Green Card for Spouse of U.S. Citizen or Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen

If you are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, you can become a lawful permanent resident and get a Green Card based on your family relationship if you meet certain eligibility requirements.

 

You are an immediate relative if you are:

• The spouse of a U.S. citizen;

• The unmarried child under 21 years of age of a U.S. citizen; or

• The parent of a U.S. citizen (if the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older).

 

Widow Green Card

If you are a widow or widower of a U.S. citizen, you will get Green Card for Widow(er)s for information about how to apply for a Green Card.

 

Consular Processing(If you are not in the US)

If you are currently outside the United States, you will do Consular Processing for information about how to apply for a Green Card as an immediate relative.

 

Eligibility for Adjustment of Status

If you are currently in the United States, in order to be eligible for a Green Card as an immediate relative, you must meet the following requirements:

Inspected and Admitted or Inspected and Paroled

Generally, to be eligible to adjust status, you must be present in the United States after being “inspected and admitted” or “inspected and paroled” by an immigration officer. There are some limited exceptions to this eligibility requirement. For more information on this requirement, see USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7, Adjustment of Status, Part B, Chapter 2, Section A, “Inspected and Admitted” or “Inspected and Paroled”.

 

Eligibility to Receive an Immigrant Visa

You are eligible to receive an immigrant visa if you are the beneficiary of:

• You properly file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status;

• You were inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled into the United States;

• You are physically present in the United States at the time you file your Form I-485;

• You are eligible to receive an immigrant visa;

• An immigrant visa is immediately available to you at the time you file your Form I-485 and at the time USCIS makes a final decision on your application;    

• The relationship to the family member who filed Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, for you still exists;

• None of the applicable bars to adjustment apply to you;

• You are admissible to the United States for lawful permanent residence or eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility or other form of relief; and

• You merit the favorable exercise of USCIS’ discretion.

• An approved Form I-130 on your behalf;

• A pending Form I-130 (that is ultimately approved); or

• A Form I-130 (that is ultimately approved) filed together with your Form I-485.

 

Bars to Adjustment

Depending on how you entered the United States or if you committed a particular act or violation of immigration law, you may be barred from adjusting status. You are ineligible to apply for adjustment of status if one or more bars to adjustment listed in section 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) apply to you.

 

Applying Under INA 245(i)

You may be able to adjust status under INA section 245(i) even if you are subject to one or more adjustment bars and are therefore ineligible for adjustment of status under INA section 245(a).

 

Grounds of Inadmissibility

To qualify for a Green Card, you must be admissible to the United States. Reasons why you may be inadmissible are listed in INA 212(a) and are called grounds of inadmissibility.

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Unlawful Presence

Unlawful presence is the period of time when you are in the United States without being admitted or paroled or when you are not in a “period of stay authorized by the Secretary.” You will be found inadmissible (unless an exception applies):

• If you again seek admission within three years of departing the United States, after having accrued more than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence during a single stay and before removal proceedings begin;

• If you again seek admission within 10 years of departing or being removed from the United States, after having accrued one year or more of unlawful presence during a single stay, regardless of whether you leave before, during, or after removal proceedings; or

• Permanently, if you reenter or try to reenter the United States without being admitted or paroled after having accrued more than one year of unlawful presence in the aggregate during one or more stays in the United States.

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USCIS can only approve your Green Card application if none of the grounds of inadmissibility apply to you.

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Exception for Grounds of Inadmissibility

As the immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, the ground of inadmissibility does not apply to you.

 

Labor certification and qualifications for certain immigrants (INA 212(a)(5))

If you are inadmissible, the law may allow you to apply for a waiver of inadmissibility or other form of relief. See Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility and Form I-212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States after Deportation or Removal. If a waiver or other form of relief is granted, USCIS may approve your application for a Green Card if you are otherwise eligible.

 

Whether a waiver or other form of relief is available depends on the specific inadmissibility ground(s) that applies to you and the category you are adjusting under. Eligibility requirements for waivers and other forms of relief vary.

 

If you are in the US

If you are currently in the United States and you meet certain other requirements, you may file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status to apply for a Green Card without leaving the country.  This is called “adjustment of status.”

 

As an immediate relative, you may file your Form I-485 together (“concurrently”) with the Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative filed on your behalf, while the Form I-130 is pending, or after the Form I-130 is approved (and remains valid). For more information, see our pages on Concurrent Filing and the Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative.

