Sponsor, His Importance
-Sudhir Shah, Advocate, Mumbai

In general a sponsor means a person who introduces and supports. For USA Immigration purposes the word sponsor usually means a Petitioner and the word Petitioner means a USA Person who makes a formal request that a foreigner be legally recognized as qualified for a Green Card or Immigrant Visa. Under the provisions of the USA Immigration Laws the Petitioner must be the foreign persons USA Citizen relative or Green Card holder relative. No one else may act as a foreigners petitioner. Almost all Green Card categories require a foreigner to have a Petitioner.

A foreigner may qualify for a Green Card through a USA relative if he falls into one of these three categories

1) Immediate Relative of USA Citizen

2) Preference relative of a USA Citizen or Green Card holder

3) Accompanying relative of someone in a preference category

Spouses of USA Citizen which would include widows and widowers of USA Citizen if they were marry to the USA Citizen for atleast 2 years and are applying for a Green Card within 2 years of the USA Citizen's death. Unmarried children of USA Citizen below the age of 21 also qualifies as immediate relatives. Lastly parent of USA Citizen, if the USA Citizen child's age is 21 or more they also qualify as immediate relatives. Immediate Relatives are not controlled by any annual quotas and may immigrate to USA in unlimited numbers.

A foreigner may qualify for a green card through relatives if he falls into one of the four below mentioned categories. Preference relatives Green cards are however restricted by quota numbers and depending on demand they have to wait at times for years together before they can claim a Green Card Unmarried children of any age of a USA citizen falls under family first preference category. Spouses and unmarried children below the age of 21 years of Green Card Holders fall under family second A Preference category and unmarried sons and daughters of 21 years or more of Green Card holders fall under family second B preference category. Married children of a USA Citizen of any age fall under family third preference category and siblings of USA citizens of 21 years or more fall under family fourth preference category. The USA sponsor in both the cases that of Immediate relative or preference relative has to file form I-130. After the same is approve and if it is under the preference relative category then when the quota under that category is available, The foreign relative has to apply in his home country for an Immigrant visa. At that time the sponsor i.e. the Petitioner has to provide an Affidavit in the prescribed form undertaking to maintain the foreigner in USA at 125% above the determined poverty line. Unless such an affidavit is provided by a sponsor the Immigrant Visa and consequently the Green Card cannot be issued. A recent act called the Family Sponsored Immigration Act of 2002 provide for the acceptance of such an Affidavit of Support from another eligible sponsor if the original sponsor has died and the attorney general has determined for humanitarian reasons that the original sponsors I-130 should not be revoked.