Family petitions: who may petition for whom, and how long it takes

U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and permanent residents may petition for certain relatives, on Form I-130. What that petition does is recognize the family relationship and open the queue. It grants no status to anyone and authorizes no entry. The distance between recognizing the relationship and obtaining the green card is what this page tries to make predictable for you.

The relationship must exist on the filing date and continue to exist until the decision. That sounds obvious and is not: marriages that end, children who turn 21 and children who marry change the category, and sometimes extinguish it.

Who can petition for whom

Who files	Relatives covered
U.S. citizen	Spouse; unmarried child under 21; parent, if the person filing is at least 21; unmarried son or daughter 21 or older; married son or daughter of any age; and brother or sister, if the person filing is at least 21.
Permanent resident, and non-citizen U.S. national	Spouse; unmarried child under 21; and unmarried son or daughter 21 or older.

THE DIFFERENCE THAT GOVERNS EVERYTHING: the spouse, certain children and the parents of a U.S. citizen are immediate relatives, and for them there is no annual visa cap. A visa is always available, and there is no queue. All other relationships fall into the preference categories, which are capped by year and by country of birth, and there the wait can run to years. A permanent resident has no immediate relatives: even a spouse and a young child fall in the second preference.

Preference	Who
First	Unmarried sons and daughters of a U.S. citizen, 21 or older, who previously qualified as a minor child. Unmarried generally means not married from filing until entry or grant of the green card, whether or not previously married.
Second	Spouse, child under 21, and unmarried son or daughter 21 or older of a permanent resident.
Third	Married sons and daughters of a U.S. citizen, of any age, who previously qualified as a minor child. Marital status is determined by the law of the place of celebration.
Fourth	Siblings of a U.S. citizen, one shared parent being enough. The person filing must be at least 21.

Life happens while the petition waits

The naturalization of the person who filed, the marriage or divorce of the person filed for, and turning 21 are events the USCIS manual calls material changes of circumstance. They produce one of three effects: automatic conversion of the petition to another category, with no new filing; denial of a petition still awaiting decision; or automatic revocation of a petition already approved.

An unmarried son or daughter of a citizen, 21 or older, who marries: moves from the first to the third preference.
A married son or daughter of a citizen who divorces: moves from the third to the first preference if 21 or older; if under 21, becomes an immediate relative.
A permanent resident who petitioned for a spouse or child and then naturalizes: the petition becomes an immediate relative case.
A child who turns 21: converts as the case requires, and there is a specific calculation about this later on this page.

CONVERSION KEEPS YOUR PLACE IN LINE, AND IT IS NOT ALWAYS WORTH ACCEPTING: you keep the original date, and the change of category takes effect from the day of the event. But not every conversion improves your position. Because the wait in one category may be shorter than in another, it is possible to decline the automatic conversion. The classic example is the child of a permanent resident who, on that parent's naturalization, would move to the first preference, and prefers to stay in the second because that queue moves faster. It is a calendar decision, made with the visa bulletin in hand.

Automatic revocation is what happens when the event places the person in a relationship for which no category exists. The example the USCIS manual itself gives: an unmarried son or daughter of a permanent resident who marries after approval and before obtaining the green card or beginning travel. There is no category for a married child of a permanent resident, and the petition falls.

Who travels along, and who does not

In the preference categories, the spouse and children of the person filed for may accompany them, or follow later, with the same place in line, and no separate petition is needed for each of them.

THE RULE THAT SPLITS THE MOST FAMILIES: an immediate relative brings no one along. The family members of an immediate relative cannot accompany them in that capacity. They immigrate only if they qualify on their own, and each needs a separate petition. A citizen petitioning for a spouse, for instance, must file another petition for that spouse's child, as stepparent. Discovering this late is what leaves a family split. There is one exception worth knowing: the widow or widower of a U.S. citizen may bring their own along.

Resolving it inside the country, or at the consulate

Once the relationship is recognized and a visa is available, two paths remain to the green card. Someone outside the United States goes through the consulate. Someone inside may apply to change their situation to permanent resident without leaving the country, and here the distinction between immediate relative and preference decides the case again, now for a different reason.

