How to File a Family-Based Petition: Form I-130 and Evidence

To file a family-based petition, a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident submits Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, along with proof of the sponsor’s status and documents establishing the qualifying family relationship. Approval of the I-130 does not itself grant a green card. It confirms the relationship and starts the clock on the next stage, whether that is adjustment of status inside the United States or consular processing abroad.

Who Can File and for Which Relatives

Only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents can file an I-130, and the two groups have different sponsorship authority.¹ A citizen can petition for a spouse, unmarried child of any age, married child of any age, parent, or sibling. A permanent resident can petition only for a spouse or an unmarried child.² Parents, siblings, and married sons and daughters are outside a permanent resident’s reach. If that resident later naturalizes, any pending petition can be upgraded, and the citizen-only categories open up.

A citizen petitioning for a parent must be at least 21, a requirement set in the statute defining immediate relatives.³ Every petitioner will also eventually sign an affidavit of support, which requires the signer to be at least 18.

What Form I-130 Asks For

The I-130 collects detailed biographical information about the petitioner and the beneficiary: full legal names, dates of birth, addresses for the past five years, and employment history for the past five years.⁴ Blank fields and inconsistencies are common reasons the agency returns a form or issues a request for evidence. Fill unused fields with “N/A” or “None” rather than leaving them empty.

Accuracy is not cosmetic. Providing false information on the form carries potential criminal penalties of up to five years in prison under federal law.⁵

Proof of the Petitioner’s Status

A U.S. citizen petitioner can submit a civil-issued birth certificate, a valid U.S. passport, or a naturalization certificate. A permanent resident includes a clear copy of both sides of their green card.

Proof of the Family Relationship

Marriage certificates establish spousal petitions. Birth certificates establish parent-child relationships. Adoption decrees are required if the relationship was created through adoption. Every document in a foreign language must be accompanied by a complete English translation with a signed certification from the translator stating that the translation is accurate and that the translator is competent in both languages.⁶ Partial translations and summaries are not accepted.

Extra Evidence for a Spousal Petition

Spousal petitions receive the closest scrutiny because marriage fraud is one of the most common forms of immigration abuse. USCIS expects couples to submit substantial evidence that the marriage is genuine. The more documentation you provide upfront, the less likely the agency is to demand more or schedule an intensive fraud interview.

Useful categories of evidence include:

Financial records such as joint bank accounts, joint tax returns, shared credit cards, and co-signed loans or mortgages.
Shared-residence proof such as a lease or deed in both names, utility bills listing both spouses, and mail addressed to both at the same address.
Insurance and benefits records showing the spouse as a covered member, beneficiary, or emergency contact.
Personal evidence including photographs together over time, birth certificates of children born to the couple, travel records, and correspondence between the spouses.
Sworn affidavits from friends or family who can attest to the relationship.

If doubts remain after the initial interview, the agency may schedule a secondary interview sometimes called a Stokes interview. Each spouse is questioned separately about the details of daily life, and officers compare the answers for consistency. Significant inconsistencies can lead to denial or a fraud referral.

How and Where to File

You can file the I-130 online through the USCIS portal or mail a paper form to the lockbox facility designated for your state of residence. Online filing allows direct document uploads and electronic payment. USCIS updates its fee schedule periodically, so check the current amount on the agency’s fee page before filing.⁷ Paper filings can be paid by money order, personal check, or credit card using Form G-1450.

After the filing is accepted, USCIS mails Form I-797C, Notice of Action, as your receipt.⁸ The notice carries a receipt number you can use with the USCIS online case-status tool. Keep it. It is your proof of filing and the date the petition was accepted, which fixes the beneficiary’s place in line if the case falls into a preference category.

Concurrent Filing

An immediate relative of a U.S. citizen who is already physically present in the United States can file the I-130 and Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status, at the same time. This is called concurrent filing, and it is always available for immediate relatives because their category has no numerical cap.⁹ Preference-category beneficiaries can file concurrently only when a visa number is immediately available under the Visa Bulletin.

What Happens After You File

Immigration law splits family relationships into two tracks, and the track controls how long the beneficiary waits.

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouse, unmarried child under 21, and parent of a citizen aged 21 or older) have no annual cap on visas.³ Their cases move as fast as the government can adjudicate the paperwork.

