The I-360 petition is one that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides for foreign nationals wishing to begin the green card (lawful permanent residence) application process within one of the "special immigrant visa" categories, or as an Amerasian, a widow(er) of a U.S. citizen, or a battered/abused spouse, parent, or child of a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

Most people filing Form I-360 will do so as a "self-petition," while in a few cases, a sponsoring organization files the petition.

Who Qualifies as a Special Immigrant?

Despite the generic-sounding name, special immigrants are a somewhat unrelated selection of visa-eligible people found in U.S. immigration law (8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(27)) under category EB-4. It includes:

• workers for recognized religious organizations

• foreign medical graduates who have lived in the United States for a long time

• longtime U.S. government employees

• certain retired officers of employees of international organizations who lived in the U.S. a long time

• juveniles dependent on U.S. courts

• people who served honorably, on active U.S. military duty, for 12 years or more after October 15, 1978

• Panama Canal Treaty employees

• NATO civilian employees, and

• people coming to work in the U.S. as broadcasters for the International Broadcasting Bureau.

• Afghani or Iraqi nationals who supported the U.S. Armed Forces as a translator

• Iraqi nationals who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq, and

• Afghan nationals who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Afghanistan.

Each of these categories must meet its own special requirements in terms of eligibility and documentation, which you'll need to look into before applying. Also see Process to Get a Green Card Under VAWA for the rules on getting a green card as a battered spouse or family member.

​

If you need more information contact Visa Journey Inc for a consultation.