Following-to-join family members

The spouse and children of a principal applicant are entitled to derive immigration benefits from their principal’s approved visa petition and may travel to the United States at a later date. Under no circumstance will the derivative spouse or child be allowed to travel to the U.S. ahead of the principal applicant.

Following-to-join applicants may derive immigration benefits only if:

a) the spouse or children were acquired before the principal applicant’s admission into the United States; and

b) the principal applicant gained lawful permanent resident (LPR) status or was issued an immigrant visa under the family-preference (F) or employment-based (E) visa categories or was issued a non-immigrant K or V visa. Foreign nationals who immigrated to the U.S. under an immediate relative (IR) visa category need to file a separate Form I-130 visa petition on behalf of their spouses and children.

c) the principal applicant has not naturalized. Once the principal applicant becomes a U.S. citizen, a separate visa petition needs to be filed on behalf of the spouse and/or children to qualify for immigration benefits again.

Following-to-join derivative beneficiaries must present documentation establishing the principal applicant’s immigration status in the United States and their relationship to their principal. These include:

· A copy of the child’s birth certificate issued by the National Statistics Office

· A copy of the marriage certificate issued by the National Statistics Office

· A copy of the principal alien’s registration receipt card or I-551 or a copy of the principal alien’s passport pages indicating admission to the U.S. as an immigrant

· If applicable, Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition

To register a family member as a following-to-join derivative, the above documents may be faxed to the Immigrant Visa Section at (632) 301-2591 or mailed to the Operations Unit, Immigrant Visa Branch, U.S. Embassy, 1201 Roxas Blvd., Ermita, Metro Manila 1000. The documents must come with a letter of request clearly indicating the name of the applicant(s) and the applicant(s)' contact address and telephone number.

Once the Embassy ascertains the eligibility for following-to-join derivative status, it will provide instructions on how to apply for the visas.

It is important to remember that a child is only eligible for following-to-join benefits if he or she is a child, step-child or adopted child in accordance with U.S. immigration law.