F2A Green Card: Spouses and Children of Green Card Holders

• The petitioner must be a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) whose home is in the US.
• The beneficiary must be the petitioner's spouse, or unmarried child under 21.

The marriage must be legally valid and real. Stepchildren and adopted children follow the usual rules. The spouse's own unmarried children under 21 can come as derivatives, even if they are not the petitioner's children, so you do not always need a separate petition for them.

Green card holders cannot sponsor parents, married children, or siblings.

For many families, the fastest path is for the petitioner to naturalize as soon as they are eligible, which moves the spouse into the spouse of a US citizen category.

The F2 category gets about 114,200 visas a year, and 77% of them go to F2A. Most F2A numbers (75%) are exempt from the per-country cap, which is why F2A waits are fairly similar across countries. No single country can use more than 7% of the combined family and employment limits, which is why some countries wait much longer.

Your priority date is the date USCIS received the I-130. Each month the State Department's Visa Bulletin lists a cutoff date for F2A by country. When your priority date is earlier than the cutoff, you can take the final step. USCIS also says each month whether people in the US can file using the "Dates for Filing" chart or must wait for the "Final Action Dates" chart.

These are general patterns, not predictions. Cutoff dates can move forward, stand still, or move backward. Check the Visa Bulletin tracker for this month's dates.

If your spouse or child is in the US: they can file Form I-485 once the Visa Bulletin shows your priority date as current (and USCIS says which chart it is accepting that month). They generally must have been inspected and admitted or paroled into the US. Unlike immediate relatives, preference relatives usually must also have stayed in lawful status, so an overstay or unauthorized work typically blocks adjustment. See adjustment of status.

If your spouse or child is abroad: after USCIS approves the I-130, the case moves to the National Visa Center (NVC). You pay fees and submit the DS-260, civil documents, and the Affidavit of Support, then the interview happens at a US embassy or consulate. See consular processing.

If your spouse or child entered without inspection: adjustment in the US is usually not possible. Leaving for a consular interview can trigger the 3-year or 10-year bar for unlawful presence, and a provisional waiver (Form I-601A) filed before leaving may help in some cases. Talk to a licensed immigration lawyer before anyone leaves the US. See visa denials and waivers.

Older petitions. A person covered by a petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001 may be able to adjust despite status problems under section 245(i), with an extra fee. This is rare now; ask a lawyer.

The 2026 adjustment of status memo. On May 21, 2026, USCIS issued a policy memo (PM-602-0199) that treats adjustment of status as a discretionary benefit. USCIS said that people who are in the US on a temporary visa and want a green card should expect to apply from their home country, except in extraordinary circumstances. The memo applies to pending and new Form I-485 filings. Meeting the legal requirements is now treated as the minimum: officers weigh your whole record, including whether you used your visa for its stated purpose. Legal challenges were expected, so check the current position before you file.

The 2026 interview freeze. Since August 25, 2026, the State Department has paused scheduling of immigrant visa interviews worldwide while consular officers train on public charge screening. No restart date had been announced as of September 22, 2026. Track it on our immigrant visa pause page.

Travel ban. Nationals of the 39 countries covered by the travel ban (Proclamation 10998, in effect since January 1, 2026) generally cannot receive immigrant visas abroad, and USCIS has held many pending applications from those countries for extra review.

Public charge. A new public charge rule took effect on September 18, 2026. It replaces the 2022 rule with a broader "totality of the circumstances" test of whether you are likely to rely on government support.

Not on the basis of the petition alone. An approved I-130 does not give permission to live, work, or study in the US. Family members need their own status. Visitor visas are often refused for people with a pending immigrant petition, because consular officers must believe you will return home.

Government fees as of September 2026, from the USCIS fee schedule:

Check the USCIS fee calculator before paying. To estimate the total for your situation, try our sponsorship cost estimator.