THE CONDITION FEW PEOPLE CHECK IN TIME: to resolve it inside the country by the ordinary route, you must have been inspected and admitted, or released at the border under special authorization. Someone who entered without inspection does not have that door. Beyond that, the statute bars this route for anyone who worked without authorization or failed to maintain lawful status. And here is the point: those bars do not reach the immediate relative. A spouse, child or parent of a U.S. citizen who entered lawfully may resolve it inside the country even having lost lawful status or worked without authorization. Someone who entered without inspection may still have a path under an exceptional rule, INA § 245(i), which requires individual analysis.

A travel warning, because the mistake is common and the price is high. As a rule, someone who applies for the green card inside the country and leaves the United States abandons the application, unless they obtained travel authorization from USCIS beforehand. It is not the temporary visa that holds the application: it is that document. Leaving without it, even for a family emergency of a few days, can mean starting over from scratch, now from outside.

The queue, and what can be done with it

In the preferences, your place in line is the date Form I-130 was filed. From there the general rules of visa availability apply, which we cover in detail in our visa bulletin guide: a visa must be available both when you file the green card application and when it is approved, and the chart that governs the final decision is always Final Action Dates. In some cases it is possible to use the country of birth of a spouse or a parent, which can shorten years of waiting.

ON THE RULE THAT BLOCKED GREEN CARDS FROM 75 COUNTRIES, BRAZIL AMONG THEM: it was vacated by court order on 21 August 2026, in CLINIC v. Rubio, with effect for everyone. On 28 August the government told the court it is complying, that the earlier guidance no longer applies, that instructions went out to consulates, including to review those refused solely because of it, and that interviews are being scheduled again. Compliance is still being pressed in court, with a hearing on 31 August 2026. We keep an updated analysis of this on the site, and it is the right reading for anyone whose case stalled.

When a child turns 21: the calculation that can save the case

We said above that a child who turns 21 converts as the case requires. What remains to be said is that there is a calculation, and it can save the case. The statute directs that age be determined not by the birthday but by a subtraction: take the age the child was on the day the visa number became available and subtract the number of days the petition spent awaiting decision. The result is the age that counts for immigration.

THE CONDITION THAT VOIDS THE CALCULATION IF MISSED: the calculation applies only if the child sought permanent residence within one year of the date the visa number became available. Miss that year and the benefit is lost, however favorable the subtraction would have been. It is a deadline that runs silently, with no notice, which is why the visa bulletin should be watched month by month when there is a child near 21. If, after the calculation, the age still comes out at 21 or more, the petition converts automatically to the applicable category and the place in line is preserved.

The financial commitment of the person who files

Almost every family case requires an affidavit of support from the person filing, and it is not a form: it is a contract. The sponsor undertakes to maintain the immigrant at an annual income no lower than 125% of the federal poverty line, agrees to be sued in any federal or state court, and takes on an obligation enforceable in court.

The comparison with the poverty line is made by the size of the sponsor's household, counting dependents and every foreign national that person has previously sponsored. It is the calculation that most surprises someone sponsoring a second relative.

The obligation may be enforced by the sponsored immigrant, as to support, and by the federal government, a state, a locality, or an agency providing a means-tested benefit, as to reimbursement.
It lasts until the immigrant naturalizes or, if earlier, until they complete forty qualifying quarters, counting also the spouse's during the marriage and the parents' while the immigrant was under 18.
A reimbursement action may not be brought more than ten years after the last benefit received.
Financial capacity is shown with certified copies of the last three years' tax returns, and may also be proven by significant assets of the sponsor or the immigrant.
Someone below the threshold may use a joint sponsor, who is jointly liable. An active-duty service member sponsoring a spouse or child is held to the reduced threshold of 100%.
The sponsor must report a change of address within thirty days, on pain of a fine, which rises considerably if that person knew the immigrant received a means-tested benefit.

Recent marriage, conditional green card

If the marriage on which the green card rests was less than twenty-four months old on the day residence was obtained, it comes conditional, and the same applies to a stepchild immigrating through that marriage. It is not a lesser green card: the conditional period counts normally toward naturalization. But it has an expiry, and that expiry is rigid.

