F2A Visa for Spouses and Children of Green Card Holders

The F2A visa is the family-preference category that lets a lawful permanent resident sponsor a spouse or an unmarried child under 21 for a green card. Federal law sets aside roughly 77,400 visas per year for F2A, and because demand often exceeds that number, most cases involve a wait governed by a priority date. The petition begins at USCIS, moves to the National Visa Center, and finishes either at a U.S. consulate abroad or through adjustment of status inside the United States.

Who Can Be Sponsored

Only two relationships qualify. The petitioner must be a green card holder, and the beneficiary must be either the petitioner’s spouse or the petitioner’s unmarried child under 21.¹ The marriage must be legally valid, and if either spouse was married before, the petitioner has to show that each prior marriage ended by divorce, annulment, or death.²

“Unmarried and under 21” applies through the whole case, not just at filing. A child who marries or turns 21 before the case finishes can lose F2A eligibility, though the Child Status Protection Act offers a formula that may preserve the case (see below).

Filing Form I-130

The petition is Form I-130, filed with USCIS online or by mail to the designated lockbox.³ The filing fee is on the USCIS fee schedule and changes periodically, so confirm the current amount before sending anything.

Supporting documents prove the petitioner’s status and the family relationship. The I-130 instructions spell out what USCIS wants:²

A copy of the petitioner’s Permanent Resident Card, front and back. If the card hasn’t arrived, a passport biographic page showing admission as a permanent resident or other USCIS evidence of status can substitute.
For a spouse petition: the marriage certificate, proof that any prior marriages ended, and two passport-style color photographs of each spouse taken within 30 days of filing.
For a child petition filed by the mother: the child’s birth certificate showing the mother’s name.
For a child petition filed by the father: the child’s birth certificate showing both parents’ names and the parents’ marriage certificate. For a child born outside marriage, additional evidence of legitimation or a bona fide parent-child relationship is required.

Any document not in English must include a certified English translation with the translator’s signed statement of competence and accuracy. Missing or defective translations are a common cause of delay.

The Affidavit of Support

Every F2A case needs Form I-864, the Affidavit of Support. It’s a legally binding contract in which the sponsor promises to support the beneficiary at 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for the sponsor’s household size.⁴ Active-duty military members sponsoring a spouse or child meet the requirement at 100 percent. The poverty figures are updated each year and take effect for immigration purposes around March, so check the current numbers before filing.⁵

If the petitioner’s income falls short, a joint sponsor can sign a separate I-864. The joint sponsor must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and must independently meet 125 percent of the poverty line for their own household size (counting the sponsored immigrants). The obligation is serious: the sponsor can be sued to reimburse means-tested public benefits such as Medicaid or SNAP paid to the beneficiary, and the promise doesn’t end with divorce or even bankruptcy. It runs until the sponsored immigrant naturalizes, earns 40 qualifying quarters of Social Security work credits, permanently leaves the United States, or dies.

The Wait: Priority Dates and the Visa Bulletin

Unlike immediate-relative petitions for spouses and children of U.S. citizens, F2A is capped. The second family preference gets about 114,200 visas per year, and at least 77 percent of those go to F2A.¹ No single country can receive more than 7 percent of the annual total, which is why applicants from Mexico, the Philippines, and India often wait longer than others.⁶

The priority date is the date USCIS received the I-130. Whether that date is far enough along to move forward is set each month in the State Department’s Visa Bulletin, which publishes two charts. Final Action Dates show when a visa can actually be issued. Dates for Filing, when USCIS says applicants may use it, allows earlier document submission before a visa number is formally assigned.⁷ USCIS announces each month which chart adjustment-of-status applicants should use.⁸

When the Bulletin lists F2A as “current,” there is no backlog and approved petitions can proceed immediately. When it shows a cutoff date, only cases with a priority date before that cutoff can move forward. F2A has shifted between current and backlogged in recent years, so tracking the Bulletin monthly is essential once the I-130 is on file.

Finishing at a U.S. Consulate

Once USCIS approves the I-130, the case moves to the National Visa Center, which holds it until a visa number is available. The beneficiary completes the DS-260 immigrant visa application in English through the Consular Electronic Application Center.⁹ Two fees are paid before the NVC will advance the case: the Immigrant Visa Application Processing Fee of $325 and the Affidavit of Support Fee of $120.¹⁰

Before the interview, the applicant completes a medical exam with an authorized panel physician overseas.¹¹ The exam screens for certain health conditions and verifies vaccinations; the fee typically runs $150 to $400 depending on country and provider. Applicants 16 and older also need police clearances from their country of nationality and current country of residence (if more than six months), plus any country where they previously lived more than a year.

At the interview, a consular officer reviews original documents, including the marriage or birth certificate, the petitioner’s green card, and the Affidavit of Support. If approved, the consulate places a visa foil in the passport. The applicant then pays the USCIS Immigrant Fee online, travels to the United States, and is admitted as a permanent resident by a Customs and Border Protection officer at the port of entry.

Adjusting Status Inside the United States

An F2A beneficiary who is already in the United States on a valid immigration status may be able to skip the consulate and file Form I-485 to adjust status.¹² Adjustment requires that a visa number be immediately available, meaning the priority date is current under the chart USCIS designates for that month.⁸ When it is current, the I-485 can even be filed at the same time as the I-130 (concurrent filing).

Family-preference adjustment applicants must have maintained continuous lawful status since entering the country. Someone who overstayed a visa or worked without authorization generally cannot adjust unless a narrow statutory exception applies. This is where many F2A cases stall: the beneficiary entered legally but fell out of status during the long wait, which forces the case back to consular processing abroad.

If the Petitioner Naturalizes

Naturalization of the petitioner can transform an F2A case. When a green card holder becomes a U.S. citizen, an F2A petition for a spouse automatically converts to an immediate-relative petition, which has no annual cap and no waiting line.¹³ The same upgrade applies to a child listed as the principal beneficiary.

One trap: if a child was included only as a derivative on a spouse’s petition, naturalization converts the spouse’s case to immediate relative but ends the child’s derivative eligibility. The petitioner then has to file a separate immediate-relative petition for the child.¹³

Protecting a Child From Aging Out

Because F2A waits can run years, a child who was well under 21 at filing may approach that birthday before a visa opens up. The Child Status Protection Act uses a formula that can preserve F2A eligibility past 21 on paper.¹⁴ Take the child’s age on the date a visa number becomes available (or the petition approval date, whichever is later), and subtract the number of days the I-130 was pending. The result is the child’s CSPA age. If it’s under 21, the child stays eligible for F2A.¹⁵

There is a hard deadline attached: the child must seek to acquire permanent resident status within one year of the visa becoming available.¹⁴ Miss that year and CSPA protection can be lost. The child also has to remain unmarried. Families with a child close to 21 should watch the Visa Bulletin closely and be ready to file the moment the priority date opens.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-864 Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
5
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2025 Poverty Guidelines
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1152 – Numerical Limitations on Individual Foreign States
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Availability and Priority Dates
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa Bulletin
9
U.S. Department of State. DS-260 Immigrant Visa Electronic Application
10
U.S. Department of State. The Immigrant Visa Process – Step 3: Pay Fees
11
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Technical Instructions for Panel Physicians
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-485, Instructions for Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part B, Chapter 2 – General Eligibility Requirements
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)