Complete Form I-130 for an adult son or daughter (age 21 or older) of a permanent US resident. (2023)

If you are a US Green Card (permanent resident) holder, you can apply for immigration for your foreign-born children who are 21 years of age or older (referred to as “sons or daughters” in US immigration law). the United States and obtain lawful permanent residence (green cards).

(verON ONE.§203(a),8 USC § 1153(a))

To begin this process, you must prepare and submit a visa application to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) atFormular I-130, with receipts and fee. If you are applying for more than one son or daughter, you must complete an I-130 for each. This article describes how to fill out and submit this form.

What does an approved I-130 get for your foreign born son or daughter?

Completing Form I-130 is just the first step in an immigration process that can take years for the son or daughter of a US green card holder.

Upon approval of the I-130 by USCIS, that individual is considered a “second preferred relative” under the F2B category of the family-based visa preference system. Preferred relatives are subject to annual quotas on the number of visas (green cards) issued, and as such may have to wait years after their I-130 is approved for a visa to become available (or their "priority date" to catch up) and proceed with your immigrant visa or green card application.

(For example, compare this to a US citizen's spouse or unmarried child under the age of 21 who is an "immediate relative" and is not part of the family-based visa preference system and can handle the rest of your immigration application without waiting.)

Also, remember that if your son or daughter is living abroad, they will have to wait until their I-130 is approved and a visa is available before they can live with you. Permission from I-130 does not confer right of entry or residence in the United States.

Who is considered a “son or daughter”?

The sons or daughters that a US green card holder can apply for using USCIS Form I-130 include those who once met the definition of a child under US immigration law but have now turned 21 , but are still single.

The definition of “child” for visa purposes includes:

• biological children of married parents
• Natural children born to single parents, although if the father is the applicant, he must prove that he has legitimized the child (often by marrying the mother) or established a genuine parent-child relationship, and
• Stepchildren – Provided the child was aged 18 or under when the parents married and the parents are still married.

And if you started the immigration process for your child before the age of 21, would your child be in the “F2A” category for under 21s, but did your child turn 21 before they received a green card or immigrant visa?

There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that your son or daughter will move from F2A to F2B and it often takes much longer to open permanent residency (immigrant visa or green card) in the F2B category than in the F2A category. The good news is that you don't have to start the whole process all over again. US immigration authorities will automatically convert your son or daughter's status from F2A to F2B.

The best news for some people is that US immigration law can pretend that your son or daughter is still under 21 and still in the F2A category. You may subtract from your child's actual age the number of days that Form I-130 has been awaiting a USCIS decision, as described inHow CSPA helps family-based preference relatives and derived beneficiaries.

How long does the immigration process of your son or daughter take?

How quickly your son or daughter (married or over 21) can immigrate to the United States after filing the I-130 depends on how much demand there is in the F2B category from individuals from your home country. The F2B category only allows about 26,000 people worldwide to obtain permanent residency each year, and there is also a cap on the number of new residents from each country. As a result, your adult son or daughter may have to wait many years to obtain an immigrant visa or green card. Wait times for people from Mexico and the Philippines are usually several years longer than other people due to high demand.

Green cards are based on "priority date", or the date USCIS received the I-130 petition for your relative. You can update the priority date information in itBulletinson the US Department of State website.

Problems when the son or daughter lives illegally in the USA.

Living in the US without a permit can result in a person accumulating “illegal presence” and thus being ineligible and potentially ineligible for a green card as described inConsequences of being in the US illegally: three-year and ten-year bansjPermanent entry ban for certain repeat offenders.

Contact an immigration attorney immediately if your son or daughter is residing in the United States illegally (after entering the United States illegally or after a visa or other residence permit has expired). USCIS may have a waiver for your family member, which would justify unlawful presence. However, an approved I-130 alone will not solve the problem of illegal presence.

Form I-130: Step-by-Step Instructions

This article covers the 07.07/20/2021. Visit the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") websitelatest version. USCIS does not accept old versions.

General instructions for completing Form I-130

It is best to fill out the form on the computer. If you cannot do this, write your answers in black ink.

