Sponsoring Parents to the U.S. under the IR-5 Visa: Conditions, Costs, and Most Accurate Documents

Sponsoring parents to the U.S. for residency and family reunification is a popular immigration option in Vietnam. However, when opening a sponsorship case for parents to come to the U.S., children often wonder about the required conditions, procedures, documents, and how long the sponsorship process might take.

Do not worry, the following article from ImmiPath will help you answer all your questions about the IR-5 visa and more. Read now!

1. What Visa Category Does a Child Use to Sponsor Their Parents to the U.S.?

If you are a U.S. citizen and have parents in Vietnam, you may want to bring them to live with you in the United States. This could be for various reasons such as family closeness, better healthcare, or a higher standard of living.

The children sponsoring parents to the U.S. is commonly known as the IR-5 visa. This visa allows U.S. citizens to bring their parents from Vietnam to the U.S. as permanent residents. The visa will be issued at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where the parents reside. Additionally, you must be at least 21 years old to sponsor your parents for an IR-5 visa.

2. Conditions for Sponsoring Parents to the U.S.

To qualify for an IR-5 visa to sponsor your parents to the U.S., the following conditions must be met:

• The sponsor must be a U.S. citizen aged 21 or older.
• The sponsor must have sufficient financial means to support their parents until they can find employment.
• The sponsor must reside in the U.S. and have a U.S. address.
• The sponsor must provide a copy of their birth certificate to prove the relationship between the sponsor and their parents.
• The sponsor must demonstrate the ability to support their parents at 125% above the required poverty level.
• If you are a lawful permanent resident, you are not eligible to sponsor your parents for a U.S. green card.

Additionally, the U.S. citizen must be residing in the United States and be willing to provide financial support to their parents for up to ten years. If the sponsor does not have sufficient financial resources, family members or friends can assist with the sponsorship.

If the U.S. citizen was adopted, the adoption must have been finalized before the child’s 16th birthday. The parents must have had legal custody of the child for two years (either before or after the adoption), and the child must have lived with the adoptive parents for two years (either before or after the adoption). If the U.S. citizen is a stepchild, the current marriage must have occurred before the child’s 18th birthday.

3. What are the Steps involved in Sponsoring Parents to the U.S.?

To sponsor your parents to immigrate to the U.S., the following steps need to be followed:

3.1 Step 1: Establish Proof of Parent-Child Relationship

All IR (“Immediate Relative”) visas, such as those for parents, are not subject to annual caps, meaning there is no need to wait for a green card to become available.

The first step for your parents to become lawful permanent residents of the U.S. is for the sponsor (the child) to file Form I-130 (officially known as the “Petition for Alien Relative”) to establish the parent-child relationship.

This process varies slightly depending on where the parents reside. If the sponsor files from outside the U.S.: The petition will be processed by the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Vietnam. If the sponsor files from within the U.S.: The process will involve a procedure known as “Adjustment of Status.”

3.2 Step 2: Determine Parents’ Eligibility for a Green Card

The U.S. government follows two different processes to determine the eligibility of parents for a Green Card, depending on where the parents are currently living:

If Applying from Outside the United States 

After the I-130 form is filed by the sponsoring child, it will be processed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once the petition is approved, the parent will be required to fill out form DS-260 (Immigrant Visa Application) and submit proof of their relationship with the sponsoring child.

When the DS-260 form is submitted, it must be sent along with supporting evidence to the National Visa Center (NVC), which will process and review the visa application. The NVC may request additional proof from the sponsor.

Once the NVC processes the application, it will be forwarded to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where your parents reside.

If Applying from Within the United States 

To apply through adjustment of status, the sponsor must have entered the United States with a valid visa or under the Visa Waiver Program.

After being sponsored and submitting form I-130, and once USCIS accepts the petition, the parents will file form I-485 (officially known as the “Application to Adjust Status”).

After receiving form I-485, USCIS will send a notice with the date, time, and location for the parents to have their fingerprints and eye scan taken (known as a biometrics appointment).

3.3 Step 3: Attend the Green Card Interview and Wait for Approval

Sponsoring parents for immigration to the U.S. requires them to attend an interview at the U.S. Consulate or Embassy if they are going through consular processing. If they are using adjustment of status from within the U.S., they may also be required to attend an interview.

When attending the interview, the following documents must be brought:

• Correspondence from USCIS
• A valid passport that remains valid for six months beyond the intended date of entry into the U.S. (if applying through consular processing)
• Two identical color photographs
• English translations of any documents that require translation
• Supporting documents such as original or certified copies of all civil documents that the parents uploaded to the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC)

During the interview, parents will be asked questions about their relationship with the sponsoring child to verify the legitimacy of the visa application. If the interview is successful, the visa will be granted, and your parents will be able to immigrate to the United States.

