Family remains the largest channel of legal immigration to the United States, and the rules that govern it are old, stable and slow. This piece updates the three explainers this site published in January 2021 for citizens, green card holders and asylees, with the figures as they stand this spring.
Who can petition for whom
A United States citizen may petition for a spouse, an unmarried child under 21, and a parent (the petitioner must be 21 or older). These are immediate relatives: there is no annual cap and a visa is always available. A citizen may also petition in the capped preference categories for an unmarried son or daughter over 21 (F1), a married son or daughter (F3), and a brother or sister (F4, petitioner 21 or older).
A lawful permanent resident may petition for a spouse and unmarried children under 21 (F2A) and for unmarried sons and daughters over 21 (F2B). A resident cannot petition for a parent, a married child or a sibling. Naturalizing converts the petitions and opens the missing categories.
An asylee or refugee petitions for a spouse and unmarried children under 21 on Form I-730, within two years of the grant of asylum or admission as a refugee. USCIS can waive the deadline for humanitarian reasons. There is no fee. Since January 2025, initial processing of following-to-join asylee petitions has moved to the Refugee and International Operations directorate.
All family petitions other than the asylee form use Form I-130. One detail catches people every year: Part 4 asks whether the beneficiary will adjust status inside the United States or process at a consulate abroad. Choose one. Leaving it blank or choosing both delays the case.
What it costs
| Form | Paper | Online |
|---|---|---|
| I-130, petition | $675 | $625 |
| I-485, adjustment of status | $1,440 | $1,390 |
| I-765, work permit while pending | $520 | $470 |
| I-131, advance parole while pending | $630 | $580 |
| I-751, removing conditions on a two-year card | $750 | $700 |
| I-730, asylee or refugee relative | $0 | not available |
How long it takes
USCIS's own median figures for fiscal 2026 to date: an I-130 for an immediate relative takes about 13 months, down from 14 in fiscal 2025. A family-based I-485 takes about six months, down from seven. Those are medians; a case with an interview, a request for evidence or a re-review takes longer, and the figures exclude the preference categories, which wait for a visa number rather than for USCIS.
The Visa Bulletin
The capped categories are rationed by priority date, which is the date USCIS received the I-130. The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin with two charts: Final Action Dates, showing which priority dates can be approved, and Dates for Filing, showing which may file the adjustment application. USCIS announces each month which chart adjustment applicants may use.
The fiscal 2026 family preference limit is 226,000 visas, with no country entitled to more than 7 percent, which is why applicants born in Mexico, the Philippines, India and mainland China wait far longer. In the April 2026 bulletin, the Final Action Date for the spouse of a permanent resident (F2A) stands at February 2024, and F2A is current for filing in every country. A sibling of a citizen (F4) from most countries is being approved from priority dates in mid-2008. From Mexico, from 2001. From the Philippines, 2007.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
On August 1, 2025 USCIS issued family-based policy guidance, effective on publication and applying to pending petitions. It tightens the vetting of marriages and relationships, sets out when an interview is required, addresses multiple and related petitions, and states plainly that USCIS may issue a Notice to Appear in removal proceedings if a beneficiary is otherwise removable. An approved I-130 confers no status and no protection. It never did; the guidance simply says so.
The State Department, meanwhile, has expanded review of applicants' online presence and requires public social media profiles for several nonimmigrant categories. Whether that extends to immigrant visa interviews is not yet settled, but the direction is not in doubt.
What to do
- File the I-130 as early as possible. The priority date is the asset; everything else follows from it.
- Assemble bona fide relationship evidence from the beginning: joint finances, a lease, photographs, correspondence. Interviews and requests for evidence are more common than they were.
- Do not leave the country on a pending I-485 without advance parole, and understand the risk before you use it.
- Read the Visa Bulletin every month, and check which chart USCIS accepts before filing the I-485.
- Where the beneficiary is inside the country without status, take advice before filing anything. The August guidance means a petition can now summon the very proceedings it was meant to resolve.