You are not required to file Form I-130 together with Form I-485, but you are allowed to when a visa number is available for your category, and for immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen filing I-130 with I-485 in one package is usually the fastest way to a green card. This is called concurrent filing. The petition that proves your family relationship and the application for permanent residence travel through USCIS in parallel instead of one after the other. Whether you can use this shortcut depends on your relationship to the petitioner, how you entered the United States, and whether the State Department’s Visa Bulletin shows a visa is available for you this month.
Who Can File the Two Forms Together
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens can always file concurrently. That category covers the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen, and the parent of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old. Federal law exempts immediate relatives from the annual numerical caps that create waiting lines in other family categories, so a visa is treated as available for you at all times.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1151 – Worldwide Level of Immigration You can submit the I-485 with the I-130, while the I-130 is pending, or after it is approved.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Immediate Relatives of US Citizen There is rarely a reason to file them apart.
Family preference categories work differently. If you are the unmarried adult child of a U.S. citizen (F1), the spouse or child of a lawful permanent resident (F2A or F2B), the married adult child of a U.S. citizen (F3), or the sibling of an adult U.S. citizen (F4), your I-485 is gated by visa availability. You cannot submit it until your priority date, which is the date the I-130 was filed, is earlier than the cutoff listed for your category and country of birth on the applicable Visa Bulletin chart. USCIS announces each month whether adjustment applicants should use the Final Action Dates chart or the Dates for Filing chart.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin Once your date is current, you can file the I-485 with a new or pending I-130, or on its own if the I-130 is already approved.4U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for March 2026
The waits in these categories can be long. On the February 2026 Dates for Filing chart, F4 applicants born in Mexico were current only back to April 30, 2001, meaning only petitions filed more than 24 years earlier could move forward that month.
You Also Need a Lawful Entry
Concurrent filing is a shortcut inside the adjustment-of-status process, and adjustment has its own gate. To adjust status in the United States, you must be physically present here, and you must have been inspected and either admitted or paroled at a port of entry.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part B Chapter 2 – Eligibility Requirements The standard proof is your I-94 arrival/departure record, which is electronic for air and sea arrivals and can be pulled from the CBP website or app.6U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrival/Departure Forms I-94 and I-94W
If you entered without inspection, you generally cannot adjust status and must pursue consular processing abroad instead. One narrow exception survives under INA Section 245(i): you may still be able to adjust in the United States if you are the beneficiary of an immigrant petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001. Petitions filed between January 15, 1998, and April 30, 2001, also require you to have been physically present in the U.S. on December 21, 2000. Applicants using this route pay an additional $1,000 penalty fee and file Form I-485 Supplement A with the adjustment application.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card through INA 245(i) Adjustment
What Goes in the Concurrent Filing Package
A concurrent package is not just the two headline forms. Missing pieces trigger Requests for Evidence and add months, so it pays to assemble everything before mailing. Pull every form directly from the USCIS website so you are using the current edition.
The petitioner signs Form I-130 and includes proof of their own status (a U.S. birth certificate, naturalization certificate, unexpired U.S. passport, or a copy of a green card) along with documents proving the qualifying relationship.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6 Part B Chapter 4 – Documentation and Evidence Marriage-based petitions add Form I-130A, signed by the foreign national spouse, plus evidence the marriage is real (joint finances, shared housing, insurance beneficiary designations, photographs).10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary
Form I-485 itself asks about your immigration history, criminal record, and admissibility. Include proof of lawful entry, passport-style photographs, and a copy of your birth certificate. Two companion forms belong in almost every family-based package:
- Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, in which the petitioner shows household income of at least 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (100 percent for active-duty military sponsoring a spouse or child). For 2026, a sponsor with a household size of two needs at least $27,050. A joint sponsor can file a separate I-864 if the petitioner falls short. A missing or insufficient Affidavit of Support is one of the few things that can sink an I-485 on its own.11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-864, Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA12HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines – 48 Contiguous States13U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Reaffirming Guidance on Public Charge Inadmissibility Determinations
- Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, completed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. No other doctor’s exam qualifies. The exam screens for communicable diseases and confirms required vaccinations, including measles, mumps, rubella, polio, tetanus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and varicella. Civil surgeon fees generally run $150 to $500, with vaccines billed separately.14U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-693, Instructions for Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record15Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Technical Instructions for Civil Surgeons – Vaccination
Two more forms are optional but worth including in the same envelope. Form I-765 (under eligibility category (c)(9)) requests a work permit based on the pending I-485, and Form I-131 requests advance parole so you can travel abroad without abandoning the application.16U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-765, Instructions for Application for Employment Authorization Leaving the country while the I-485 is pending, without an approved advance parole document, causes USCIS to treat the application as abandoned.17U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While Your Green Card Application Is Pending with USCIS Filed together, I-765 and I-131 produce a single combo card that works as both a work permit and a travel document.18U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Issue Employment Authorization and Advance Parole Card for Adjustment of Status Applicants There is no fee for either form when filed with a pending I-485.
Fees for a Concurrent Package
Filing both forms together means paying both filing fees. On the March 2026 USCIS fee schedule:
- Form I-130: $675 by paper, or $625 filed online.
- Form I-485 for applicants 14 and older: $1,440.
- Form I-485 for children under 14 filing with a parent: $950.
The I-485 fee includes biometrics; there is no separate biometrics fee.19U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule For paper filings, USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks unless a specific exemption applies. Pay by credit, debit, or prepaid card using Form G-1450, or by ACH from a U.S. bank account using Form G-1650. Online filers pay through the account system.20U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
What Happens After You Mail It
Send the package to the designated USCIS Lockbox for your case. A cover letter listing every enclosed form and document, with clear dividers, reduces the risk of an intake rejection.
USCIS first mails Form I-797C, a receipt notice, for each form filed. Keep these. The receipt number is what you use to check case status and to file follow-up forms.21U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797 Types and Functions Then comes a biometrics appointment at an Application Support Center for fingerprints, photograph, and signature.22U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Preparing for Your Biometric Services Appointment Missing that appointment without rescheduling can stall or end the case.
Many family-based cases are then scheduled for an interview at a local USCIS field office. Marriage-based cases almost always get one. USCIS can waive interviews for certain categories, including unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens, parents of U.S. citizens, and unmarried children under 14 of permanent residents.23U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part A Chapter 5 – Interview Guidelines
If the I-485 Is Denied
While the I-485 is pending, you are in a period of authorized stay and do not accrue unlawful presence, even if your original visa status has expired.24U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 7 Part B Chapter 3 – Unlawful Immigration Status at Time of Filing That protection ends the day USCIS denies the application. If you no longer hold another valid status, unlawful presence begins to accrue, and enough of it triggers three-year or ten-year bars on re-entering the country. Any EAD or advance parole based on the pending I-485 also becomes invalid. A motion to reopen or reconsider is possible but has strict deadlines, so talk to an immigration attorney quickly if a denial arrives.