How family-based green cards work: immediate relatives, F1 to F4 and the I-130

Who can sponsor a relative

The sponsor, called the petitioner, is the US citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder) who files the petition. The relative the petition is for is the beneficiary. USCIS says your own status decides which relatives you can help: a US citizen can petition for more relatives than a permanent resident can. USCIS also lists refugees admitted, and asylees granted asylum, within the past two years among those who can help a family member immigrate; that path is not covered here.

Fiancé(e) visas, adoption, and widows and widowers of US citizens have their own USCIS pages and rules. This page covers the standard relative petition only.

Sources: USCIS: Family; USCIS: Consular Processing, steps 2 to 8

Immediate relatives of US citizens

USCIS defines three immediate relatives of a US citizen:

• The spouse of a US citizen.
• An unmarried child under 21 of a US citizen.
• A parent of a US citizen, if the citizen is 21 or older.

Sources: USCIS: Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen

Immediate relatives do not wait for a visa number

USCIS says immigrant visas for immediate relatives are unlimited, so a visa is always available. That is the main structural difference from the preference categories. It does not remove the other requirements: the relationship must still exist, the person must be admissible, and the case still goes through USCIS and then either a consulate or adjustment of status.

Sources: USCIS: Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen

The family preference categories, F1 to F4

Other relatives fall into numbered preference categories, which have limited visa numbers:

• F1: unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of US citizens.
• F2A: spouses and unmarried children under 21 of permanent residents.
• F2B: unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of permanent residents.
• F3: married sons and daughters of US citizens.
• F4: brothers and sisters of US citizens, if the citizen is 21 or older.

Sources: USCIS: Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants

Priority dates and the Visa Bulletin, in principle

In a preference case, a visa number becomes available by the beneficiary’s priority date, their place in line. 9 FAM 502.1 says the priority date often matches the date the petition was filed, though not always. The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin with a Final Action Dates chart, set by preference category and by country of chargeability. When a category is oversubscribed, a visa becomes available once the priority date is earlier than the cut-off date shown for that category and country. A category marked “C” is current: a visa is available as soon as the petition is approved.

For adjustment of status, USCIS also points to its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts alongside the bulletin. This page does not estimate waits; check the current Visa Bulletin on the State Department’s website.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1 (derivatives, CSPA and visa availability); USCIS: Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants

Step 1: the I-130 petition

The process starts when the US citizen or permanent resident relative files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with USCIS. USCIS decides the petition and notifies the petitioner. An approved I-130 is not itself a green card or a visa; the beneficiary still has to apply for one. What happens next depends on where the beneficiary is and whether a visa is available.

Sources: USCIS: Consular Processing, steps 2 to 8; USCIS: Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen

Step 2a: consular processing abroad

For a beneficiary outside the United States, USCIS sends the approved petition to the State Department’s National Visa Center (NVC), where it waits until a visa number is available. NVC collects fees, Form DS-260 (the online immigrant visa application) and documents. Immediate relative and family preference cases generally need Form I-864, the affidavit of support, under 8 CFR 213a.2. Documents include the beneficiary’s civil records and, for some categories, the petitioner’s: an IR5 (parent) or F4 (sibling) applicant needs the petitioner’s birth certificate. A consular officer interviews the applicant abroad.

A visa is not admission. At the US port of entry, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer decides whether to admit the person as a permanent resident, and the green card is mailed afterwards. Our guide to the interview abroad describes these steps in detail; it is written for EB-1A and NIW cases, so some details, such as fees and the affidavit of support, differ for family cases.

Sources: USCIS: Consular Processing, steps 2 to 8; 8 CFR 213a.2(a)(2)(i)(A) and (B); 9 FAM 504.4-4(A) (basic document requirements)

Step 2b: adjustment of status in the United States

A beneficiary already in the United States may be able to apply there on Form I-485 without leaving. USCIS lists requirements including being inspected and admitted or paroled, being physically present, having a visa immediately available when filing and when USCIS decides, the relationship still existing, and no bar to adjustment under INA 245(c) applying, with limited exceptions such as INA 245(i).

An immediate relative may file the I-485 together with the I-130 (“concurrently”), while it is pending, or after it is approved. A preference beneficiary may do the same only if a visa is immediately available, and the USCIS list of documents for preference applicants includes proof of continuously maintained lawful status. While the I-485 is pending, a work permit (Form I-765) and advance parole for travel (Form I-131) can be requested; USCIS generally treats the I-485 as abandoned if the person leaves without advance parole.

Sources: USCIS: Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen; USCIS: Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants

Family members of the beneficiary

In the preference categories, the beneficiary’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 may come as derivatives on the same petition, accompanying or following to join. Immediate relatives work differently: USCIS says the spouse or child of an immediate relative cannot be a derivative and must qualify independently and file their own application.

Sources: USCIS: Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants; USCIS: Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen; 9 FAM 502.1-1 (derivatives, CSPA and visa availability)

Government fees, as of 27 October 2026

The official sources checked for this guide do not state the current USCIS filing fees for Form I-130 or Form I-485. USCIS says certain forms, including Form I-485, have a filing fee, and points to its Filing Fees and Fee Schedule pages. The State Department and USCIS consular-stage amounts in the rules are below. Fees change, so check the official fee pages before paying. Lawyer fees, translations, police certificates, the medical exam and travel are separate costs set by others.

• Immigrant visa application processing fee, immediate relative and family preference: $325 per person (22 CFR 22.1, item 32(a)).
• Affidavit of support review: $120, only when reviewed in the United States (22 CFR 22.1, item 34).
• USCIS Immigrant Fee, paid after the visa is issued, for producing the green card: $235 (8 CFR 106.2(c)(3)).

Sources: 22 CFR 22.1, items 32 and 34; 8 CFR 106.2(c)(3); USCIS: Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants

Timing

No official source checked for this guide gives a processing time for an I-130, an I-485 or NVC. For preference categories, the wait for a visa number depends on the category, the country of chargeability and the priority date, and only the current Visa Bulletin shows where the line is. Check the USCIS processing-times page and the Visa Bulletin rather than relying on any fixed estimate.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1 (derivatives, CSPA and visa availability); USCIS: Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants

Where family cases commonly change course

These are rules from the sources, not predictions about any case.

• Turning 21. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) can protect a child’s age. For immediate relatives, age is frozen on the petition filing date. In preference cases, the CSPA age is the age when the visa became available minus the time the petition was pending, and the protection applies only if the child seeks to acquire permanent residence within one year of the visa becoming available.
• Marriage. A child who marries loses “child” status even if the CSPA age is under 21. An F1 or F2 beneficiary admitted as an unmarried son or daughter must still be unmarried at the port of entry.
• Visa validity for children. An immigrant visa issued to a child cannot run past the day before the child turns 21.
• Naturalization of the petitioner. When a permanent-resident petitioner of an F2A child becomes a citizen, the petition converts automatically: to the immediate relative category if the child's true age was under 21 then, and otherwise to F1, or F3 if the child later marries; a different Child Status Protection Act calculation applies where the petitioner lives in the First, Second, Ninth or Tenth Circuit.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1 (derivatives, CSPA and visa availability); 22 CFR 42.72(d)

How Visa Trouble can help

We can point you to official information, but we don’t assess or prepare family-based green card routes. Free route discovery at Visa Trouble can still show other routes worth comparing. Visa Trouble is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.