Other Close Family Members of U.S. citizens

Apart from immediate relatives, other close relatives may qualify for family-based immigration as well.
As opposed to the visas for immediate relatives, the visas for other close relatives are subject to annual numerical limitations. Furthermore, they are divided into several preference categories - the better the category, the sooner the beneficiary will be issued a green card. All applicants will need a lot of patience - waiting times for those categories are rather long.

The following persons may qualify for family-based immigration as "other close relatives":

 

Unmarried children of U.S. citizens over the age of 21 (First Preference)
Children of US citizens who are over 21 years of age have a lower preference for the family-based green card than their younger siblings. An unmarried child over 21 qualifies for the F1 (First Preference) category. Under certain conditions, adopted children and stepchildren will also qualify for this First Preference category. Please find the annual immigration quota (23,400 visas) as well as the resulting waiting times in the monthly Visa Bulletin.

Currently, waiting times for a green card in this category are ca. 6 years. 

 

Married children of U.S. citizens over the age of 21 (Third Preference)
Children of U.S. citizens who are older than 21 years and already married fall into an even lower preference category - F3 Third Preference. Under certain conditions, the same applies to adopted children or stepchildren. There is also a derivative status for the children's spouses - they will also receive a green card.

However, due to the high immigration quota in this category (23,400), waiting times are very long - at present ca. 8 years. (Visa Bulletin) 

 

Brothers or sisters of U.S. citizens (Fourth Preference)
Siblings of U.S. citizens may also obtain a green card for the U.S. The U.S. citizen must be at least 21 to be able to sponsor a brother of sister for a green card.
Unfortunately, brothers and sisters are in the lowest preference category - F4 "Fourth Preference". That not only leads to an numerical limitation of 65,000 visas, but also to waiting times for a green card of ca. 10 years. (Visa Bulletin)