I-130, Petition for Alien Relative

Sample I-130

Fillable I-130

Line by Line Instructions

Part 1. Relationship
You means the petitioner who may either be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (LPR). In other words, that is the sponsor. Your relative is the beneficiary which can be a spouse (husband/wife), parent (mother/father), sibling (brother/sister), or child. Obviously, there are limitations such as: green card holder can not sponsor sibling.

1.
If you are sponsoring your parents, you need to file a separate petition for each parent, one for your mother and one for your father.

2.
If you are filing for your parent, no matter how old you are, you are still their child.

3.
If either you or your brother/sister were adopted, and that is how they became your brother/sister, check “Yes”. For most people, “No” would be checked.

4.
For most people, this would be “No”. This question is primarily aimed at people immigration through parent/child relationships.

Part 2. Information About You (Petitioner)
1.
If you have an A number, mention it here. Otherwise, leave it blank as you can’t write ‘None’.

If you are U.S. citizen now but you were a permanent resident earlier (and naturalized to become a U.S. citizen), it’s fine if you don’t mention A number here. However, there is no harm if you do mention the A number.

If you are permanent resident, you must mention A number.

2.
If you have opened a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) online account, such as for online filing or any other purpose, mention it here. Otherwise, leave it blank.

3.
Because the sponsor is either a U.S. citizen or green card holder, he/she definitely would have a U.S. Social Security number and should be mentioned here.

Your Full Name
4a through 4b.
If you do not have a specific name such as middle name, leave it blank. If your specific name is too large to fit in a column, specify whatever fits.

Other Names Used
This is more likely in the case of a currently/previous married woman. Please use all of your prior names such as your name before marriage. If you legally changed your name or officially shortened it for convenience, mention it here.

Other Information
6.
Mention the City/Town/Village of Birth. You may also want to put the district and/or state here because they are not asked separately.

7-9.
Self-explanatory.

Mailing Address
10a.
If the beneficiary stays at this address, write that name. Otherwise, write the name of whoever stays there.

If you are entering a US address, enter the state and ZIP Code. If you are entering a non-US address, enter the Province and Postal Code, even if some countries also have states such as India, Australia, etc.

11.
Self-explanatory

Address History
Self-explanatory. If you have not stayed at your current address for the past five years, mention your previous addresses within the last five years here.

Your Marital Information
16.
Include the number of times you have been married, include your current marriage in the count of times you have been married if you are currently married.

17-18.
Indicate your most recent marital status only. If you are currently married but were divorced before, check only “Married” and do not check “Divorced”.

Place of Your Current Marriage
If you are currently married, write the information of your current place of marriage. If this place is in the US, write State. Otherwise, write province, even if it is actually a state outside the US.

Names of All your Spouses
If you are petitioning for your spouse and you were married before, make sure that your previous marriage ended legally (death, final divorce, etc.) before you got married to current spouse, in order for the current marriage to be legal. Otherwise, consult an immigration attorney.

Information About Your Parents
Even if you are not sponsoring your parents, mention your father and mother’s information.

In 28 and 34, in addition to City/Town/Village, you can also add district and state/province information.

Additional Information About You
36-38.
Self-explanatory

39.
U.S. Citizen:
If you obtained U.S. citizenship through naturalization, the number can be found on the top right-hand corner of the naturalization certificate. The date and place it was issued are shown on the certificate.

If your citizenship was obtained through parents, you may have certificate of citizenship that shows a certificate number.

Permanent Resident or those born in the US, should leave this section blank.

40a. Class of Admission
The category under which you got the green card, such as EB31, F4 etc. Look at sample green card to find out where to look for this information on your green card.

40b. Date of Admission
If you received your green card through immigrant visa, the date when you first entered the US. If you received your green card through adjustment of status, the date when your status changed to permanent resident.

40c. 40d. Place of Admission
If you received your green card through immigrant visa, airport/seaport/land where you first entered the US. If you received your green card through adjustment of status, the place where you had the green card interview or where you lived, as appropriate.

41.
If you received your permanent residence through marriage, you can’t petition a new spouse for 5 years, unless the first spouse died or you can prove that your previous marriage was not a sham by providing “clear and convincing evidence”. To prove that your previous marriage was bona fide, enclose evidence that you and your former spouse shared a life together such as

• shared rent receipts,
  
• children’s birth certificates,
  
• club memberships,
  
• utility bills,
  
• insurance policies.

There is no clear and full proof list of “clear and convincing evidence”.

Employment History
If you are currently, unemployed or retired, mentioned that in Item Number 42.