If you can't paste an answer in the space or box provided, write or type it on the last page in Part 9: Additional Information. Be sure to include the page number, part number, and article number you are adding. If you run out of space in Part 9, you can attach an extra sheet at the end of the form. On each additional sheet of paper, indicate the number of the article to which your answer relates, date and sign each sheet. (If you fill out the form on a computer, you'll find that you can't type certain things in the fields.)

Part 1: Relationship

Question 1:Check the fourth box, "Child."

Question 2:Check the box that best describes your relationship with your child and the circumstances of your child's birth.

Question 3:Set free.

Question 4:It asks if you have been adopted. Adoption does not preclude you from sponsoring your own adult child.

Part 2. Information about you (candidate)

Part 2 asks for information about the petitioner, i. H. You, the lawful permanent resident of the United States.

Question 1:You can find your foreigner registration number (so-called A number) on your green card.

Question 2:If you have an online USCIS account, enter it here, but the number is not required.

Question 3:Enter your social security number.

Questions 4-5:Enter your full name and other people you know. You do not have to provide personal nicknames, but you must provide any first or last name that may have appeared on any paperwork you submit now or later to immigration officials.

Questions 6-9:Self-explanatory.

Question 10:Enter your mailing address. If you live in the US, just enter your state. Province, postal code and country only need to be filled in if you live abroad. If you do not live in the United States, you should consult an attorney regarding your own immigration status as you may have lost it and your I-130 would not be approved.

Question 11:Make sure your current address matches your physical address. If not, be sure to provide your physical address in the next question.

Questions 12-15:Enter your physical address history over the last five years, starting with your current physical address and working backwards in time. Provide the dates you resided at each address location.

Question 16:Please indicate how many times you have been married, including your current marriage. If you have never been married, enter "0".

Question 17:This refers to your last marital status. For example, if you are currently married but divorced, check Married.

Question 18:Enter your current wedding date; if you are not currently married write N/A.

Question 19:“Place” of Marriage means the city and state or country where you were married.

Questions 20-23:Add the names of current or former husbands and wives. If you are currently married, list your current spouse first. For previous marriages, enter the date the marriage ended. If your former spouse died, the marriage ended on the anniversary of your death. If you were divorced, find out the date the judge signed the final divorce decree.

Questions 24-35:information about your parents. For a deceased parent, write "deceased" and the year of death in the city/county/town.

Question 36:Check the Legal Ordinary Residence box.

Questions 37-39:As a green card holder, you don't answer these questions.

Questions 40-41:Permanent residents can find the admission date and class on their green card or immigrant visa. “Place of Admission” is the place where you first entered the United States on your immigrant visa or (if you adjusted status) the location of the USCIS office that approved your Green Card.

Questions 42-49:Please list your professional career for the last five years, starting with your current or most recent job. If you do not work, write "unemployed" (possibly "student") in question 42.

Part 3: Biographical Information

Questions 1-6:Enter your personal information. For question 1, tick only one box. For question 2, please select all that apply.

Part 4: Beneficiary Information

Part 4 asks for information about your foreign-born son or daughter, called "the Beneficiary".

Question 1:Your son or daughter would not have an Alien Registration Number unless they had previously been to the United States, and then only if they applied for some form of immigration assistance or were involved in a deportation (deportation) proceeding while in the United States . Consult with an attorney to ensure that this registration does not affect your child's future immigration prospects.

Question 2:Your son or daughter would not have an online account number unless they have already paid for itUSCIS Immigration Taxes, after someone has requested them.

Question 3:Your son or daughter does not have a social security number unless he or she has lived in the United States and has a work permit or visa that allows them to work or reside in the United States. If your child does not have a social security number, write "none" here.

Question 4:Please provide your child's full and current name.

Question 5:You do not have to list your son or daughter's personal nicknames, but you should include any first or last name by which they are commonly known and therefore may have now or later appeared on documents intended for submission to US immigration officials .

Questions 6-9:Self-explanatory.

Question 10:This question asks if someone has already filed a petition on behalf of their son or daughter (likely to include Form I-130). Ensure that someone else submitted the petition on behalf of the petitioner (e.g. an F4 sibling petition pending by a US citizen sibling does not prevent you from filing this petition, which is included in the F2B petition category falls There can be more than one application on file to someone immediately (cfCan more than one US family member apply for the same immigrant?.) Or tick "unknown" if your son or daughter really doesn't know if anyone has submitted an application on his or her behalf.

