How to Adjust Status After Marrying a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident

This article addresses a particular subgroup of foreign-born persons who have married a U.S. citizen or permanent resident: those who are in the United States and eligible to apply for lawful permanent residence (a green card) through a procedure known as adjustment of status. That basically means doing the entire application procedure without leaving the U.S., through the agency known as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Not everyone is allowed to use the adjustment of status procedure. With a few exceptions, you will need to have both:

• entered the U.S. with permission, such as on a visa, and
• still be in legal status when you apply (unless you're married to a U.S. citizen, in which case you can apply even when you're out of status).

People who don't fit those criteria will, in most cases, have no choice but to finish the application process at a U.S. consulate. That involves different forms and procedures than described here, and likely will require requesting a waiver of one's past unlawful presence in the United States.

Let's turn to adjustment of status procedures based on marriage for those who are eligible. (If in doubt, consult an attorney.)

Main Steps to Adjusting Status Based on Marriage

Broadly speaking, the steps to adjusting status include preparing and submitting forms, documents, and fees to USCIS, attending a biometrics appointment where your fingerprints and other information will be collected, and finally attending an interview at a USCIS office.

The very beginning of the process varies, however, depending on whether the U.S. spouse (the "petitioner") is a citizen or permanent resident.

A U.S. spouse who is a permanent resident must submit the first required form, called an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, along with the I-130A Supplemental Information form, to USCIS and get it approved before the process can move forward.

U.S. immigration law places a limit on how many spouses of U.S. permanent residents can be approved for green cards every year, so there's a waiting list. You might have to wait several months at least before your number ("priority date") comes up on the Visa Bulletin and you can apply to adjust status.

If the U.S. spouse is already a citizen, there's no need to submit, much less wait for I-130 approval before moving forward. The citizen petitioner can simply submit the I-130 and I-130A with all the other adjustment of status forms and documents. Then the immigrant will await a biometrics appointment and interview.

Main Forms Used for Adjusting Status in the U.S.

A big part of successfully getting approved for a marriage-based green card is accurately and satisfactorily filling out a number of government forms and supplying supporting documents.

All the forms are free to download from the U.S. government, but you will have to pay fees to submit them. For adjusting status based on marriage, the main forms are:

• Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with I-130A supplement (if you haven't already submitted and had your I-130 approved), signed by the U.S. petitioner.
• Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
• Form I-864, Affidavit of Support (in which the U.S. petitioner signs a contract with the government to provide financial support for the immigrant), plus supporting document's showing the petitioner's financial capacity.
• Form I-131, Application for Travel Document (optional if the immigrant wants to travel outside the U.S. during the wait for approval, which will probably take months).
• Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization (optional if the immigrant wants to work in the U.S. while awaiting approval.
• Form I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, filled out by a USCIS-approved physician and kept in a sealed envelope.
• Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions, if you wish to pay by credit card rather than check or money order.

In support of these forms, you will need to submit certificates and other documents to prove things like the petitioner's status in the U.S., the immigrant's identity and relationship to the petitioner, any arrest reports, and more. For a summary of these documents, see Marriage-Based Green Card Supporting Document Checklist.

How to Submit Adjustment of Status Application to USCIS

You cannot submit this application in person, but only by mail. Use the USCIS address found on the Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-485 page of its website.

What Happens After Submitting Adjustment of Status Application

Keep a close eye on your mail, because you will receive (ordinarily after several weeks) a biometrics appointment for the immigrant and then an interview appointment for the both of you. Take care to get to these appointments on time. Failure to do so could delay your application or even result in USCIS eventually believing you have abandoned it.

During the USCIS interview, the two of you will be asked questions to make sure the marriage is bona fide, not a sham to get a green card. If your answers seem implausible or inconsistent, USCIS might separate you and conduct interviews in which each is asked the identical set of questions (without you being able to hear the other). This is called a "fraud" or "Stokes" interview. They will later compare the answers. If they find significant discrepancies, for example if one of you says you share use of your car and the other one says only they drive it, you could have a problem obtaining approval. (Definitely get an attorney involved if you haven't already.)

If all goes well, the immigrant will be approved for residence at or soon after the interview. The green card itself will arrive by mail some weeks later.