CR1 Visa Application: Requirements, Costs, and Timeline

A CR1 visa application starts with the U.S. citizen spouse filing Form I-130 with USCIS, then moves to the National Visa Center for fee payment and the DS-260, and finishes with a medical exam and consular interview at the U.S. embassy nearest the foreign spouse. The whole sequence runs through three federal agencies and usually takes 17 to 24 months. The “CR” stands for conditional resident: because the marriage is under two years old at the moment of admission, the green card that follows expires after two years and requires a separate petition to make permanent status unconditional.

If the marriage has already passed its second anniversary by the day the foreign spouse is admitted at a U.S. port of entry, the visa issued is an IR1 rather than a CR1, and the green card is a standard ten-year card with no follow-up petition required.¹ The forms, fees, and process are identical. Only the timing of the marriage decides which visa is stamped in the passport.

Who Can Apply

Only a U.S. citizen can petition for a spouse under CR1. Lawful permanent residents use a slower category with numerical caps. Spouses of citizens are classified as “immediate relatives,” which exempts the case from annual visa limits and is the main reason this path moves faster than other immigrant categories.²

The marriage must be legally valid where it was performed, and any prior marriages on either side must have been legally dissolved by divorce, annulment, or death. The petitioner also has to meet an income requirement to sponsor the incoming spouse financially; that piece is handled through the Affidavit of Support later in the process.

Even when the petitioner is qualified and the marriage is genuine, the foreign spouse can still be denied on their own record. Communicable diseases of public health significance, missing required vaccinations, a substance abuse history, drug offenses, and crimes involving moral turpitude are the common disqualifiers. Narrow exceptions apply. A single crime involving moral turpitude may be forgiven if the person was under 18 at the time, or if the maximum possible sentence was a year or less and the actual sentence was six months or less.³ Waivers exist for some grounds but add real time and complexity.

Step 1: File the I-130 Petition

The U.S. citizen spouse opens the case by filing Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) with Form I-130A (Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary).⁴ Both can go in online or on paper. The filing fee is $625 online and $675 on paper. USCIS transitioned to electronic payments in late 2025, so paper filers should confirm accepted payment methods before mailing anything.

The petition asks for biographical details on both spouses: full legal names, dates and places of birth, current and prior addresses, and the history of any previous marriages. Proof of the petitioner’s U.S. citizenship goes in with the petition, usually a birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or valid U.S. passport.

USCIS sends Form I-797C (Notice of Action) to confirm receipt and provide a case number for online tracking.⁵ Once the petition is approved, the file transfers to the National Visa Center.

Step 2: National Visa Center Processing and the DS-260

The NVC sends a welcome letter with a case number and instructions for paying two fees: a $325 immigrant visa application fee and a $120 Affidavit of Support review fee.⁶

The beneficiary then completes the DS-260 (Online Immigrant Visa Application) through the Consular Electronic Application Center.⁷ The form asks for detailed personal history going back years: addresses, employment, education, and family information. Civil documents are uploaded at the same stage, including birth certificates, the marriage certificate, police certificates, and certified translations for anything not in English. To have a Social Security number issued automatically on arrival, answer “yes” to the SSN question and consent-to-disclosure section on the DS-260.⁸

Once the NVC has a documentarily complete file, it schedules the consular interview at the U.S. embassy or consulate nearest the beneficiary’s residence.

Step 3: The Medical Exam

Before the interview, the beneficiary sees a panel physician approved by the U.S. embassy. The visit includes a physical, mental health screening, blood tests, and a review of vaccination records. Fees vary by country and clinic and typically run several hundred dollars, paid directly to the physician.

Immigration law requires proof of vaccination against a list of diseases set out by USCIS and the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.⁹ Missing doses can be given during the exam, so bring whatever vaccination records you already have to avoid duplicates.

Step 4: The Consular Interview

The interview is the final decision point. A consular officer meets with the beneficiary (and sometimes the petitioner, when present) to assess whether the marriage is genuine and whether the applicant is otherwise eligible for the visa. The conversation typically covers how the couple met, the history of the relationship, details about each other’s families and daily lives, and plans for living together in the United States.

Expect questions that test whether the couple actually knows each other: the petitioner’s birthday, where they work, whether either spouse has children from a prior relationship, who attended the wedding. Officers also ask about prior immigration history, criminal background, and intended living arrangements. There is no script. What matters is that the answers line up with the documentary evidence already in the file.

If the visa is approved, the passport comes back with the visa inside within a few days, along with a sealed packet of documents to hand to Customs and Border Protection on arrival. Do not open the packet.

Step 5: Entering the United States

The beneficiary has a limited window after visa issuance (usually six months) to travel to the United States. At the port of entry, a CBP officer inspects the documents, reviews the sealed packet, and makes the final admission decision. On admission, the officer stamps the passport with temporary evidence of permanent resident status, which is enough to work and travel while the physical green card is produced.