Question 11:Provide your son or daughter's current address. If you live in a place without a house number, enter as much identifying information as possible (e.g. county or neighborhood).

Question 12:Enter the US address where the beneficiary intends to live if different from your address. If this is the address you already gave in question 11, you can leave the field blank.

Question 13:responderonlyif your child currently resides in the United States. Leave blank if you live in another country. If your child entered the United States illegally or overstayed their visa, consult an attorney immediately; The child is likelyinadmissiblefor the US, which will make it impossible to obtain a green card in the near future unless a limited exemption applies.

Questions 17-24:These relate to your child's marriage history. Your child cannot approve this request if they are currently married. However, if the child is divorced, you can still file an I-130 petition and must provide the name of your child's ex-spouse and the date the marriage ended.

Questions 25-44:You are asking about your son or daughter's current spouse and children. Your child must not have a current spouse. However, if they have children under the age of 21, children can be included in this visa category as "beneficiaries of derivatives,"As long as you don't become a US citizen.

Question 45:It is important to indicate whether the child was in the United States because certain types of adverse immigration history affect eligibility for permanent residence (or any other application for entry into the United States).

Question 46:Enter N/A if your child lives outside of the United States. If you live in the US, provide what visa status the child has legally entered. (For example B-2 visitor or F-1 student).

The “I-94” Arrival/Departure Record Number was created when your child entered the United States or changed their status within the United States. If your son or daughter does not have a small white I-94 card stapled to their passport (the US government phased this out for people arriving by plane or boat in May 2013) or attached to a permit letter is if they have changed their status you can do soLook up the I-94 number online. (Some people, such as Canadian tourists crossing the border, have not created I-94 for them.) The date your son or daughter's authorized stay expires or will expire is noted on I-94 ( or I-95 if filed with a crew member visa). Write "D/S" (for "Duration of Status") if your son or daughter was admitted on a student visa or exchange visa with no specified end date.

Questions 47-50:They take care of your son or daughter's passport or travel document. Most beneficiaries have a passport. However, some, such as refugees or asylum seekers, do not have a passport and can be issuedTravel documentsinstead by the State Department.

Questions 51-52:Please indicate where your son or daughter is currently working. If you are unemployed, enter "unemployed" or, if applicable, "student" in question 51a.

Questions 53-56:If your son or daughter is or has been subject to immigration proceedings (eviction or deportation) in the United States, consult an attorney before filing an I-130 form.

Questions 57-58:If your son or daughter's native language uses a non-Latin script (e.g. Russian, Chinese, or Arabic), write their name and address in that script.

Questions 59-60:Leave it blank as you will not tell your spouse.

Question 61:Please only respond if your son or daughter already resides in the US and intends to apply for a status adjustment. Consult an attorney if you are unsure whether your son or daughter isqualify for this application process- unlikely unless they have a valid long-stay visa. You must answer question 62 for support. If your son or daughter does not adjust their status, write N/A and go to question 62.

Question 62:If your son or daughter is applying for a visa abroad, please provide the U.S. consulate closest to where you currently reside.If you don't know or can't decide, don't worry: enter the capital of the country of origin and USCIS will determine which consulate to transfer the case to. If the named country does not have diplomatic relations with the US, USCIS will locate one in a nearby country to handle the case.

Part 5: Other information

This has further questions for you, the petitioner.

Questions 1-5:These are designed to reveal the US petitioner's history (if any) of inducing other immigrants to come to the US when he has demonstrated suspicious patterns of application of immigration laws. For the submission location, use the city and state where you lived when you submitted the petition. The "result" is whether your application was approved or denied (not whether the green card or visa application was ultimately approved or denied).

Questions 6-9:Reference other I-130 petitions you are filing at the same time as your son or daughter's (such as a petition on behalf of your spouse or another son or daughter) so that USCIS can process them all together . (However, their applications may later be separated due to different priorities within the visa preference system.)

