigration is complex and people who do not use lawyers may submit wrong application forms, costing both time and money. Moreover, the required government forms are very long and contain dozens (if not hundreds) of questions, often including technical legal language that can be difficult to understand. All questions on the forms must be answered correctly or else the government may deny the application, and even honest mistakes made when completing the forms can result in long-term challenges to the visa application. Obtaining the assistance of a knowledgeable family immigration lawyer can help to ensure that you correctly answer all of the questions on the government forms.

While submission of the required government forms is necessary, submission of the forms alone is not enough. Supporting evidence must also be provided to the government. For instance, you must prove to the government that a valid qualifying family relationship exists. To do this, you must provide documentation and evidence that demonstrates eligibility for the immigrant visa, and different evidence will be required for different family relationships (e.g., the supporting evidence for a spousal relationship is different from the supporting evidence for a parent/child relationship). A family immigration lawyer can help you identify the necessary supporting evidence to have the strongest possible application, offer suggestions for how you can locate important documents, and in some cases help you find alternative documents if you do not have access to certain categories of evidence.

Immigration Communication

You may need to communicate with certain government agencies during your application process. A family immigration lawyer can communicate with the government on your behalf, ensuring that your rights are upheld. Plus, having a family immigration lawyer reduces the chances that notices or messages sent to you by the government become “lost,” and that potential challenges to your application are addressed as soon as possible.

Legal Representation

Most people who go through the family-based immigration process do not have prior experience with how the process works. When you hire a family immigration lawyer, they act as your advocate, ensuring you have the information you need. If you choose, they can attend hearings or interviews with you, as well as provide “mock interviews” in advance of a hearing so you are familiar with the type of questions you could expect to encounter at a government interview. Having someone to represent you will be especially helpful if there are challenges with your immigration case and you need help to argue you are eligible for the visa benefit.

Problem-Solving

The immigration process is complex and you may run into challenges. A common challenge is not having sufficient documentation to prove that you are eligible for family-based immigration or that it is a legitimate relationship. A family immigration attorney will help you locate additional documentation, and give suggestions for types of evidence that will support your application.

Emotional Support

Immigration is a very emotional process, but especially so when it comes to family-based immigration. It can be difficult to know what you need to do since you have such an emotional investment in the outcome of your immigration case, especially if this is the first time you have been through the process. An attorney can provide a different perspective, knowing which issues are significant challenges and which issues are small roadblocks, and helping you to navigate any issues with confidence. An attorney who has successfully completed many applications just like yours will be able to provide the emotional support you need to finish the process yourself.

Is Hiring a Family Immigration Lawyer Necessary?

It can be tempting to put off hiring a family immigration lawyer as a way of saving money or saving time. However, be cautious when making that decision, since family-based immigration is a very complex area of law. An attorney can provide invaluable experience and advice to help your immigration case move along faster and more smoothly. Having an immigration attorney on your side is especially important when it comes to immigration cases that are complex.

The odds of having a successful immigration application are higher if you hire a family immigration lawyer from the beginning, rather than waiting to hire a lawyer until after the application has run into problems. It will almost always take more time and more money for a lawyer to try and fix an application that has been challenged by the government than it would have taken to hire the lawyer to prepare the application from the start.

Contact a Charlotte Immigration Attorney Today

Do you want to apply for a family-based visa so that your family can come to the United States? If so, contact the Charlotte immigration attorneys at The Fogle Law Firm LLC through our website or by calling us directly at 404-522-1852. We look forward to assisting you.