• An Immediate Family visa is a U.S. immigrant visa issued to the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. An immediate relative, according to Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary, is defined as "a U.S. citizen's spouse, minor children (under the age of 21), and parents (so long as the citizen is at least 21 years old)."
  
  

Form I-130

• One of the first forms a U.S. citizen or permanent resident must file for his immediate relative is Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. This form establishes the relationship that exists between a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and a foreign national. The form must be completed and filed by a U.S. citizen on behalf of his relative. To download this form, see the Resources section.
  
  Form I-130 must be filed at a specific United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) center that has jurisdiction over the U.S. citizen's state of residence. For information on where to file your Form I-130, see the Resources section.
  
  Under U.S. immigration law, immediate relatives of American citizens are given priority in allocation of immigrant visas. Therefore, upon approval of your Form I-130, USCIS will forward your approved petition to the National Visa Center (NVC).
  
  

Form I-864

• Because all family-based U.S. immigration benefits require a "petitioning sponsor" (the petitioner of an approved USCIS petition), a Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, must be completed and filed with the NVC. You do not need to file a Form I-864 independently. NVC will contact you upon the approval of your USCIS petition to notify you on what type of Affidavit of Support form you need to complete.
  
  According to the Department of State, an Affidavit of Support is "a contract between a sponsor and the U.S. Government" establishing "that the intending immigrant has adequate means of financial support and is unlikely to become a public charge."
  
  Upon successfully filing Form I-864, as instructed by the NVC, your case will remain at NVC until the U.S. embassy in your relative's country is ready to adjudicate the case. This may take several weeks depending on the workload of the embassy. When the embassy is ready, your relative will be contacted with further instructions.
  
  

Form DS-230

• One of the last forms in the immigration process for immediate relatives is Form DS-230, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration. Once NVC forwards a case to an embassy and the relative receives a packet from the embassy, Form DS-230 must be completed and filed at the embassy. For information on what Form DS-230 looks like, see the Resources section.
  
  This form is the official application form for an immigrant visa. Once an applicant has completed all additional requirements as stipulated in the application packet she received from the embassy, the applicant will be invited for an immigrant visa interview. Immigration officers typically scrutinize all information provided on a Form DS-230 before a visa is approved. Therefore, Form DS-230 should be completed as thoroughly and as carefully as possible.