Following-to-join family of a refugee or asylee
The route for a refugee's or asylee's spouse and unmarried children under 21 to get the same status. The principal files Form I-730 within two years of their own grant or admission. There is no fee, and the family member can be inside or outside the United States.
Who it is for. People granted asylum or admitted as refugees, for a spouse they were married to and children who existed before the grant.
The forms, in order
- 1
File Form I-730 for each qualifying relative
One petition per relative. The relationship must have existed at the time of the grant.
- 2
USCIS adjudicates and, for relatives abroad, sends the case for consular or overseas processing
Relatives inside the United States are processed domestically.
- 3
The relative is interviewed and, if approved, admitted or granted derivative status
There is no immigrant visa fee for a following-to-join asylee or refugee relative.
- 4
Apply for a work permit and, after a year, for a green card
Where it goes wrong
- The two-year deadline runs from the grant date, so a case that took years to decide can leave very little time.
- A marriage that happened after the grant does not qualify, and neither does a child born after in some circumstances.
- A child who turns 21 may still be protected by the Child Status Protection Act, but only if the petition was filed in time.
- Refugee admissions have been suspended since January 2025, which has stalled the overseas side of many cases.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- Processing has tripled since FY 2024 while refugee admissions have been suspended by executive order.
- Overseas processing capacity for following-to-join cases has been reduced along with the wider refugee programme.