A “Beneficiary” is any person who gains an advantage and/or profits from something. In the context of immigration, a beneficiary refers to someone eligible to receive immigration benefits. In an immigration petition, a beneficiary is an alien who has had a visa petition filed on his or her behalf.
Principal beneficiary and derivative beneficiaries
The principal beneficiary is the alien on whose behalf a visa petition is filed. A derivative beneficiary is an alien who cannot be directly petitioned for, but who can follow-to-join or accompany the principal beneficiary based on a spousal or parent-child relationship. For example, when a petitioner is petitioning for his fiancee and fiance’s child. The fiance would be the principal beneficiary and the child is the derivative beneficiary.
Related Articles:
- Does a Child of a Green Card Holder Qualify For Derivative Beneficiary? (CR1/CR2 Visa)
- K1 Visa Background Checks – For Sponsor? Or Alien? Or Both?
