Family Immigration to the USA: Who Can Sponsor Whom (2026)

Family immigration always starts with a US citizen or green card holder who files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to prove the relationship. After USCIS approves it:

1. If a visa number is available (always for immediate relatives; only when your priority date is current for others), the relative applies for the green card.
2. Inside the US, some relatives can apply through adjustment of status on Form I-485.
3. Outside the US, relatives go through consular processing with the National Visa Center and an interview at a US consulate.

The sponsor must also sign Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, a legally binding promise to support the relative. No family route needs a job offer, and every one leads to permanent residence.

"Open" means USCIS accepts petitions. Families abroad still face the 2026 interview freeze and, for some nationalities, the travel ban. Look up current waits in the Visa Bulletin tracker, and read priority dates to understand your place in line.

These immediate relatives skip the annual quotas, so the only wait is processing time.

• Spouses. The marriage must be legal where it took place and genuine. If you have been married less than 2 years when you become a resident, you get a 2-year conditional green card and must later remove conditions.
• Children. Unmarried and under 21. Stepchildren count if the marriage happened before the child turned 18.
• Parents. The citizen must be at least 21. Each parent needs a separate I-130.

A fiancé(e) can come on a K-1 visa, marry within 90 days, and then apply for a green card in the US. Couples who are already married usually use the spouse process, because the K-3 is rarely used now.

Other relatives fall into four capped family preference categories, with about 226,000 visas a year in total. Each country can use only about 7% of the total, so people born in Mexico, the Philippines, India, and China often wait longer.

Your place in line is your priority date, which is the date USCIS received the I-130. Each month the State Department's Visa Bulletin shows which priority dates can move forward. Some categories move slowly for years, and some jump or even go backward.

If circumstances change, the category can change too. A green card holder who becomes a citizen upgrades a spouse's F2A case to immediate relative. A child who marries can lose eligibility in F2B, because there is no category for married children of green card holders.

The sponsor must usually show household income of at least 125% of the federal poverty guidelines on Form I-864. For 2026 (effective March 1, 2026), that is $27,050 for a household of 2 in the 48 contiguous states, with higher figures for Alaska and Hawaii. Sponsors on active military duty sponsoring a spouse or child need only 100%.

If your income is too low, you can count assets or add a joint sponsor who meets the test on their own. Check your numbers with the I-864 income calculator and budget with the sponsorship cost estimator.

A new public charge rule took effect September 18, 2026. It looks at the "totality of circumstances", so officers may weigh the relative's age, health, skills, and finances along with the affidavit.

• Interview freeze. Since August 25, 2026, immigrant visa interviews at consulates have been frozen worldwide with no set restart date. Approved family cases abroad are waiting. See the immigrant visa pause page.
• 75-country pause. A separate pause on immigrant visas for 75 countries began January 21, 2026. A court vacated it on August 21 (CLINIC v. Rubio), and the government has appealed.
• Travel ban. Proclamation 10998 suspends immigrant visas for nationals of the listed countries, subject to limited exceptions.
• Adjustment of status. A May 2026 USCIS memo (PM-602-0199) makes adjustment more discretionary for people who entered on temporary visas. Spouses and parents of citizens who are in the US should talk to a lawyer before filing.

Follow all changes on the USA Status Now page.

Many couples file family petitions on their own. Talk to a licensed immigration lawyer or an accredited representative first if the relative has ever overstayed, entered without inspection, been refused a visa, been deported, or been arrested. These issues can trigger bars of 3 or 10 years that may need a waiver. See visa denials and waivers and how to verify a lawyer.