Can my spouse and children get green cards with my EB-1A or NIW?

What is a derivative, and who is the principal?

The principal is the person the Form I-140 petition is for: the EB-1A beneficiary or the NIW beneficiary. A derivative is a spouse or child who gets immigrant status through the principal under section 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), rather than through a petition of their own.

The State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual lists the visa symbols. An EB-1A principal is E11, the spouse E14 and a child E15. An EB-2 principal, including an NIW principal, is E21, the spouse E22 and a child E23.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2)a, Derivatives overview; 9 FAM 502.1-3, Immigrant visa classification symbols (employment-based)

Who counts as a spouse or child?

The relationship must exist before the principal is admitted as a permanent resident or adjusts status. A spouse married before that point qualifies. A child under the INA means a person who is unmarried and under 21.

Children born later can still count: a child born of a marriage that existed before the principal's admission or adjustment shares the principal's priority date. An adopted child can count if the child was adopted and living in the principal's household before the principal's admission or adjustment, even if the child met the INA definition of an adopted child only afterwards. The full INA definitions of child, including stepchildren and adopted children, are not in the sources behind this guide.

Someone who marries the principal after the principal becomes a permanent resident is not a derivative. That family member would need a separate family-based route.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2)a, Derivatives overview; 9 FAM 502.1-1(D), Child Status Protection Act

Do family members have to be listed on Form I-140?

Form I-140 Part 7 asks for the spouse and all children of the beneficiary, and whether each plans to adjust status in the US or apply for an immigrant visa abroad. USCIS uses this for visa processing and to estimate demand. The choice marked there is not binding but should reflect each person's intent at filing.

Separately, the Foreign Affairs Manual says a spouse or child acquired before the principal's admission or adjustment is entitled to derivative status whether or not they were named in the principal's immigrant visa application. These official sources do not address a family member left off Part 7 of Form I-140, so list everyone the form asks for.

Sources: Form I-140 Instructions (edition 06/07/24), Information About the Spouse and All Children; 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2)b(2), Following to join

Accompanying or following to join

A derivative can travel with the principal or later.

• Accompanying: not only travelling together but also being issued an immigrant visa within six months of the principal's visa issuance or adjustment of status in the US. An accompanying relative may not enter the US before the principal.
• Following to join: applying after that, with the principal's priority date. There is no statutory deadline and no requirement to live with the principal. It ends if the relationship ends, if the principal loses permanent resident status, or if a child marries or turns 21 without protection under the Child Status Protection Act. It also ends if the principal dies, subject to exceptions in INA 204(l) that this guide does not cover.
• A following-to-join derivative must immigrate before the principal naturalizes as a US citizen. After that, the citizen has to file a separate immediate relative petition.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2)b(1), Accompanying; 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2)b(2), Following to join; USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part A, Chapter 6, footnote 5

What if a child is about to turn 21?

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) lets some applicants keep classification as a child after turning 21. It applies to derivative children in employment-based categories, including EB-1A and NIW.

For children applying abroad, the Foreign Affairs Manual says CSPA age is not frozen. It is the child's age on the date a visa became available (the later of the date the priority date became current in the Visa Bulletin's Final Action Dates chart and the date the I-140 was approved), minus the number of days the I-140 was pending. If that age is under 21, the child must stay unmarried and must seek to acquire permanent residence within one year of visa availability. Marriage ends child status even if CSPA age is under 21. USCIS applies its own CSPA guidance to children adjusting status in the US; this guide's sources do not cover it.

Abroad, the National Visa Center (NVC) makes a preliminary CSPA determination, and the consular officer makes the final one. USCIS asks applicants processing abroad to tell NVC if a child turns 21 or someone's marital status changes, because that may affect visa eligibility or availability.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1(D), Child Status Protection Act; USCIS, Consular Processing (steps 3 to 7)

Where does each person apply?

Each family member makes their own application, and they need not all use the same process. A person in the US may apply for adjustment of status with USCIS on Form I-485; a person abroad applies for an immigrant visa at a US consulate. Whether a particular family member can adjust in the US depends on rules for their own status that this guide's sources do not cover.

The principal can adjust in the US while family abroad follow to join through a consulate, since following to join also applies to the family of a principal who adjusted status. In consular processing, the principal must document the relationship with the spouse and all children, including those not immigrating with the principal.

Sources: Form I-140 Instructions (edition 06/07/24), Information About the Spouse and All Children; 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2)b(2), Following to join; 9 FAM 504.4-4(D), Documents for spouse or children not accompanying

The steps for a family abroad

Each step is a separate event for each person:

• USCIS decides the principal's I-140 and, for anyone processing abroad, sends the approved petition to the State Department's NVC.
• NVC collects each applicant's fees and documents when the priority date is near.
• When the priority date is current, the consulate schedules interviews and a consular officer decides each person's visa.
• At the port of entry, a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer decides whether to admit each person as a permanent resident. A visa is permission to seek admission, not status.

Sources: USCIS, Consular Processing (steps 3 to 7)

Fees are per person

Government fees are charged for each applicant, not once per family. Fees change; recheck before paying. These are government fees only, separate from lawyer fees, medical examinations, translations and travel.

• Immigrant visa application processing fee: $345 per person for employment-based applications, in 22 CFR 22.1 as published on 21 October 2026.
• USCIS Immigrant Fee: $235 per immigrant, in 8 CFR 106.2(c)(3) as published on 14 October 2026, paid after the immigrant visa is issued, for USCIS processing and the Green Card. USCIS lets one person pay for family members in one transaction.
• Form I-485 for each person adjusting in the US: see the current USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055); its amount is not in this guide's sources.
• The principal's I-140 fees are per petition; family members do not pay them again.

Sources: 22 CFR 22.1, item 32(b); 8 CFR 106.2(c)(3), USCIS immigrant fee; USCIS, USCIS Immigrant Fee; USCIS, Consular Processing (steps 3 to 7)

Common problems

These come from the sources and are patterns, not predictions:

• A child marries before immigrating, which ends child status.
• A child's CSPA age reaches 21, or the child does not seek to acquire permanent residence within a year of visa availability.
• A marriage after the principal's admission or adjustment, which does not create derivative status.
• Waiting to follow to join until after the principal naturalizes.
• Not telling NVC about a birthday or marriage change during consular processing.

Sources: 9 FAM 502.1-1(D), Child Status Protection Act; 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2)b(2), Following to join; USCIS, Consular Processing (steps 3 to 7)

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