Can DACA Recipients Get Citizenship Through Marriage?

Yes, DACA recipients can get citizenship through marriage to a U.S. citizen, but not in one step. Marriage to a citizen is a route to a Green Card, and the Green Card is what eventually opens the door to naturalization. How you get to that Green Card depends almost entirely on how you first entered the United States: recipients who arrived on a visa can usually adjust status without leaving the country, while those who crossed without inspection face extra steps that can involve travel abroad, a waiver, or years of waiting.

Why Your Entry Method Decides Everything

Federal law lets people apply for a Green Card from inside the United States only if they were “inspected and admitted or paroled” into the country.¹ That single requirement splits DACA recipients into two very different situations.

If you entered on a visa of any kind, even one you later overstayed, you satisfy the requirement and can usually apply for a Green Card without leaving the country. If you crossed the border without going through a port of entry and were never paroled in, you generally cannot adjust status from inside the U.S. Your options in that case are narrower: obtaining Advance Parole to create a lawful entry, going through a consular interview abroad with a waiver, or qualifying under a limited grandfather provision called Section 245(i).

Before starting any of these, know where the DACA program itself stands. Under a January 2025 Fifth Circuit decision, USCIS is still processing renewals and existing DACA grants remain valid until they expire unless individually terminated, but USCIS is not processing initial DACA requests.² Acting while your DACA is active gives you the strongest footing.

Adjusting Status After a Lawful Entry

DACA recipients who arrived on a tourist, student, or other nonimmigrant visa have the cleanest path. The original inspection at the airport or land border satisfies the legal requirement even if the visa later expired. Once married to a U.S. citizen, the citizen spouse files the petition and you apply for the Green Card from inside the country. You do not have to leave.

Spouses of U.S. citizens are treated as “immediate relatives” in immigration law, which means there is no visa waiting list; the case can move forward as soon as it is filed. Start to finish, the process usually runs twelve to eighteen months, though local USCIS office workloads vary.

Using Advance Parole If You Entered Without Inspection

If you entered the U.S. without inspection, Advance Parole can create a qualifying legal entry after the fact. You file Form I-131 to request permission to travel outside the country for a humanitarian, educational, or employment reason. When you return through a port of entry using the approved Advance Parole document, you are officially paroled in, and that parole satisfies the inspection-and-admission requirement for adjustment of status.²

This route has helped many DACA recipients who originally crossed the border adjust status without ever leaving on their own risk. The warnings are real, though. USCIS states that leaving the country without an approved Advance Parole document can end your DACA and leave you unable to return. Given the ongoing litigation over DACA, any international travel deserves a careful conversation with an immigration attorney before you buy a ticket.

Consular Processing and the Provisional Waiver

DACA recipients who entered without inspection and cannot or do not want to use Advance Parole generally have to go through consular processing. That means attending the immigrant visa interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country rather than at a USCIS office in the United States.

The problem is what happens the moment you leave. Federal law imposes two re-entry bars based on unlawful presence:

A three-year bar if you were unlawfully present for more than 180 days but less than one year before departing.
A ten-year bar if you were unlawfully present for one year or more before departing.

These bars are found at INA Section 212(a)(9)(B)(i) and trigger only when you leave the country, not while you remain inside it.³ Time spent in the country as a minor under 18 does not count toward unlawful presence, which matters for many DACA recipients who arrived as children.⁴

To avoid getting locked out for years by simply attending your own visa interview, you can file Form I-601A (Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver) before leaving. The current filing fee is $795.⁵ If approved, the waiver forgives the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility so the consular interview can go forward. Approval turns on showing that your U.S. citizen spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the waiver were denied. This is a demanding standard: ordinary separation and stress are not enough. USCIS looks for serious medical conditions, significant financial consequences, or other concrete hardships the citizen spouse would face.⁶

Once the waiver is approved, you travel to your home country for the consular interview, and if approved there you return to the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident.

Section 245(i): A Narrow Alternative

A small group of DACA recipients can adjust status from inside the country regardless of how they entered, thanks to Section 245(i) of the INA. It applies if you are the beneficiary of a qualifying immigrant petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001. If the qualifying petition was filed between January 15, 1998 and April 30, 2001, you must also have been physically present in the U.S. on December 21, 2000.⁷

Using 245(i) requires an extra $1,000 penalty fee and Supplement A to Form I-485. Because the qualifying petition had to be filed more than two decades ago, this typically applies only where a parent or other relative filed something on your behalf when you were young. If that might be your situation, an immigration attorney can help you find out.

Criminal History That Can Block the Process

Certain convictions can make you inadmissible or deportable and stop the marriage-based Green Card in its tracks. The categories that create the biggest problems include:

Aggravated felonies, a broad immigration-law category that reaches many offenses most people would not think of that way.
Controlled substance offenses, other than a single incident involving possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.
Crimes involving moral turpitude, meaning offenses involving dishonesty, fraud, or conduct that shocks the public conscience.
Domestic violence, stalking, or child abuse convictions.
Firearms or explosives offenses.
Two or more convictions with combined sentences of five years or more.

A separate list of convictions can also disqualify you from keeping DACA itself: any felony, three or more non-traffic misdemeanors, or a “significant misdemeanor” such as one carrying a sentence of more than 90 days or involving drug trafficking, firearms, domestic violence, DUI, burglary, or sexual abuse. If you have any criminal record, even minor, talk to an immigration attorney before filing anything.

