How to Apply for a Green Card for Your Parents

If you are a U.S. citizen at least 21 years old, you can apply for a green card for your parents by filing Form I-130 to establish the relationship, then either Form I-485 if your parent is already lawfully inside the United States or going through consular processing if your parent is abroad. Because parents of adult U.S. citizens count as “immediate relatives” under federal immigration law, there is no annual cap and no waiting list for a visa number.¹ Start to finish, expect roughly 15 to 24 months.

Who Can Sponsor and What You Have to Prove

Only U.S. citizens can petition for a parent. Green card holders cannot; they are limited to sponsoring spouses and unmarried children.² You must also be at least 21 at the time you file.

Prove your citizenship with a U.S. birth certificate, naturalization certificate, certificate of citizenship, or valid U.S. passport. Proving the parent-child relationship depends on which parent you are sponsoring:

For your mother, a birth certificate showing both your name and hers is usually enough.
For your father, if your parents were married when you were born, submit your birth certificate showing both parents plus their civil marriage certificate.
For your father, if your parents were not married, submit your birth certificate showing his name plus evidence of a real emotional or financial bond that existed between you before you turned 21 or married, whichever came first. If he legitimated you before you turned 18, submit proof of legitimation instead.
For a step-parent, submit your birth certificate showing your birth parents plus a civil marriage certificate proving the step-parent married your birth parent before you turned 18.
For an adoptive parent, submit a certified adoption certificate showing the adoption was finalized before you turned 16, along with a statement of the dates and places you lived together.²

Foreign-language documents must include certified English translations. USCIS treats an untranslated document as if it were never filed.

Why the “Immediate Relative” Label Speeds Things Up

Federal law places parents of adult U.S. citizens outside the worldwide numerical caps on immigrant visas.¹ A visa number is always available, so the case moves as soon as the paperwork clears rather than sitting behind a queue.

That status also unlocks a shortcut. If your parent is already in the United States and eligible to adjust status, you can file the I-130 petition and the I-485 green card application together. USCIS calls this concurrent filing, and it saves months because the two forms are processed in parallel.³

Step 1: File Form I-130

Every case starts with Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. This is the form that establishes the qualifying parent-child relationship.⁴ The 2026 filing fee is $625 online or $675 by mail.⁵

With the form and fee, submit copies of your citizenship documents and the relationship evidence described above. USCIS mails a receipt notice with a case number you can use to track processing online. If your parent is in the U.S. and eligible for adjustment of status, file the I-485 at the same time rather than waiting for the I-130 to be approved first.

If Your Parent Is Already in the United States

A parent who is already inside the country may apply for the green card without leaving by filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.⁶ One condition governs eligibility: your parent must have been “inspected and admitted or paroled” into the United States.⁷ Entry on a tourist visa, student visa, or any other lawful admission generally counts, even if the visa has since expired. Entry between ports of entry generally does not, and that scenario is covered further down.

The 2026 I-485 filing fee is $1,440 for applicants over age 14.⁵ Include Form I-693 (medical exam), passport-style photos, copies of identity documents, and Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support) from you as sponsor.

Work and Travel While the Case Is Pending

While the I-485 sits with USCIS, your parent can file Form I-765 for a work permit and Form I-131 for advance parole to travel. Both can go in with the I-485 itself.⁶

The travel document matters more than most applicants realize. If your parent leaves the country without an approved advance parole document while the I-485 is pending, USCIS treats the application as abandoned and denies it.⁸ Even with advance parole in hand, travel during a pending case adds risk, and most practitioners advise staying put unless a trip is necessary.

If Your Parent Lives Abroad

When your parent is outside the United States, the case moves to consular processing after USCIS approves the I-130. The approved petition goes to the State Department’s National Visa Center (NVC), which handles the pre-interview paperwork.⁹

At the NVC stage, your parent pays a $325 immigrant visa processing fee, and you submit Form I-864.¹⁰ Your parent files Form DS-260 (the online immigrant visa application) and uploads civil documents: birth certificate, police clearances, passport copies.¹¹ Foreign-language documents need certified translations.

Once the file is complete, the NVC schedules an interview at the U.S. embassy or consulate in your parent’s country. A panel physician there performs the medical exam before the interview. If the consular officer approves the visa, your parent receives an immigrant visa packet and must enter the United States within the timeframe printed on it. Entry is the moment they become a lawful permanent resident.

When Your Parent Is in the U.S. Without a Lawful Entry

This is where most cases get complicated. If your parent is living in the U.S. but entered without inspection, they generally cannot use Form I-485 because they were never “admitted or paroled.”⁷ They would need to leave for consular processing, but leaving triggers a separate problem: the unlawful presence bars.

A person who was unlawfully present in the U.S. for more than 180 days but less than one year, and then departs, is barred from reentering for three years. Someone unlawfully present for one year or more faces a ten-year bar.¹² For a parent who has been in the U.S. without status for years, walking out to attend a consular interview could mean a decade abroad.

The I-601A Provisional Waiver

Form I-601A exists to address that trap. It lets your parent apply for a waiver of the three- or ten-year bar while still inside the United States, before leaving for the consular interview.¹³ If USCIS approves it, your parent can travel to the consulate with far less risk of being stuck outside the country.

To qualify, unlawful presence must be your parent’s only inadmissibility ground, they must have an approved I-130, and you must show that refusing them admission would cause “extreme hardship” to a qualifying U.S. citizen or permanent resident relative. Extreme hardship is a high bar. Financial strain, family separation, and medical needs of the qualifying relative are all relevant, but generic hardship claims without detailed evidence usually fail.¹³

The Old 245(i) Exception

A narrow exception exists for parents who were the beneficiary of an immigrant petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001. Under Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, these individuals can sometimes adjust status inside the U.S. despite entering without inspection, typically by paying a $1,000 penalty fee. If the qualifying petition was filed between January 14, 1998, and April 30, 2001, the parent must also have been physically present in the U.S. on December 21, 2000. Few new cases qualify, but for a parent who had an old petition filed on their behalf decades ago, it can be a lifeline.

