Hello, I'm very new at this. My name's Catrina, I'm 19 and my sister's 21 and we're both U.S. citizens. We would like to bring our dad into the U.S. (from the Philippines) but we have no clue on where or how to even begin the process. So please, if anyone has the time to explain the process and the required forms, we'd really really appreciate it. Thank you!

=)

Also, the main reason we'd like to bring him here is because he's sick. He has heart problems and have difficulty breathing at times.

Is there a separate kind of petition form dealing with medical treatments or something?

Thanks in advanced for any help!

Immediate Relative petition: I-130

Fill out the for I-130, then wait for its approval. go to www.uscis.gov you can find all the instructions there. If you file everything on time, it will take about 6-9 months before your father joins you. good luck.

Another question:

It says (on the 1-130 Instructions) that we need a birth certificate proving that he's our father and a marriage certificate etc.

What if we can't find the marriage certificate?

You should be able to request a marriage certificate from the Home Affairs Dept of the country the marriage was registered in. Make sure to request a full version, not an abridged version such as are sometimes provided by default.

Have you thought through this.

The US is the last place I would want to move to if I was sick.