THE NINETY-DAY WINDOW BEFORE THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY: to remove the condition, the spouses must file a joint petition in that interval and attend the interview. Failing to file, or missing the interview without good cause, permanent residence terminates on the second anniversary of admission. And no notice saves the deadline: the statute says expressly that the government's failure to notify does not displace the rule. A late filing may be accepted, but only if you show good cause and extenuating circumstances for the delay.

A marriage that ends does not necessarily end the case. The statute waives the joint petition in three situations, all subject to government discretion: extreme hardship if the person were removed; a genuine marriage that ended through no fault of theirs; and a genuine marriage in which they or their child suffered battery or extreme cruelty from the citizen or resident spouse or parent. In those situations any credible evidence is considered.

Where cases usually fail

Assuming an approved petition guarantees entry or lawful status. It recognizes the relationship and opens the queue, nothing more.
Marrying, divorcing or letting a child turn 21 without first calculating the effect on the category.
Accepting automatic conversion without checking whether the destination category has a longer queue.
Counting on family coming along where that does not exist, which is the immediate relative case.
Failing to file a separate petition for the stepchild when a citizen petitions for the spouse.
Planning the consular route without checking whether an issuance restriction by nationality applies at that moment.
Counting on resolving it inside the country without checking whether there was inspection and admission, or whether a statutory bar reaches the case.
Traveling with a pending green card application without travel authorization, and abandoning it without realizing.
Letting the one-year period to seek residence lapse after the visa number became available, and losing the child's age calculation.
Missing the ninety-day window before the second anniversary to remove the condition on the green card.
Signing the affidavit of support without computing the threshold by the real household size, counting foreign nationals already sponsored.
Confusing your place in line with the approval date, the interview date or the green card application date.

Legal basis

INA § 201(b)(2)(A)(i), on immediate relatives, and § 203(a), on the four family preferences. INA § 202(a)(2), on the per-country limit.
INA § 204 and 8 C.F.R. § 204.2, on processing the relative petition. INA § 204(k) and 8 C.F.R. § 204.2(i), on automatic conversion and the right to decline it. And 8 C.F.R. § 205.1, on automatic revocation.
INA § 203(d), on accompanying family members, and 8 C.F.R. § 204.2(b)(4), on those of a widow or widower. Child Status Protection Act, Pub. L. 107-208.
INA § 245(a), on the requirement of inspection and admission; § 245(c), on the bars; and § 245(i), on the exceptional case.
INA § 203(h), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(h), on the age calculation, the one-year period to seek residence, automatic conversion and retention of the place in line.
INA § 213A, 8 U.S.C. § 1183a, on the affidavit of support, the 125% federal poverty line threshold, the period of enforceability, the joint sponsor and the change-of-address requirement.
INA § 216, 8 U.S.C. § 1186a, on conditional residence, the ninety-day window, the grounds for waiving the joint petition, and counting the conditional period toward naturalization.
USCIS Policy Manual, volume 6, part B, chapter 2, and volume 7, part A, chapters 3 and 6, with a stated effective date of 18 August 2026.
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. v. Rubio, 2026 WL 2455099 (S.D.N.Y., 21 August 2026), on the vacatur of the 75-country rule, with the government's 28 August 2026 filing in the same case and a compliance hearing set for 31 August 2026.
Content verified on 22 August 2026, with the status of the 75-country rule updated on 30 August 2026. Queues change with every visa bulletin: confirm the dates before deciding.

Verified on 22 August 2026 against chapter 2 of part B, volume 6, and chapters 3 and 6 of part A, volume 7, of the USCIS Policy Manual, with their footnotes, and against 8 C.F.R. § 204.2 and 8 U.S.C. §§ 1153(h), 1183a and 1186a. The manual's pages are stated as current to 18 August 2026. Requirements and adjudication practice may change by rule or by Policy Manual update, and the queues change with each Visa Bulletin.

General informational content. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration rules change frequently and may be enjoined by a court. Before acting, confirm that the rule is in force and consult an attorney about your own circumstances.

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