4. What are the Documents Required for Sponsoring Parents to the U.S.?

The sponsorship documentation for bringing parents to the U.S. must be accurate and complete. The IR-5 visa has different supporting document requirements depending on the parents and the circumstances of the sponsor’s birth, whether the parents were married (“in wedlock”) or unmarried (“out of wedlock”).

If the parents are applying from outside the U.S., the sponsoring child must submit:

• A copy of the birth certificate showing both the parents’ names and their own names.
• A copy of the certificate of naturalization or U.S. passport if they were not born in the U.S.

If the parents are applying from outside the U.S., the sponsoring child must submit:

• A copy of the birth certificate showing both their own name and their parents’ names.
• A copy of the certificate of naturalization or U.S. passport if they were not born in the U.S.
• A copy of the parents’ civil marriage certificate.

If the father lives outside the U.S. and the child being sponsored was born out of wedlock and has not been legitimized by the father before their 18th birthday:

• A copy of the birth certificate showing both the child’s and parents’ names.
• A copy of the certificate of naturalization or U.S. passport if the parents were not born in the U.S.
• Evidence of a genuine emotional or financial relationship between the sponsored child and their parents before the child married or turned 21 (whichever comes first).

If the parents live outside the U.S. and the child being sponsored was born out of wedlock and was legitimized by the father before their 18th birthday:

• A copy of the birth certificate showing both the child’s and parents’ names.
• A copy of the certificate of naturalization or U.S. passport if the parents were not born in the U.S.
• Evidence that the child has been legitimized before their 18th birthday through the marriage of their biological parents, state or national law where they were born.

If you want to sponsor a step-parent to come to the U.S., the sponsor must submit:

• A copy of the birth certificate showing both the child’s name and the step-parent’s name.
• A copy of the certificate of naturalization or U.S. passport if they were not born in the U.S.
• A copy of the civil marriage certificate of the biological parents with the step-parent, showing that the marriage occurred before the child’s 18th birthday.
• A copy of any divorce decrees, death certificates, or annulment decrees to prove that any previous marriages of the biological parents or step-parent have legally ended.

If a child wants to bring their adoptive parents to the U.S., they must submit:

• A copy of the birth certificate showing both the child’s name and the names of their biological parents.
• A copy of the certificate of naturalization or U.S. passport if they were not born in the U.S.
• A certified copy of the adoption decree showing that the adoption occurred before the child’s 16th birthday.
• A statement showing the dates and places where the child lived with their adoptive parents.

5. Financial Sponsorship When Sponsoring Parents to the U.S.

A U.S. citizen who wishes to sponsor their parents to come to the U.S. must demonstrate income or assets sufficient to sponsor their parents at 125% of the U.S. poverty line. This requirement ensures that your parents will not become a “public charge” or eligible for government assistance based on need.

Some necessary requirements for filing a financial sponsorship for parents to come to the U.S. include:

• The sponsor will need to submit Form I-864P, which is used to determine the minimum income requirements for submitting Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support).
• The financial sponsor can also use net assets such as cash, stocks, bonds, or real estate to demonstrate financial ability.
• A household member or friend can assist in meeting the income or asset requirements if the sponsor cannot meet them alone.
• The sponsored individuals can use their own income to meet the financial requirements, provided that this income continues from the same source after receiving a green card.

In addition, it is important to recognize that your parents may be denied a green card if they are inadmissible for other reasons, such as having a criminal record, immigration violations, or having a health condition that poses a public health risk or a dangerous physical or mental disorder.

6. How Much Does It Cost to Sponsor Parents to the U.S.?

Many people are interested in the cost of sponsoring parents to the U.S. ImmiPath provides the latest cost information in the table below for your reference:

No.	Category	Place of collection	Amount of money
1	Application opening fee	USCIS	$535/set
2	Reviewing financial documents fee	NVC	$120/set
3	Reviewing civil documents fee	NVC	$325/person
4	Health examination fee	Cho Ray, IOM	Adults: $275 (6,399,000 VND) + Children 2-14 years old: $240 (5,584,000 VND) + Children < 2 years old: $165 (3,389,000 VND)
5	Vaccination fee	International Quarantine Center – HCM City	Depending on the number of injections, it usually ranges from 4-6 million VND
6	Immigration fee	(USCIS immigrant fee)	$220/person
7	Fee for making criminal records No. 2	Department of Justice of the province where you have permanent residence	200,000 VND/person (over 16 years old)
8	Passport fee	Immigration Department – Police of the province or city where you have permanent residence	200,000 VND
9	Document translation fee	Notary office	Depends on the collection location. Some documents need to be translated into English such as criminal record number 2 with criminal record
10	Visa delivery fee	Delivery service	140,000VND

The fees in sections 1, 2, 3, and 6 are for the case of only the main applicant. Items 4, 5, 7, 9, and 10 will vary depending on the category and number of accompanying people.

