Form G-325A is a USCIS biographical information form that used to accompany family-based Green Card filings, but it is now used only to request deferred action. If you are filing Form I-130 or Form I-485 today, you do not submit a separate G-325A; the biographical questions it once asked are built into those applications.
What the Form Collects
The G-325A captures a snapshot of who you are and where you have been. That includes your full legal name, any other names used, date and place of birth, and country of citizenship. It asks for your parents’ names, dates of birth, and current cities and countries of residence.
Most of the form focuses on the previous five years. You list every address where you have lived, with street-level detail and exact move-in and move-out dates, leaving no gaps. Employment history gets the same treatment: every employer, job title, location, and the start and end dates for each position. USCIS uses the answers to run background checks and confirm your story lines up across the rest of your file.
Why Most Filers No Longer Need It
Starting with the redesigned I-485 released in mid-2017, USCIS folded the G-325A’s questions directly into the primary application forms. A separate biographical sheet is no longer required for a Green Card application or a family-based petition.
Form I-485, Adjustment of Status
The current I-485 collects biographical details across several parts of the form itself. It asks for legal name, other names used, date and place of birth, and citizenship; every residential address over the past five years; the most recent overseas address where you lived for more than a year; a complete employment and education history for the same five-year window; parents’ names, dates of birth, and countries of birth; and physical descriptors like height, weight, and eye color.
Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
The current I-130 now asks the petitioner directly for five years of residential addresses, five years of employment history, and both parents’ names, dates of birth, countries of birth, and current cities and countries of residence. It is all on the petition itself.
Form I-130A for Spouse Beneficiaries
When a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident petitions for a spouse, the spouse completes and signs Form I-130A and submits it with the I-130. The supplement collects the spouse beneficiary’s five-year address history, five-year employment history, most recent overseas address of more than one year, and detailed information about both parents. If the spouse lives outside the United States, the form still must be completed, but the spouse does not need to sign it.
When You Still File a G-325A
The current version of the form is titled “Biographic Information (for Deferred Action)” and is used only to request deferred action, a discretionary decision by the Department of Homeland Security to hold off on removing someone from the country for a set period. Deferred action is not a Green Card and not a path to permanent residence.
Two categories of requests use this form. The first is for spouses, widows or widowers, parents, sons, or daughters of active-duty U.S. military service members or individuals in the Selected Reserve. The second is for non-military deferred action, including requests based on approved Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) petitions when a visa is not immediately available to file an I-485.
The form cannot be used for deferred action related to DACA, Violence Against Women Act self-petitions, or A-3, G-5, T, or U nonimmigrant status. For military-related requests, USCIS expects specific supporting evidence: a copy of DD Form 4 (enlistment or reenlistment), proof of the qualifying family relationship, proof of identity and nationality, and any document used to lawfully enter the United States.
Requesting a Work Permit at the Same Time
Part 3 of the current G-325A lets you request employment authorization along with deferred action. If USCIS denies the deferred action request, the work permit request is automatically denied too.
Applicants who request employment authorization must show economic necessity by reporting annual income, annual expenses, and total asset value. Applicants requesting a work permit based on SIJ deferred action are the exception and do not need to demonstrate economic necessity.
A separate filing fee applies to the employment authorization request on top of any fee for the G-325A itself; USCIS publishes the current amounts on its fee schedule page. If you cannot afford the fees, you can file Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, with the application. Work permit requests based on SIJ deferred action are fee-exempt.
Preparing Your Biographical Information
Before filling in any of these forms, build a master timeline of the last five years covering two tracks: where you lived and where you worked. For addresses, list the street, city, state or province, country, and exact dates you moved in and out. The dates must be consecutive with no gaps. If you moved on March 15, your old address ends March 15 and your new one starts March 15. USCIS flags unexplained holes in address history.
For employment, record each employer’s name and location, your job title, and exact start and end dates. Include periods of unemployment, self-employment, or retirement. The I-485 specifically asks you to list those gaps and identify the source of financial support during each one. Leaving a period blank invites a Request for Evidence.
Gather your parents’ information early. Both the I-485 and I-130 ask for each parent’s full legal name, name at birth, date of birth, and country of birth. The I-130 also asks for each parent’s current city and country of residence. If a parent is deceased or you genuinely do not know their details, say so on the form rather than guessing. An honest “unknown” reads better than an inconsistency that looks like concealment.
If you have an Alien Registration Number (A-Number), the seven-to-nine-digit identifier USCIS assigns during the immigration process, keep it in front of you. You can find it on a work permit, Green Card, immigrant visa, or any USCIS approval notice. Every form in the family will ask for it, and using the wrong number creates cross-referencing problems that slow everything down.
What Happens If You Get It Wrong
Biographical accuracy matters. Minor inconsistencies between forms, such as slightly different employment dates on the I-485 and the I-130, commonly trigger Requests for Evidence that delay processing by months.
Deliberate falsehoods are far worse. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, anyone who willfully misrepresents a material fact to obtain an immigration benefit can be found permanently inadmissible to the United States. USCIS does not need to prove intent to deceive for a willful misrepresentation finding; a false statement the applicant knew was false and that could have influenced the outcome is enough. If the agency also finds intent to deceive and the officer relied on the false information, the finding escalates to fraud. Either finding can block future immigration benefits entirely.