I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
The green card application filed from inside the United States. It converts an approved petition, or an independent eligibility such as asylum or refugee status, into permanent residence without leaving the country. It is normally filed with a medical exam, and it usually carries an EAD and advance parole application alongside it.
- Fee
- $1,440 paper, $1,390 online with USCIS, or $2,980 if filed with the immigration court. $950 paper / $900 online for a child under 14 filing with a parent's I-485. $0 for refugees and people paroled as refugees; for Special Immigrant Juveniles; for T and U nonimmigrants adjusting under INA 245(l) and 245(m); for VAWA self-petitioners; for Afghan and Iraqi special immigrants; for Section 13 Afghan diplomats; for abused spouses and children under the Cuban Adjustment Act or HRIFA; and for Six-and-Six military applicants. If an immigration judge waives the fee in proceedings, $0.
- Fee waiver
- Available (Form I-912)
- Who files
- Someone in the United States with an approved or concurrently filed immigrant petition, or an independent basis such as asylum granted a year ago, refugee admission, or the Cuban Adjustment Act.
- Where to file
- Online through a USCIS account for some categories, or by mail to the Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, or Elgin lockbox named for the category.
- Processing time
- 5.9 months family-based, 5.8 months employment-based, 18.8 months asylum-based, 7.7 months refugee-based, 11.0 months Cuban Adjustment Act, 7.6 months all other (FY 2026 national medians through June 30, 2026)
Usually filed with
Part of these processes
- Adjustment of status inside the United States
- Cuban Adjustment Act and Haitian relief
- Diversity Visa lottery
- Employment-based green card
- Family petition for a relative
- Green card for an asylee or refugee
- Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness
- Military members and their families
- Special Immigrant Juvenile classification
- T nonimmigrant status for trafficking victims
- U nonimmigrant status for crime victims
- VAWA self-petition for abused spouses, children and parents
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- Filing an I-485 no longer buys much protection: USCIS has been issuing notices to appear more readily after denials since 2025. The I-693 medical must be signed by a designated civil surgeon and, since December 2024, USCIS has treated a properly signed I-693 as valid indefinitely.
Official page. https://www.uscis.gov/i-485. Download the form there, never from a third-party site; check the edition date and fee before filing.