Family Petition (Form I-130)

Family Petition (Form I-130)

USCIS sets the filing fee for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, at $675 by mail or $625 online. The form establishes the qualifying family relationship between a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident and a foreign relative — it is the first step in the immigrant visa process, not a green card by itself.

Download the official form

USCIS publishes Form I-130 as a free PDF. Always download the current version directly from USCIS — third-party copies may be outdated.

• Download Form I-130 (PDF) — official USCIS source
• Download Instructions for Form I-130 (PDF) — read before filling out the form
• File Form I-130 online with USCIS (where supported)

What is it for?

Establish the eligible family relationship between a US citizen or permanent resident (petitioner) and a foreign relative (beneficiary) to start the immigrant visa process.

Who needs it?

US citizens petitioning for spouse, children, parents, siblings. Permanent residents petitioning for spouse and unmarried children under 21.

Processing time

Typical range: 8 to 18 months for I-130 approval alone. Total time to visa varies by category and country of origin (years in some cases due to visa backlog).

⚠️ Times change weekly and vary by service center. For current time and your specific case:

• Check current times at USCIS
• Check YOUR case status at USCIS (you need your receipt number)

Fee

$675 (paper) or $625 (online) — fees can change

How to file

Online (myUSCIS) or by mail. Online is faster for most cases.

Required documents

• Completed Form I-130
• Evidence of petitioner’s citizenship or residency (passport, naturalization certificate, green card)
• Birth certificate of petitioner and beneficiary
• Marriage certificate if petitioning for spouse
• Evidence of bona fide marriage (photos, joint accounts, shared property, children in common)
• Divorce decrees from prior marriages (petitioner and beneficiary)
• Fee payment

Current USCIS processing times

USCIS publishes the time in which 80% of cases complete, per form, category, and office. The table below renders from our automatically maintained copy of the official data — always verify against the live system before relying on a deadline.

Frequently asked questions

Does I-130 approval give automatic green card?

No. I-130 only establishes the family relationship. Once approved, you must wait for your visa number to become available (per State Department Visa Bulletin) and then process I-485 (if in the US) or consular processing (if abroad).

How long until visa/green card?

Spouse/parent/child under 21 of citizen: no backlog, total ~1-2 years. Sibling of citizen: 10-20+ years backlog. Spouse of permanent resident: 2-3 years. Check the monthly Visa Bulletin.

Can the beneficiary be in the US while I-130 pends?

Depends on status. If entered legally with valid visa, can stay. If not, unlawful presence accrues and can result in 3 or 10 year bar upon departure. Spouses of citizens can adjust status within the US in many cases.

What if the petitioner dies before approval?

Under INA §204(l), beneficiaries who lived with the petitioner in the US can continue the process (humanitarian reinstatement). Consult an attorney immediately.

Is fraudulent marriage detectable?

USCIS investigates suspicious marriages vigorously: interviews, home visits, document verification. Marriage fraud is a federal crime with severe penalties (fines up to $250K, prison up to 5 years, deportation, permanent bar).

The real wait, in numbers

This is the part of the I-130 nobody explains clearly: approval of the petition is not the wait — the visa queue is the wait, and it depends entirely on your category and country. These numbers come from the current State Department Visa Bulletin and update automatically every month:

• Spouses, minor children, and parents of US citizens (immediate relatives): no numerical queue, ever. Processing time is the only wait.
• F1 — adult unmarried children of citizens, Mexico: now processing petitions filed December 2007 — a wait of about 18 years.
• F2A — spouses and minor children of green-card holders (all countries): now processing July 2026 — a wait of under a year.
• F2B — adult unmarried children of green-card holders, Mexico: February 2009 — a wait of about 17 years.
• F3 — married children of citizens, Mexico: July 2001 — a wait of about 25 years.
• F4 — siblings of citizens, Mexico: April 2001 — a wait of about 25 years.

Read that last one again: a US citizen who filed for a sibling in Mexico is only now seeing that petition reach the front of the line. For Mexican families, F3 and F4 petitions are generational decisions, not paperwork decisions — which is why the F2A category (spouses of residents, currently a much shorter queue) changes family strategy: a resident petitioning a spouse now beats a citizen petitioning that same person as a married child later.

The full current bulletin

Two tables matter and people mix them up: Final Action Dates are when the green card can actually be approved; Dates for Filing are when the beneficiary can submit documents to the National Visa Center and get in line for processing. When USCIS announces that adjustment applicants may use the Dates for Filing chart, beneficiaries inside the US can file the I-485 — with its work permit and travel document — months or years before the Final Action date arrives.

Three rules that protect your place in line

1. The priority date is property of the beneficiary, in practice. If the petitioner dies, INA § 204(l) can preserve the petition for beneficiaries in the US; humanitarian reinstatement exists for those abroad. Don’t assume a death ends the case — talk to an accredited representative.
2. Aging out has a formula. A child who turns 21 during the wait may keep “child” status under the CSPA: the age is reduced by the time the I-130 sat pending at USCIS. Long USCIS processing — normally bad news — actually helps here.
3. Upgrades and downgrades happen automatically. If a green-card-holder petitioner naturalizes, F2A/F2B petitions convert to immediate-relative/F1 — usually good, but for the Philippines and Mexico F1 can be slower than F2B; a beneficiary may opt out of the conversion in writing. Marriage of an F1 beneficiary drops the case to F3; marriage of an F2B beneficiary kills the petition entirely.

Retrogression: when the line moves backward

The bulletin is demand-driven, and dates sometimes move backward — a category that was about to be current suddenly retreats years. If your date was current and you didn’t act, retrogression can close the window for months or longer. The operational rule: the month your date becomes current, file or submit immediately — for consular cases respond to the NVC the same week, and for adjustment cases get the I-485 in while the window is open, because a filed I-485 survives later retrogression.

Related information

• Other USCIS forms
• Federal and state procedures
• Consulates of your country in the USA

Last verified: 2026-05-24. General information — not legal advice. Fees, requirements, and times change frequently. Always verify at USCIS.gov before filing.

Related procedural information

• Consulate of your country in the US — passport renewal, consular ID, document apostille
• ITIN — file federal taxes without SSN — required regardless of immigration status
• USCIS form library — federal immigration forms (I-130, I-485, N-400, etc.)
• Find an immigration attorney — pro bono lists + AILA + BIA-recognized
• Know Your Rights — ICE encounters — constitutional protections