In case the family has many people accompanying them, the sponsorship cost for going to the U.S. will increase accordingly, with the amount calculated per person.

7. How Long Does It Take to Sponsor Parents to the U.S.?

If you are looking into the process of sponsoring parents to the U.S. and wondering about the timeline, here is some information you should not miss. After submitting the application and required documents to sponsor relatives to the U.S. according to the requirements of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the average processing time is typically between 12 to 18 months, depending on the case.

This processing time assumes that your application meets all the requirements and is valid. If additional documents are needed or if the application is not accurate, the processing time may be extended. To avoid delays caused by errors in the application, it is important to thoroughly understand the requirements and prepare all necessary documents.

8. Frequently Asked Questions About Parents Sponsoring Children to the U.S.

8.1. Will my parents be eligible for U.S. citizenship?

After holding a green card for five years, your parents will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

8.2. I am a U.S. citizen under 21. Can I still sponsor my parents?

No. The sponsor must be at least 21 years old to be eligible to sponsor any parent.

8.3. Can I include my siblings in the same petition as my parents?

No. It is important to note that if the sponsor’s parents have minor children abroad, those children cannot be included in the same petition. Instead, they will need to be sponsored separately by the sponsor, once they are a U.S. citizen, or by the parents if they file a separate petition when they become green card holders.

8.4. Which parents are eligible to apply for a U.S. immigrant visa?

To file a petition to sponsor parents to the U.S., your parents must fall into one of the following categories:

• Biological mother or father
• Stepfather or stepmother, if they married your biological parent before you turned 18
• Adoptive father or mother, if you were adopted before you turned 16

8.5. How can I determine if my father is eligible for a U.S. green card?

If you are a U.S. citizen and at least 21 years old, you are eligible to apply to bring your parents to the U.S. to live and work and to obtain a green card.

8.6. Can I file an immigrant petition for my mother-in-law?

Parents-in-law are not considered “parents” for immigration purposes. In other words, a U.S. citizen cannot file an immigration petition to bring their spouse’s parents to the U.S.

8.7. Can I file an immigrant petition for my stepfather?

If a U.S. citizen is the child of a foreign national, the marriage that creates the stepparent relationship must have occurred before the child turned 18.

8.8. As an adopted child, can I sponsor my parents to come to the U.S.?

If a child is a U.S. citizen and was adopted, the adoption must be finalized before the child’s 16th birthday. Additionally, the adoptive parents must have legal custody of the child for at least two years, either before or after the adoption. The child must also have lived with the adoptive parents for at least two years, either before or after the adoption.

8.9. Are there any annual limits on the number of parents that can immigrate each year?

Parents of U.S. citizens have special immigration priority and are not subject to a visa quota, so they can immigrate without waiting for a visa number as there is no limit on the number of visas issued each year.

8.10. I am a U.S. citizen and have filed a green card application for my parents. USCIS has requested a DNA test. My parents are not in the U.S., only I am. How can we get a DNA test?

Immigration DNA testing removes barriers for families that cannot provide proof of biological relationships. U.S. immigration law requires sufficient evidence when issuing visas for family-sponsored cases. Typically, primary evidence such as birth certificates is sufficient, but secondary evidence like school records can also be used.

However, if there are concerns about existing documents or legal obstacles, the U.S. Embassy may issue a Request for Evidence (RFE). If an RFE includes a DNA test request, it will inform you of the approved laboratories’ website.

You can contact the laboratory. They will arrange to collect DNA samples from your parents in Vietnam and you in the U.S. The laboratory can send the results directly to the U.S. Embassy.

9. So, How can you Sponsor your Parents to the U.S. as quickly as possible?

As explained by ImmiPath, the process of sponsoring parents to the U.S. requires strict adherence to specific requirements. To ensure that all procedures and interviews with the consular officer proceed smoothly and successfully, ImmiPath recommends seeking the services of a reputable and high-quality U.S. immigration consultancy. Missing even one required document or lacking convincing evidence, along with failing to pay all required fees, can lead to delays and extended processing times for family reunification.

ImmiPath, with its experienced team of consultants and offices in both the U.S. and Vietnam, prides on being a professional in the field of U.S. immigration consulting. We are committed to assisting you with all procedures for sponsoring spouses, relatives, and siblings with precision and efficiency.

If you have any questions about the costs of sponsoring parents to enter the U.S., do not hesitate to comment below. The ImmiPath consulting team will be dedicated to supporting and advising you, sharing the experience and sincerity to help you and your family reunite smoothly in the U.S.