Green card for siblings
If you’re a U.S. citizen and 21 or older, you can file a petition for a brother or sister who meets the requirements. Permanent residents can’t petition for their siblings.
This path is the F4 category, which has an annual visa limit. The wait can be many years. Filing the petition properly normally establishes the priority date, but it doesn’t guarantee when your sibling will be able to immigrate.
Which siblings can qualify?
Siblings who share both parents can qualify, as can half-siblings and, in certain cases, siblings related through adoption or through their parents’ marriage. It must be shown that each of you has a relationship recognized by immigration law with the parent you have in common.
Relationships through adoption, stepsibling relationships, and certain cases of siblings with a biological father in common require additional documents and analysis. Sharing a last name isn’t enough.
How it works
- You file the I-130 with proof of citizenship, age, and relationship.
- USCIS reviews the petition. The priority date is usually the date USCIS properly received the I-130.
- The wait for visa availability. If the case will use consular processing, USCIS normally sends the approved petition to the NVC. The NVC may start document preparation before a visa is available for final approval; follow its instructions.
- The green card application. The usual path from abroad includes the DS-260, documents, the medical exam, and an interview. A beneficiary who is in the United States can apply for adjustment of status only if they meet its requirements and the visa availability rules.
- Each application is decided. If the consular visa is approved, permanent residence begins on entry as an immigrant. With adjustment, it begins when the I-485 is approved.
A pending or approved I-130 doesn’t give permission to live or work in the United States while waiting, or by itself protect against removal.
Can your sibling’s family come too?
The spouse and unmarried children who qualify as under 21 under immigration rules, including the CSPA where it applies, can apply for visas as derivative beneficiaries. They can accompany the principal beneficiary or join them later, if they meet the requirements.
As derivatives they normally don’t need a separate I-130, but each person files their own visa or adjustment application and must meet the admissibility requirements. When the family relationship was formed and whether it still exists must be reviewed; not every later marriage or birth can use the same case.
Cost
As of October 13, 2026, the I-130 costs $675 on paper or $625 online. One petition is filed for each principal sibling.
For the later consular stage, the current basic fees are $325 per visa applicant, $235 per person for the USCIS immigrant fee, unless exempt, and $120 per case for the NVC affidavit of support review, when it applies. The affidavit fee isn’t charged again for each derivative family member in the same case.
Because the wait can be long, future budgeting should use the fees in effect when each stage arrives. The medical exam, translations, travel, legal fees, and any additional applications are added. If the case allows adjustment of status, a different set of fees applies.
Fee sources: USCIS and the State Department.
Our fee: a flat fee for each stage of the representation. We give it to you at your consultation and in writing before we start; future stages are quoted when their turn comes. We offer payment plans.
Timing
The F4 category has a considerable wait that varies by priority date and by the country used to determine visa availability, usually the beneficiary’s country of birth. Check the F4 category in the current Visa Bulletin.
The difference between today’s date and the date shown in the bulletin is not a forecast of how long a new petition will take. Dates can move forward, stall, or go backward. Having a date before the final action cutoff doesn’t guarantee that the interview or the visa will happen that month either.
For an adjustment inside the United States, also check the chart USCIS allows for filing that month.
Documents usually needed
- ✓ Proof of your U.S. citizenship and age.
- ✓ Your birth certificate and your sibling’s, along with documents proving the family relationship.
- ✓ Depending on the case, your parents’ marriage and divorce records, adoption documents, or proof of name changes.
- ✓ For derivative family members, marriage and birth documents and, where applicable, documents ending prior marriages.
- ✓ Later, passports, required civil and police documents, the medical exam, and affidavit of support documents.
When the I-864 is required, the sponsor’s income, household size, and domicile are reviewed. A joint sponsor can help in certain cases, but normally doesn’t remove the petitioner’s obligation to file their own I-864.
What can complicate your case
- The ages of derivative children. The CSPA can help, but it doesn’t automatically freeze their age for the whole wait. The calculation and the deadlines to act need follow-up.
- Marriage or divorce. Your sibling can be married or unmarried in F4, but family changes can affect who qualifies as a derivative. A derivative child must remain unmarried.
- The petitioner’s death. It can affect or end the case. In certain situations, protection under section 204(l) or humanitarian reinstatement of an approved petition can be requested; neither is automatic.
- Lack of status in the United States. Filing a petition doesn’t fix that problem. Adjustment in F4 has limits for lack of status and unauthorized work, and leaving can trigger bars to admission. Possible exceptions need review before deciding.
- Criminal records, removals, false statements, or entry or visa restrictions. These are evaluated separately.
Next step
Book a consultation with Visia to review the relationship, the family members who could accompany your sibling, and the factors that affect the petition.
General information, not legal advice. Reading this page alone does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case requires an individual evaluation. Fees, policies, and processing times can change. Updated: October 15, 2026.