 

What to Submit

You should submit the following documentation and evidence to apply for a Green Card as an immediate relative who is already in the United States:

• Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status;

• Copy of the Form I-797, Approval or Receipt Notice, for the Form I-130 petition filed on your behalf (unless you are filing Form I-485 together with the Form I-130);

• Two passport-style photographs;

• Copy of your government-issued identity document with photograph;

• Copy of your birth certificate;

• Copy of your passport page with nonimmigrant visa (if applicable);

• Copy of your passport page with your admission or parole stamp (issued by a U.S. immigration officer) (if applicable);

• Copy of Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record or copy of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) admission or parole stamp on the travel document (if applicable)  If CBP provided you with an electronic Form I-94 upon your arrival/admission to the United States, you may print out a paper version of the Form I-94 from the CBP website at www.cbp.gov/I94;

• Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA or Form I-864EZ, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act;

• Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record (you may submit this form together with Form I-485 or later, such as by mail when we request it or in person at your interview, if any);

• Certified police and court records of all criminal charges, arrests, or convictions regardless of final disposition (if applicable);

• Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility (if applicable);

• Form I-212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal (if applicable);

• Documentation of past or present J-1 or J-2 nonimmigrant status (if applicable), including proof of compliance with or a waiver of the 2-year foreign residence requirement under INA 212(e) (for more information, see Form I-612, Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement);

• If you currently hold A, G, or E nonimmigrant status, include Form I-508, Request for Waiver of Rights, Privileges, Exemptions and Immunities;  

• Form I-566, Interagency Record of Request – A, G or NATO Dependent Employment Authorization or Change/Adjustment to/from A, G or NATO Status (only if you have A, G, or NATO nonimmigrant status); and

• Form I-485 Supplement A, Adjustment of Status Under Section 245(i) (if applicable).

 

Family Members

If you are the spouse or child of a U.S. citizen’s immediate relative, you must independently qualify for a Green Card and file your own application. You cannot qualify for a Green Card as the derivative beneficiary based on the immediate relative’s application.

 

Employment Authorization and Advance Parole Documents

Generally, when you have a pending Form I-485, you may apply for employment authorization by filing a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.

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You may also apply for an advance parole document by filing a Form I-131, Application for Travel Document. An advance parole document authorizes you to appear at a port-of entry to seek parole into the United States after temporary travel abroad. If you need to leave the United State temporarily while your Form I-485 is pending, please see the Instructions for Application for Travel Document for more information. Generally, if you have a pending Form I-485 and you leave the United States without an advance parole document, you will have abandoned your application.

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We'd like to help you live in the US happily as both an immigrant family and an immigration attorney. Please feel free to contact us or visit our office. 949-344-0222

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I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence

 

If you have a green card valid for 2 years

You have married with the US citizen and received a conditional green card.

Your conditional permanent resident status is only valid for two years and cannot be renewed if you:

  1) Received your conditional permanent resident status through marriage to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident; or

  2) Were admitted to the United States as a fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen and then married the U.S. citizen.

 

You must file a petition to remove the conditions on your permanent resident status or risk losing your lawful status.

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Eligibility

When do I file I-751?

Generally, you must file with your spouse within 90 days of your two-year Green Card (Permanent Resident Card) expiring.

If you do not file on time, we may automatically terminate your status and issue you a Notice to Appear (NTA).

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  1. Filing jointly:

   If you are filing this petition jointly with your spouse, you must file it during the 90-day period immediately before your       conditional residence expires.

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  2. Filing with a request that the joint filing requirement be waived or individually filed: 

  You may file Form I-751 without your spouse if they are deceased, you are divorced, or you and/or your conditional resident child were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. You may file this petition at any time after you are granted conditional resident status and before you are removed from the United States.

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  3. Effect of not filing: 

  If this petition is not filed, you will automatically lose your permanent resident status two years from the date on which you were granted conditional status.

  You will then become removable from the United States.

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If you file -751 late?

If your failure to file was through no fault of your own, you may file your petition late with a written explanation and request that USCIS excuse the late filing.

Failure to file before the expiration date may be excused if you demonstrate when you file the petition that the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control and that the length of the delay was reasonable.

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What if I am a conditional permanent resident kid?

If you are a conditional permanent resident child, you may be eligible to be included on your parent’s petition if you received your status on the same day as your parent, or within 90 days after your parent received conditional status.

Or, you must file your own petition with your stepparent.

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What if the US citizen spouse doesn't help me to file I-751?

You may file to remove conditions on your permanent residence status without your spouse or stepparent at any time after you are granted conditional status if:

• Death:    You or your parent entered into the marriage in good faith, but your spouse or stepparent subsequently died;

• Divorce:  You or your parent entered into a marriage in good faith, but the marriage ended through divorce or annulment;

• Cruelty by the US citizen spouse:   You entered into a marriage in good faith, but either you or your child were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by your spouse;

• Cruelty by parents:   Your parent entered into the marriage in good faith, but you were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by either your parent or your parent’s spouse; or

• Extreme hardship: Termination of your status and removal from the United States would result in extreme hardship.

 

After You File I-751

Once we receive your form, USCIS will send you a:

• Receipt notice confirming we received your petition;

• Biometric services notice, if applicable;

• Notice to appear for an interview, if required; and 

• Notice of our decision.

 

USCIS Forms and Fees

• Form I-751 & Instruction of I-751

• Filing fee $595 + Biometric fee $85=Total $680

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We'd like to help you live in the US happily as both an immigrant family and an immigration attorney. Please feel free to contact us or visit our office. 949-344-0222