Part 3. Biographic Information

2. Race
Please note that Indian/Pakistani etc. come under Asian.

3. Height
Do not write in meter or centimeter.

4. Weight
Do not write in kilograms.

5-6.
Self-explanatory.

Part 4. Information About Beneficiary

1. Alien Registration Number
If the beneficiary has A number, mention it here. This is likely if the beneficiary has been issued a work permit earlier such as part of of postgraduation training (OPT). Otherwise, leave it blank as you can’t write ‘None’.

2. USCIS Online Account Number
Most beneficiaries would generally have no reason to open an USCIS online account. Therefore, it would be blank for most people.

3. US Social Security Number
If the beneficiary was ever issued a social security number such as while working on H/L visa, OPT etc., they would have it and should be mentioned here. Otherwise, leave it blank.

Beneficiary’s Full Name
Beneficiary’s current legal name, as per the passport.

Other Names Used
If the beneficiary has other names before marriage or legally changed the name (including shortening the name or dropping some names), they all should be mentioned here.

Maiden name is the woman’s name before marriage. (Many woman change name after marriage. Some women take husband’s last name as their last name, while others (particularly in South India) take husband’s first name as their last name.)

Other Information About Beneficiary
In City/Town/Village of Birth, you can include district and state name as well.

Beneficiary’s Physical Address
For US address, specify State and Zip Code. For non-US address, specify Province (even if it is really a state) and postal code.

Other Address and Contact Information
Beneficiary may likely plan to stay at the petitioner’s address or somewhere else. specify accordingly.

Your US address should preferably be the same as your relative’s address, otherwise USCIS may get suspicious.

While, it is possible that you may want to spend some time away from your relative for school or work reason, it is best to put your permanent address in US same as your relative’s US address.

If you have a compelling reason to put different address, attach detailed explanation with the application or consult an immigration attorney.

Beneficiary’s Marital Information
Mention the number of marriages including the current one. If the beneficiary is currently married but previously divorced or widowed, he/she should still write married.

If your spouse is petitioning for you, and if you were married before, make sure that your previous marriage ended legally (death, final divorce etc.) before you got married to current spouse, in order for the current marriage to be legal. Otherwise, consult an immigration attorney.

Place of Beneficiary’s Current Marriage
Self-explanatory.

Names of Beneficiary’s Spouses
Self-explanatory.

Information About Beneficiary’s Family
Information in 25 through 28 seems the same as 21 through 22. Rest is self-explanatory.

Beneficiary’s Entry Information
46a. Class of Admission
If you are currently in the US, answer in what legal status you enter US. Other details such as I-94 number, date arrived and the authorized stay expiration date can be found in your I-94 card that you would have received when you arrived in the US. If you entered illegally, write “Without inspection”.

Travel document would be primarily be for people that are traveling without a passport.

Rest are self-explanatory.

Beneficiary’s Employment Information
51-52.
If you are employed, currently write the name and address of current employer.
If you are self-employed, write ‘self-employed’.
If you are retired, housewife or house-husband write ‘none’.

If you are in the US currently and have worked illegally and also used false documents for that (such as fake green card, social security number etc.), consult an immigration attorney.

Additional Information About Beneficiary
53.
If you have ever been placed in Immigration proceedings, consult an immigration attorney, especially if you lost.

54-56.
Self-explanatory.

57 through 58.
If your native language uses a non-Roman script such as Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Chinese, Hebrew etc, you will need to write your name and address in that script. If you are filling this form online, you may not be able to write it online. In that case, it’s OK to fill rest of the form, print it and write it by hand. 59-60.
Self-explanatory.

If you are currently in the US and are going to leave the US after living here illegally, the information about how long you and your spouse lived at the same address could be used against you.

61. Present in the US:
If you entered legally and are eligible to adjust the status in the US, write the USCIS office where you will apply for Adjustment of Status. If you are choosing to return to your home country and go through consular processing, you need not fill out this section.
If you entered illegally and unless you fall into an exception, you will not be allowed for Adjustment of Status in US and you will have to go through consular processing.

If you are outside the US, don’t write anything in this question.

Exception: For K3/K4 visa applicants, write “Plan to obtain a K-3 visa abroad and adjust status in the US”. Fill the city you plan to adjust status and write the consulate you will return to if needed.

Part 5. Other Information

1.
If you are submitting other petitions simultaneously, such as for your children from this or other marriages, mention their names here, so that all the applications can be processed together.

Part 6. Petitioner’s Statement, Contact Information, Declaration and Signature

Check appropriate box based on whether you filled this form yourself, or someone else prepared it for you or someone else interpreted for you. If any lawyer or agency filled this form, they should provide their details.
If your friend, colleague or relative helped you fill this form, they don’t have to write their details here.