What is the IR5 category? What do parents of US citizens need to know when applying for immigration?

The IR5 category is an immigrant visa for parents of US citizens 21 years of age or older.

This is one of the Immediate Relative categories for US citizens. Unlike F1, F2B, F3 or F4, IR5 does not have an annual visa quota.

Who can sponsor parents under IR5?

The guarantor must:

* Be a US citizen.

* From 21 years old or older.

* Submit Form I-130 for the qualifying parent.

USCIS identifies parents of US citizens 21 years of age or older as belonging to the Immediate Relative group.

Does IR5 have Priority Date to wait for Visa Bulletin?

This is a point many people easily mistake.

IR5 belongs to the Immediate Relative group so you do not have to wait for the annual visa quota according to the Family Preference mechanism. The Department of State also determined that Immediate Relative does not limit the number of visas by year.

Therefore, IR5 workers should not use the Visa Bulletin schedule of F4 or F1 to calculate the IR5 waiting time.

However, not having a quota does not mean that applications will be interviewed immediately.

The application still must go through processing steps by USCIS, NVC and consular agencies.

How did IR5 filings start?

Typically, US citizens start by filing Form I-130 – Petition for Alien Relative for one parent.

USCIS also notes that approval of an I-130 does not automatically make the sponsored person a permanent resident nor does it mean that the person can immediately immigrate.

The consular process can be understood simply:

I-130 → USCIS → NVC → DS-260/I-864