The Marriage Petition and Proving the Relationship Is Real

The legal process opens with the U.S. citizen spouse filing Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative). The fee is $625 online or $675 by mail.⁵ The DACA recipient also completes Form I-130A, which collects biographical information including address and employment history for the past five years.⁸

USCIS looks hard at these petitions to confirm the marriage is real. Assemble evidence of a shared life:

Joint bank account statements, shared credit cards, joint tax returns, and insurance policies naming each other as beneficiaries.
A shared lease or mortgage, utility bills in both names, and mail addressed to both spouses at the same address.
Birth certificates of any children you have together, wedding and family photos, and affidavits from friends or family who know the relationship.
Phone logs, travel itineraries from trips taken together, and records of contact during any time apart.

The Department of State recommends submitting IRS tax transcripts rather than copies of tax returns, since transcripts process faster and reduce the chance of delays.⁹

A quick warning that carries real weight: knowingly entering a marriage to evade immigration law is a federal crime carrying up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, and both spouses can be prosecuted.¹⁰

The Affidavit of Support

The citizen spouse also files Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support), a legally binding promise to support the immigrant at 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. For a household of two in the 48 contiguous states, the 2026 income threshold is $27,050 per year.¹¹ Alaska and Hawaii use higher figures, and the threshold rises with each additional household member.

If the citizen spouse’s income falls short, a joint sponsor can help. A joint sponsor must be a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident, at least 18, living in the United States, and able to meet the income requirement for their own household plus the immigrant. They do not need to be related to either spouse, and up to two joint sponsors are allowed.¹²

The obligation lasts until the immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, earns 40 qualifying quarters of Social Security work history, permanently leaves the country, or dies. Divorce does not end it.

Medical Exam, Fees, and the Interview

Every applicant adjusting status must complete an immigration medical exam with a USCIS-designated civil surgeon on Form I-693, which covers a physical, vaccination records, and any needed lab tests.¹³ Exam fees typically run $150 to $500, with vaccinations often billed separately. A completed Form I-693 is generally valid only while the associated Green Card application is pending.¹⁴

Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) is the core Green Card application, with a filing fee of $1,440 for most applicants.⁵ As of April 2024, the separate biometrics fee is folded into the filing fee for most applications; you still attend a biometrics appointment but pay nothing extra for it.¹⁵

The main government fees add up as follows:

I-130 marriage petition: $625 online or $675 by mail.
I-485 adjustment of status: $1,440.
I-864 affidavit of support: no filing fee.
Civil surgeon medical exam: $150 to $500 plus vaccinations.
I-601A provisional waiver, if needed: $795.
Section 245(i) penalty, if applicable: $1,000.

While the I-485 is pending, you can file Form I-765 for a work permit and Form I-131 for Advance Parole to travel, each with its own fee for applications filed after April 1, 2024.¹⁶ The work permit is especially useful for DACA recipients because it does not depend on DACA’s shifting legal status. Do not leave the country while your I-485 is pending without an approved Advance Parole document; departing without one can be treated as abandoning the application.

The final step in adjustment is an in-person interview at a USCIS field office. Both spouses attend. A USCIS officer will ask about how you met, daily life, family, and other shared history, and will review your evidence. If the officer is satisfied, the case can be approved on the spot or shortly after. If the officer has doubts, USCIS may schedule a follow-up “Stokes interview,” where each spouse is questioned separately and answers are compared. If that happens, bring an immigration attorney; you are never required to sign a withdrawal or admit fraud, and you can stop the interview and continue with counsel present.

Conditional Residency If You’ve Been Married Less Than Two Years

If your Green Card is approved within two years of your marriage, you get conditional permanent residency. You have the same rights as any Green Card holder, but the card is valid for two years instead of ten.¹⁷

To remove the conditions, you and your spouse file Form I-751 jointly during the 90-day window right before the conditional card expires. Missing that window can automatically terminate your status.¹⁸ If the marriage ends in divorce before then, you can still file the I-751 alone with a waiver, but you will need the final divorce decree and evidence the marriage was entered in good faith.

From Green Card to Citizenship

Once you hold an unconditional Green Card, naturalization is the last step. The general rule is five years of permanent residency, but spouses of U.S. citizens qualify after three years, provided you lived in marital union with the same citizen spouse for the entire three years and were physically present in the United States for at least 18 of those 36 months.¹⁹

Travel during that three-year period matters. An absence of six months or less is fine. An absence of more than six months but less than a year raises a presumption that continuous residence was broken, though you can rebut it with evidence. An absence of one year or more automatically breaks continuous residence and restarts the clock unless you got prior approval to preserve it.²⁰

To naturalize, you file Form N-400 and pass a two-part test covering English and U.S. civics.²¹ You also have to show good moral character throughout the residency period, which includes staying current on taxes and avoiding criminal conduct. After approval, you take the oath at a ceremony and become a U.S. citizen, with the right to vote, hold a U.S. passport, and sponsor other family members.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1255 – Adjustment of Status of Nonimmigrant to That of Person Admitted for Permanent Residence
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Fee Schedule
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card Through INA 245(i) Adjustment
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-130A Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary
9
U.S. Department of State. Step 5: Collect Financial Evidence and Other Supporting Documents
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1325 – Improper Entry by Alien
11
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines: 48 Contiguous States
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-864 Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
13
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccination Technical Instructions for Civil Surgeons
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Validity of Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record (Form I-693)
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
17
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-751, Instructions for Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1430 – Married Persons and Employees of Certain Nonprofit Organizations
20
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Continuous Residence
21
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-400, Application for Naturalization