Part 6: Applicant's statement, contact details, statement and signature

They should find out whether you understand English and thus the content of the petition you have written and whether you had help in creating it. Don't forget to sign question 6 with your name.

Part 7: Contact details of the interpreter, declaration and signature

If you have the help of an interpreter, they must sign Part 7 and complete the required information.

Part 8: Contact details, statement and signature of the person preparing this petition if not the petitioner

For your protection, it is best to have an attorney or professional representative prepare the forms for you. If you are assisted by an attorney, sign under Part 8 by filling out the required information.

Documents required for filing with I-130

You must collect copies (not originals) of the following documents along with the signed forms and application fees:

• Proof of permanent residency in the United States.This requires a copy of your green card (front and back) or passport stamped I-551 (temporary proof of lawful permanent resident status, sometimes issued before the actual green card).
• Proof of your parent-child relationship:In the case of children who are related by blood, a copy of the child's birth certificate stating you as the father is sufficient in most cases; and if you are the father, a copy of your marriage certificate showing your relationship to the child's mother. If you have a stepchild, you must also provide certificates proving the termination and establishment of plural marriages for you and your spouse. If you are the parent of an illegitimate child, you must provide proof of eligibility or a bona fide parent-child relationship. For more information, seeHow to prove a parent-child relationship for citizenship or immigration purposes. And make sure to make it availableenglish translationsyes it is necessary
• Child passport:Include a copy of your child's passport or travel document, even if it is likely to expire before the current priority date.
• Taxa.The fee for an I-130 petition is currently $535 (2023 value). However, it is always advisable to check thisPage I-130 of the USCIS websiteor call USCIS at 800-375-5283 for the latest numbers, especially since USCISproposed a tariff increase in early 2023.) You may pay by check, money order, or fill out and mailForm G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions.

Where to submit the I-130 application form?

After you, the US Petitioner, have prepared and collected all of the forms and other items listed above, photocopy them for your personal records. You then have a choice: you canonline archiveor mail the completed petition packet to the USCIS “safe deposit box” listed atUSCIS I-130 Filing Address Page.

The vault processes the fee payment and then routes the petition to a USCIS service center for further processing.

What Happens After You Complete the I-130

Shortly after submitting the petition, you should receive an acknowledgment of receipt from USCIS. This will ask you to review theUSCIS website for information on how long the application is expected to be processed. Look for the receipt number in the top left corner, which you will need to check the status of the case. There you can also sign up for automatic email updates about the case. He canCheck the status of your case onlineAlso.

If USCIS requires additional documentation to complete the application, it will send you a letter (called a "Request for Evidence" orRFE) Ask for it. Eventually, USCIS will issue an approval or denial of the I-130 petition. This may take a long time, but don't worry, it won't affect the speed of your son or daughter's fall. The "priority date" that determines your son or daughter's spot on the visa waitlist has already been set since USCIS received the I-130 petition.

If USCIS denies the application, it sends a denial notice stating the reason. Your best option is to start over and resubmit (instead of trying to appeal) and correct the reason USCIS gave for the rejection. However, do not resubmit your application if you do not understand why your first application was rejected. Ask a lawyer for help.

If USCIS approves the application, it sends a notification and forwards the case to the National Visa Center (NVC) for further processing. Your son or daughter can expect to receive communications from the NVC and/or the consulate at a later date letting them know when it is time to apply for the visa and go to the interview. To seeConsular clearance proceduresFor more information.

You might think that you could accelerate the event that your son or daughter becomes a US citizen (in which case they would automatically enter F1, the first family preference category), but expect adult sons and daughters of US citizens often often more than sons and daughters of permanent residents! If you become a citizen after filing your I-130 and it is less beneficial to your son or daughter based on yourpriority date, you can ask USCIS to keep your son or daughter in the F2B category.

Next steps after priority date update

If your immigrant son or daughter resides in the US and is eligible to adjust status here, the next step is (if USCIS is willing to accept the application; seeWebsite tun USCISthis topic to find out when) to file an I-485 request for an adjustment of status. Your son or daughter, and perhaps you, may be invited to a USCIS office for an interview. To seeStatus Adjustment ProcedureFor more information.