USCIS I-130: Requirements, Evidence, and Filing Costs

The Form I-130 petition for alien relative is the first filing in almost every family-based green card case. A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident submits it to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to prove a qualifying family relationship with the relative who wants a green card. It costs $625 online or $675 by paper, and immediate-relative cases have been running roughly 10 to 15 months from filing to decision. Approval does not grant a green card by itself; it establishes the relationship so the beneficiary can pursue the next step.

Who Can File and Who Qualifies as a Relative

Only U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and U.S. nationals can file an I-130, and the petitioner’s status controls the list of eligible beneficiaries.¹

A U.S. citizen can petition for a spouse, a parent, an unmarried or married child of any age, and a sibling. A green card holder has a shorter list: a spouse and unmarried children only. A permanent resident who wants to sponsor a married child or a sibling has to naturalize first.

How Long the Wait Is

The relationship decides whether the case is fast or long. There are two tracks, and the gap between them is enormous.

Immediate Relatives

Spouses of U.S. citizens, unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens, and parents of U.S. citizens who are at least 21 fall into the immediate relative category. Visa numbers are unlimited here, so once the I-130 is approved there is no waiting line for a visa.² This is the fastest family-sponsored path.

Family Preference Categories

Every other qualifying relationship falls into a preference category with an annual visa cap. Demand outstrips supply, so backlogs build. The Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin shows where each category currently stands.³ Based on the March 2026 Visa Bulletin, approximate waits for a case filed today look like this:⁴

F1, unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens: roughly 9 to 10 years.
F2A, spouses and children under 21 of green card holders: about 2 years.
F2B, unmarried children 21 and older of green card holders: roughly 9 to 10 years.
F3, married children of U.S. citizens: approximately 14 to 15 years.
F4, siblings of U.S. citizens: around 18 years.

Those numbers apply to beneficiaries not charged to a heavily backlogged country. Wait times for people born in Mexico, the Philippines, India, and China are often significantly longer.

Evidence You Have to Provide

USCIS needs two things: proof that the petitioner is who they say they are, and proof that the family relationship is real.

The Petitioner’s Status

U.S. citizens submit a copy of a birth certificate, valid U.S. passport, or naturalization certificate. Green card holders submit copies of both sides of their Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551).⁵

The Relationship

The primary document depends on the relationship: a marriage certificate for a spouse, a birth certificate for a child or parent, an adoption decree where relevant. If the primary document is unavailable, USCIS accepts secondary evidence such as baptismal certificates, school records, hospital records, census records, and sworn statements from people with knowledge of the relationship.⁶ DNA test results can be submitted voluntarily when other reliable evidence is not available.

Translations

Any document in a language other than English must include a full English translation. The translator has to sign a certification stating the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent in both languages.⁷ Every part of the document counts, including stamps and seals. USCIS rejects documents without that certification.

Extra Requirements for Spousal Cases

If you are petitioning for a spouse, you also have to file Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary, with the I-130.⁸ Beyond the marriage certificate, USCIS wants evidence that the marriage is genuine and not entered into for immigration benefits. Joint federal tax returns filed as married, shared bank statements, a lease or mortgage with both names, insurance policies naming each other, and utility bills at the same address all carry weight. Dated photos together, travel records from trips as a couple, and affidavits from friends and family who know the relationship help fill in the picture. A thin packet invites the scrutiny a well-documented filing avoids.

How to File and What It Costs

You can file the I-130 online through a USCIS account or mail a paper petition to the Lockbox designated for your state. Online filing is generally faster and lets you upload documents, track status, and receive notices electronically.⁹

The fee is $625 online and $675 by paper.¹⁰ For paper filings, USCIS no longer accepts personal checks or money orders for most forms. Pay by credit, debit, or prepaid card using Form G-1450, or authorize a bank account debit with Form G-1650. Keep a full copy of everything you send.

Filing Together With the Green Card Application

If the beneficiary is an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen and is already in the United States, the I-130 and Form I-485 (Application to Adjust Status) can be filed at the same time. This is called concurrent filing, and it can shave months off the total timeline because USCIS handles both in parallel.² The beneficiary must have been inspected and admitted or paroled into the country and must be physically present in the U.S. when the I-485 is filed. Beneficiaries in preference categories cannot file concurrently unless a visa number is already available to them under the Visa Bulletin.

After You File

USCIS will send Form I-797C, Notice of Action, confirming receipt.¹¹ The notice includes a 13-character receipt number (three letters followed by ten digits) for online case tracking.¹² A rejection notice usually means a fee problem, an incomplete form, or the wrong mailing address. Rejection is not denial. You can fix the issue and refile.