The Affidavit of Support

You must file Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, to show you can financially support your parent so they will not need to rely on government cash assistance.¹⁴ Your household income must meet or exceed 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for your household size. For 2026, the 125% threshold for a two-person household (you plus one parent) in the 48 contiguous states is $27,050.¹⁵ The threshold rises with each additional household member. Document your income with your most recent federal tax return, W-2s, and any 1099s.

If your income falls short, you can use a joint sponsor. The joint sponsor can be any U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or U.S. national who is at least 18, lives in the United States, and independently meets the 125% threshold for a combined household that includes your parent. The joint sponsor does not need to be related to you or your parent.¹⁶

How Long the Financial Obligation Lasts

The Affidavit of Support is a legally enforceable contract. Your obligation runs until your parent becomes a U.S. citizen, is credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work (roughly 10 years), or dies. It also ends if you die. Divorce between the sponsor and their spouse does not end sponsorship of the immigrant.¹⁶ If your parent receives means-tested public benefits, the government can seek reimbursement from you.

The Medical Exam

Every applicant needs a medical exam. Inside the United States, the exam is performed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. For consular cases abroad, a State Department-authorized panel physician performs it.¹⁷ The doctor screens for communicable diseases of public health significance and checks required vaccinations.

For U.S.-based exams, the civil surgeon documents results on Form I-693, seals the envelope, and gives it to the applicant to file with the I-485.¹⁸ Timing matters here. For forms signed on or after November 1, 2023, the I-693 is valid only while the application it was submitted with is pending. If the I-485 is denied or withdrawn, your parent needs a brand-new exam for any future filing.¹⁹

Civil surgeon fees typically run $150 to $500 for the exam. Vaccinations are billed separately and can add $100 to $600 depending on what your parent still needs. Calling a few designated civil surgeons for price quotes before booking is worth the time.

The Interview

For adjustment cases, USCIS schedules the interview at a local field office. For consular cases, it happens at the U.S. embassy or consulate in your parent’s country. The officer verifies the family relationship, reviews supporting documents, and asks about your parent’s background and intentions.

Bring originals of every document previously submitted as a copy: birth certificates, marriage certificates, adoption records, passports, financial documents, and (for domestic cases) the medical exam. Officers sometimes ask about the petitioner’s employment, the parent’s prior immigration history, and who will be in the household. Parent interviews tend to be shorter and more straightforward than spousal interviews because the relationship is well documented and fraud concerns are lower. Even so, missing documents or inconsistent answers can trigger a request for evidence and delay approval.

What It All Costs

The 2026 fee picture for a parent case looks roughly like this:

Form I-130: $625 online or $675 by mail.⁵
Form I-485 (adjustment of status): $1,440 for applicants over 14.⁵
Immigrant visa processing fee for consular cases: $325.¹⁰
Medical exam: $150 to $500, plus $100 to $600 for vaccinations.
Certified translations: roughly $25 to $40 per page for foreign-language documents.

For a concurrent adjustment filing, government fees alone (I-130 plus I-485) total about $2,065 before medical costs and translations. For consular processing, government fees (I-130 plus the $325 visa fee) come to roughly $950 to $1,000. An I-601A waiver adds its own filing fee and usually requires an immigration attorney, which can add several thousand dollars.

Common Reasons Parent Petitions Get Denied

Parent cases are among the more straightforward family petitions, but denials happen. A few patterns cause most of them.

Relationship documentation gaps are common. Missing birth certificates, inconsistent names across documents, or a certificate that doesn’t list the correct parent all trigger requests for evidence or outright denial. For fathers when the parents were not married at birth, failing to show a real emotional or financial bond that existed before the petitioner turned 21 is a frequent stumbling point. Untranslated foreign-language documents are treated as if they were never filed.

Falling short on income catches some petitioners off guard. If your income does not meet 125% of the poverty guidelines, line up a qualified joint sponsor before filing.¹⁴ Missing tax returns, incomplete W-2s, or leaving out income sources are fixable, but they cause avoidable delays.

Inadmissibility grounds beyond unlawful presence can also derail a case. Prior deportations trigger their own reentry bars of five, ten, or twenty years. Certain criminal convictions, fraud, or earlier immigration violations can make your parent inadmissible under the Immigration and Nationality Act.¹² Some grounds have waivers, but those require their own applications and usually a showing of extreme hardship to a qualifying relative. If you know or suspect any of this is in your parent’s history, talk to an immigration attorney before filing.

Finally, simple form errors cause more delays than most applicants expect. Blank fields, dates that don’t match across forms, or inconsistent spellings of names all get flagged. USCIS rejects incomplete forms without processing them, and you lose weeks getting a corrected filing accepted.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1151 – Worldwide Level of Immigration
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Bringing Parents to Live in the United States as Permanent Residents
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
7
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 245 – Adjustment of Status to That of Person Admitted for Permanent Residence
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Travel Documents
9
Travel.State.Gov. NVC Processing
10
Travel.State.Gov. Fees for Visa Services
11
Travel.State.Gov. Step 6 – Complete Online Visa Application DS-260
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Affidavit of Support
15
HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-864 Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Vaccination Requirements
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-693, Instructions for Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
19
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Changes Validity Period for Form I-693 Signed on or after Nov. 1, 2023