The green card is not mailed until the USCIS Immigrant Fee is paid. That fee covers processing the immigrant visa packet and manufacturing the card itself.¹⁰ If the beneficiary opted into automatic SSN issuance on the DS-260, the Social Security card usually arrives separately within about three weeks. If it doesn’t, a local Social Security office can issue one with proof of identity and work authorization.⁸

Proving the Marriage Is Real

USCIS and the consular officer are both looking for evidence that the marriage was entered into in good faith, not for immigration benefits. A marriage certificate alone won’t be enough. The strongest evidence shows a shared life in concrete, verifiable ways:

Financial ties: joint bank accounts, shared credit cards, lease or mortgage agreements listing both names, and beneficiary designations on insurance policies or retirement accounts.
Communication records: phone logs, messaging history, and video call records showing consistent contact, particularly during periods of separation.
Travel documentation: flight itineraries, hotel bookings, passport stamps, and boarding passes from visits to each other.
Personal evidence: photographs together over time (not just the wedding), and sworn statements from friends or family who can describe the relationship firsthand.

Adjudicators look for patterns rather than volume. A handful of strong documents showing intertwined finances over many months carries more weight than a stack of photos from one trip. For couples with a mostly long-distance relationship, communication and travel records do more of the work.

The Affidavit of Support

Form I-864 is a legally enforceable contract between the petitioning citizen and the federal government. By signing it, the sponsor promises to financially support the incoming spouse and accepts that if the spouse receives certain public benefits, the government can sue the sponsor to recover the cost.¹¹ The obligation lasts until the sponsored spouse becomes a U.S. citizen, accumulates 40 qualifying quarters of work, permanently leaves the country, or dies.

The sponsor must show household income at or above 125% of the federal poverty guidelines. For 2026, a household of two must show annual income of at least $27,050 in the 48 contiguous states and D.C., $33,813 in Alaska, and $31,113 in Hawaii.¹² Active-duty military members sponsoring a spouse only need to meet 100% of the guidelines.

If the petitioner’s income falls short, a joint sponsor can step in. The joint sponsor must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, at least 18, and must independently meet the 125% threshold for a combined household that includes the sponsored immigrant. Supporting evidence typically means federal tax returns (usually the most recent year), W-2s, pay stubs, and an employer letter confirming current employment. A request for additional evidence on the I-864 is one of the most common causes of delay, so gather these early.

What It Costs

The fees are split across agencies and stages:

Form I-130 filing fee: $625 online or $675 on paper, paid to USCIS at filing.
Immigrant visa application fee: $325, paid to the NVC after the I-130 is approved.⁶
Affidavit of Support review fee: $120, also paid to the NVC.⁶
Medical examination: varies by country and clinic; plan for several hundred dollars.
USCIS Immigrant Fee: paid after visa approval and before the green card is produced. Check the current amount on the USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055).¹⁰

None of these fees are refundable if the case is denied. Other costs that catch applicants off guard: certified translations of foreign-language documents (typically $25 to $50 per page), police clearance certificates, and expedited delivery of civil records from foreign governments.

How Long It Takes

The full process from filing the I-130 to arriving in the United States typically takes 17 to 24 months, though it varies with USCIS workload and the specific embassy handling the interview. The I-130 adjudication is the biggest single piece, often running 8 to 24 months on its own. NVC processing, the medical exam, and the consular interview add several more months after that.

The most common avoidable delay is incomplete paperwork. A request for evidence from USCIS can add four to seven months or more while the agency waits for a response and then re-reviews the file. Filing everything correctly the first time is worth far more than any expedite strategy.

The Two-Year Follow-Up: Removing Conditions

The CR1 is not the end of the process. Because the marriage was under two years old at admission, permanent resident status is conditional and tied to a two-year green card.¹³ During the 90-day window before the second anniversary of admission, both spouses must jointly file Form I-751 (Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence) with updated evidence that the marriage is still genuine: joint financial records, shared lease or mortgage documents, insurance policies listing both spouses, joint tax returns, and recent photographs.¹⁴

Missing the I-751 deadline terminates conditional status and makes the person removable from the United States.¹⁵ USCIS tracks every conditional expiration date, and a missed filing is treated as evidence that the marriage may not have been genuine. If the marriage ends, involves abuse, or removal would cause extreme hardship, a waiver of the joint filing requirement is available on the same form and can be filed at any time rather than only in the 90-day window.¹⁶

1
U.S. Department of State. Immigrant Visa for a Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR1 or CR1)
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1151 – Worldwide Level of Immigration
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
6
U.S. Department of State. Fees for Visa Services
7
Consular Electronic Application Center. Consular Electronic Application Center
8
Social Security Administration. What You Need to Do – Social Security Numbers and Immigrant Visas
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Vaccination Requirements
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Immigrant Fee
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864P, HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons and Daughters
14
eCFR. 8 CFR 216.4 – Joint Petition to Remove Conditional Basis of Lawful Permanent Resident Status for Alien Spouse
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 6, Part I, Ch. 7 – Effect of Removal Proceedings
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 6, Part I, Ch. 5 – Waiver of Joint Filing Requirement