Immediate relative petitions have averaged roughly 10 to 15 months in recent years, though that number moves. USCIS publishes estimated processing times by form and service center; checking regularly gives you a sense of where your case sits. Family preference petitions typically take longer for USCIS to decide, and that adjudication time is separate from the years-long wait for a visa number.

Address Changes

If the petitioner or the beneficiary moves while the case is pending, notify USCIS within 10 days using Form AR-11 or through your USCIS online account.¹³ Interview notices, approval letters, and evidence requests go to the address on file. A missed notice can derail a case that was otherwise fine.

Requests for Evidence and Denials

If something is missing or unclear, USCIS will issue a Request for Evidence (RFE). You have 84 calendar days to respond.¹⁴ That deadline cannot be extended, and no response usually means denial on the existing record. Treat an RFE as a real second chance and answer it thoroughly.

If the petition is denied, you can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals using Form EOIR-29.¹⁵ The denial letter lists the deadline and instructions, and must be included with the appeal. Depending on the reason for denial, refiling a new I-130 with stronger evidence may be a better move than appealing.

Expedite Requests

USCIS allows expedite requests only in narrow circumstances, including urgent humanitarian situations like serious illness, disability, or dangerous living conditions, and severe financial loss to a person or company.¹⁶ Wanting approval sooner is not enough. You have to document the specific urgency, and approval is discretionary.

The Financial Commitment That Comes Later

The I-130 itself does not ask for proof of income. That comes at the next stage, in Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, and petitioners should understand it before they file anything. The petitioner has to show household income of at least 125% of the federal poverty guidelines. For 2026, the minimum for a household of two in the 48 contiguous states is $27,050. Alaska is higher at $33,813 and Hawaii at $31,113, and the threshold rises with each additional household member.¹⁷

If income falls short, a joint sponsor can step in. The joint sponsor must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, at least 18, and living in the United States. They do not have to be related to anyone in the case, but they must meet the full income threshold on their own without combining resources with the petitioner.¹⁸

Form I-864 is a legally binding contract with the U.S. government. Signing it obligates the sponsor to support the immigrant financially, and that obligation survives divorce. It ends only when the sponsored immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, is credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work (roughly 10 years), dies, or permanently leaves the country. Sponsored immigrants have sued former spouses in federal court to enforce this support. Understand what you are signing before you sign it.

Protecting the Case During Long Waits

For preference-category families, years can pass between filing and visa availability. Children age up, petitioners can die, and lives change. A few safeguards matter.

The Child Status Protection Act

A child who turns 21 while waiting for a visa number would normally age out and lose their category. The Child Status Protection Act provides a calculation: take the child’s biological age on the date a visa becomes available and subtract the number of days the I-130 was pending before approval.¹⁹ If the result is under 21, the child still qualifies. For immediate relatives, the child’s age is frozen on the filing date, which eliminates aging-out concerns in most of those cases.

If the Petitioner Dies

An approved I-130 is automatically revoked when the petitioner dies, but USCIS can reinstate it on humanitarian grounds. Under Section 204(l) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the beneficiary generally must have been residing in the United States when the petitioner died and must still be residing here when the reinstatement decision is made. The beneficiary sends a written request to the USCIS office that approved the original petition, along with a copy of the approval notice, the petitioner’s death certificate, and a new Form I-864 from a substitute sponsor.²⁰

A surviving spouse of a deceased U.S. citizen has a separate path: self-petitioning with Form I-360 within two years of the citizen spouse’s death, whether or not an I-130 was ever filed.²¹ That two-year deadline is firm.

What Approval Actually Means

An approved I-130 establishes the family relationship. It is not a green card. The beneficiary still has to complete one more step, and the route depends on where they live.

Beneficiaries in the United States typically file Form I-485 to adjust status with USCIS. Beneficiaries abroad go through consular processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate, where the Department of State handles the immigrant visa interview. Both paths require a medical exam, the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support, and additional documents.

Immediate relatives can move to that final step as soon as the I-130 is approved, because a visa is always available. Everyone in the preference categories has to wait for their priority date to become current on the Visa Bulletin before filing the green card application.³ The priority date is the date USCIS received the I-130, and it holds the beneficiary’s place in line for however long the wait lasts.

1
U.S. Department of State. Family Immigration
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Visa Availability and Priority Dates
4
U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for March 2026
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Documentation and Evidence
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Documentation – Section: A. Initial Evidence
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-130A Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-797C, Notice of Action
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipt Number
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. AR-11, Alien’s Change of Address Card
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 6 – Evidence
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. EOIR-29, Notice of Appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expedite Requests
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
19
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)
20
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Approval of Petitions and Applications after the Death of the Qualifying Relative
21
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Green Card for Widow(er) of a U.S. Citizen