Important Family Documents

Moving to the United States with your family is an exciting journey, and it comes with a lot of needed preparation. At Interstaff, we are happy to process your family’s immigration paperwork alongside yours, but there are some important items for you to gather before we can begin.

First, please confirm with our team the family members that you wish to bring. Not all family members are eligible to move to the US with you, so please take a look at this blog post to see who can. (Hint: your spouse, and any unmarried children under the age of 21).

Once that has been confirmed with our team, it’s time to start collecting these key documents:

Each country and culture may document marriages differently, however, the United States government only recognizes marriages documented with a legal certificate or license issued from your local or federal governing body.

This means if you were married traditionally or within your religious community, but have not obtained written, legal documentation of that marriage, you will need to obtain a marriage certificate as soon as possible. It is important to have a marriage certificate as soon as you can, so that its legality can be recognized by the US government for a longer period of time. Without a marriage certificate/license, your spouse will not be able to accompany you to the United States.

If you are engaged, you will not be able to immigrate as an engaged couple. You will have to marry before you move to the US for your partner to be able to come with you. While you can add dependents (a new spouse) to your visa petition after it has been submitted, we recommend getting married as early as possible ensure smoother processing, and to reduce the risk of obstacles in your visa journey.

Please ensure you have your family’s birth certificates. These documents will be key to proving your children’s relationship with yourself, and allowing them dependent visas. Your Processing Officer will also guide you through getting their passports, if you do not have passports for your children already. Please ensure all names and information match exactly between their birth certificates and passports.

If you have adopted a child/children, you will need legal documentation that you are their legal guardian in order for the US government to consider them your child and grant them a dependent visa.  If you do not have this documentation, your adopted child cannot come with you. Please make sure you have these papers as soon as possible, since once again, the longer these legal documents have been in effect, the more assured the US government is of their being legitimate. Here at Interstaff, adoptions in general should be finalized for two years prior to entering our program, whenever possible.

If you have taken care of family members for some time (perhaps your nieces and nephews), please note that these family members are not able to move to the United States with you, unless there has been a family event which resulted in your taking full custody and guardianship of them. Please let our team know if you have taken guardianship of family members, especially if you lack the legal documentation to prove it. When a blood relative, it needs to be looked at closely to ensure the child will pass immigration.

Our team is best equipped to guide you through your immigration journey when we are given as much information as possible. So, please do not hesitate to share more information with us, especially if you are confused about how to proceed. We are ready and eager to help!

If you are an applicant and you have questions, please email us at recruiting@interstaffinc.com!

If you are an Interstaff nurse and are working with your Processing Officer, please reach out directly to them for assistance!

Here at Interstaff we are committed to caring for our nurses, ensuring they and their families find smooth passage to a new chapter in the United States.