Every other qualifying relationship falls into one of four family preference categories with strict annual limits:¹⁰

F1: unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (up to 23,400 visas per year).
F2A: spouses and minor children of permanent residents. F2B: unmarried adult sons and daughters of permanent residents. The two together receive up to 114,200 visas, with at least 77 percent reserved for F2A.
F3: married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (up to 23,400 visas per year).
F4: siblings of U.S. citizens where the citizen is at least 21 (up to 65,000 visas per year).

The overall cap of 226,000 for family-sponsored preference visas means demand routinely outstrips supply. Backlogs run years, and in some categories more than a decade, depending on the beneficiary’s country of birth. The filing date of an accepted I-130 becomes the beneficiary’s priority date, and the monthly Visa Bulletin published by the Department of State shows which priority dates are currently eligible to move forward.¹¹ Nothing else happens on a preference case until that date is current.

The Affidavit of Support

Before any sponsored relative can be issued a green card, the petitioner must file Form I-864, Affidavit of Support. This is a legally binding contract with the federal government, not a formality. If the sponsored relative later receives certain means-tested public benefits, the government can sue the sponsor to recover the cost.

The sponsor’s household income must equal at least 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for the household size, which counts the sponsor, their dependents, and the relatives being sponsored. For 2026 in the 48 contiguous states, that means a minimum of $27,050 for a household of two, $34,150 for three, and $41,250 for four.¹² Active-duty military sponsors petitioning for a spouse or minor child need only 100 percent of the guidelines.¹³

If your income falls short, a household member can add their earnings by signing on as a contributor, or a separate U.S. citizen or permanent resident can sign as a joint sponsor, taking on full independent responsibility for the beneficiary. Assets like savings, investments, and real property can help bridge the gap, valued at one-fifth of net worth for most relationships and one-third for spousal petitions.

If only one beneficiary is listed and your qualifying income comes entirely from salary or pension shown on W-2 forms, you can use the simplified Form I-864EZ.¹⁴

The obligation continues until the sponsored relative becomes a U.S. citizen, earns 40 qualifying quarters of work (roughly 10 years of employment), permanently departs and abandons the green card, or dies.¹⁵ Divorce does not end it. Many sponsors are caught off guard by that: if you sponsor a spouse and later divorce, you remain financially responsible until one of those terminating events occurs.

After the I-130 Is Approved

An approved I-130 confirms the family relationship. It is not the green card. The next step depends on where the beneficiary lives.

Adjustment of Status Inside the United States

A beneficiary already in the United States with a lawful status can apply for a green card without leaving the country by filing Form I-485.¹⁶ The process includes biometrics, a medical examination by a USCIS-authorized civil surgeon using Form I-693, and typically an in-person interview at a local USCIS field office. Civil surgeon fees generally range from $200 to $650 depending on the area, plus any vaccinations.

Leaving the country while the I-485 is pending can cause the application to be treated as abandoned. International travel during this period requires advance parole, requested through Form I-131 and approved before departure. Returning without an approved advance parole document can terminate the entire adjustment case.

Consular Processing Abroad

If the beneficiary lives outside the United States, the approved I-130 is forwarded to the Department of State’s National Visa Center.¹⁷ NVC assigns a case number and sends a Welcome Letter with instructions to access the Consular Electronic Application Center. Through that portal, the beneficiary completes the DS-260 online visa application, pays processing fees, and uploads civil documents and the affidavit of support.¹⁸ When the file is complete, NVC schedules an interview at the U.S. embassy or consulate in the beneficiary’s home country. If the visa is approved, the beneficiary generally has six months to enter the United States, at which point they become a lawful permanent resident.

If the Petition Is Denied

A denial is not necessarily the end, but the deadlines are tight. The petitioner can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals using Form EOIR-29 within 30 days of the decision. When the denial is mailed rather than delivered in person, three extra days are added, for a total of 33.¹⁹

Instead of appealing, the petitioner can file a motion to reopen, which presents new evidence that was not available before, or a motion to reconsider, which argues that USCIS applied the law incorrectly to the existing record. Both go to the office that issued the denial and carry the same 33-day mailing deadline. Any supporting evidence or legal argument must be submitted with the motion itself, not afterward.¹⁹

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1154 – Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1154 – Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1151 – Worldwide Level of Immigration
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-130 – Petition for Alien Relative
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
9
USCIS. Concurrent Filing of Form I-485
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas
11
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for June 2025
12
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1183a – Requirements for Sponsors Affidavit of Support
16
USCIS. Adjustment of Status
17
U.S. Department of State. NVC Processing
18
U.S. Department of State. The Immigrant Visa Process
19
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Questions and Answers: Appeals and Motions