What Documents Do I Need for an I-130 Petition?

To file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, you need two categories of documents: proof that you are a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and proof of your qualifying family relationship with the person you’re sponsoring. Spousal petitions require an extra layer of evidence showing the marriage is genuine. Everything not already in English must come with a certified translation, and photocopies must be clear enough to read.

What Every I-130 Has to Prove

USCIS decides an I-130 on two questions. Are you legally allowed to petition? And is the family relationship you claim real? Your document package exists to answer both.¹

Which relatives you can petition for depends on your status. A U.S. citizen can file for a spouse, parent, unmarried or married child of any age, or sibling.² A lawful permanent resident can file only for a spouse, an unmarried child under 21, or an unmarried son or daughter 21 or older.³ LPRs cannot petition for a parent, a sibling, or a married child.

Proof of Your Own Status

If You Are a U.S. Citizen

Submit any one of the following:

A U.S. birth certificate issued by a civil authority (hospital souvenir certificates do not count).
A copy of the biographical page of a valid U.S. passport.
A photocopy of a Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship.
A Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240), for citizens born outside the United States to U.S. citizen parents.

Copies must be clear and legible. Blurry or damaged copies can trigger a Request for Evidence and add months to your case.¹

If You Are a Lawful Permanent Resident

Submit a photocopy of both the front and back of your Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551).¹ If you don’t have the physical card, a foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp, or a machine-readable immigrant visa with an I-551 notation, works as temporary proof.⁴

Proof of the Family Relationship

What you need here depends on who your beneficiary is.

Parents and Children

For a child, submit the child’s birth certificate naming both the parent and the child, issued by a government civil authority in the country where the birth occurred. For a parent, submit your own birth certificate showing the parent’s name.

Siblings

Submit birth certificates for both you and your sibling showing at least one shared parent. If you share only one parent, both birth certificates must name that parent.

When You Cannot Get a Birth Certificate

Some countries have unreliable civil registration or destroyed records. In those cases, USCIS accepts secondary evidence: baptismal certificates showing the date and place of birth and bearing the church’s seal, early school records naming the child’s date of birth and parents, hospital records, or census data listing birth dates.⁵

You must also include a certificate of non-availability — an official statement from the government of the country of birth confirming that the record does not exist. You can strengthen secondary evidence with sworn affidavits from people who witnessed or have direct knowledge of the birth. Each affidavit should give the affiant’s full name, address, date and place of birth, and a detailed account of how they know the facts.

DNA Testing

USCIS cannot require a DNA test, but an officer may suggest one when the paper evidence is not strong enough to establish a biological relationship. If you go this route, the lab must have AABB accreditation; USCIS will not accept results from any other lab.⁶ You choose the lab, arrange the test, and pay the cost, which typically runs $230 to $525 for AABB-accredited parentage testing.

Extra Documents for Stepchildren and Adopted Children

Stepchildren

You can petition for a stepchild only if you married the child’s birth parent before the child turned 18.⁷ Include your marriage certificate along with the child’s birth certificate naming the birth parent.

Adopted Children

Include the final adoption decree, evidence of legal custody such as a court order, and proof that you and the child lived together for at least two years. The two years of legal custody and the two years of joint residence do not have to be continuous; shorter periods can add up, and the two requirements are evaluated separately. If spouses jointly adopted, only one adoptive parent has to meet the requirement, but you cannot split the two years between parents.⁸

Extra Documents for a Spouse

Spousal petitions are scrutinized more closely than any other family category because USCIS has to be satisfied the marriage is genuine and not solely for immigration benefits.

Marriage Certificate and Prior Marriage Terminations

Submit a marriage certificate issued by a government civil authority. If either spouse was previously married, include proof that every prior marriage ended: a divorce decree, an annulment order, or the death certificate of the former spouse.⁹ Missing termination documents are one of the most common triggers for Requests for Evidence on spousal petitions.

Form I-130A

Your spouse must complete and sign Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary, and you submit it with your I-130. If your spouse is overseas, the form is still required, but the signature is not.¹⁰ Form I-130A collects your spouse’s address history and employment history for the past five years.¹¹

Evidence the Marriage Is Real

Include documents showing that you and your spouse share a life. The regulation points to several kinds of evidence:

Joint bank accounts, credit card accounts, or other financial records in both names.
A lease or mortgage in both names, or utility bills at the same address.
Joint ownership of property, such as deeds or vehicle titles.
Birth certificates of children born to both of you.
Sworn affidavits from people who have personally observed your relationship, each including the affiant’s full name, address, date and place of birth, and a detailed account of what they’ve seen.

Shared insurance policies, photos together, joint travel records, and correspondence can add weight.⁹

Photos, Translations, and Format

Forms and Signatures

Download Form I-130, and Form I-130A when applicable, straight from the USCIS website so you have the current version. Complete all fields in black ink and sign where indicated. Unsigned forms will be rejected.¹⁰

Passport-Style Photos

Include two identical color photos of yourself and two of the beneficiary, if the beneficiary is in the United States. Each photo must be 2 inches by 2 inches, show the full face in a frontal view against a white or off-white background, and be taken within 30 days of filing. Photos must be printed on thin, glossy paper and left unmounted and unretouched.¹⁰

Translations

Any document in a foreign language has to come with a complete English translation. The translator must sign a certification stating the translation is accurate and complete and that they are competent to translate from the source language into English. The certification must include the translator’s printed name, signature, date, and contact information.¹⁰ You don’t need a professional service. A bilingual friend or family member can translate, as long as they provide the required certification. Professional certified translations generally run $20 to $40 per page for standard civil documents, with higher rates for handwritten text or uncommon languages.

If You File Online

Online filers upload scanned copies of every supporting document. Files must be PDF, JPG, or JPEG and cannot exceed 12 MB per file. Passport photos can be scanned or taken with a phone.¹² Foreign-language documents still need a certified English translation uploaded alongside the original.

Filing Fee and What Goes With the Packet

The filing fee is $625 for online petitions and $675 for paper petitions.¹³ USCIS updated its fee schedule effective March 1, 2026, so confirm the current amount on the G-1055 fee schedule before filing. Submitting the wrong fee will get your petition rejected.¹⁴

If you mail a paper petition, you can attach Form G-1145 at no extra cost to get a text or email confirmation when USCIS accepts your package. After acceptance, you’ll receive Form I-797, Notice of Action, which gives you the receipt number for tracking your case online.

One document that is not part of the I-130 packet: the Affidavit of Support (Form I-864). That form is required later, when your relative applies for the green card itself, not when you file the petition.¹⁵ Knowing it’s coming is useful; sending it now is not.

1
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.1 – General Information About Immediate Relative and Family-Sponsored Petitions
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1154 – Procedure for Granting Immigrant Status
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – General Eligibility Requirements
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 7.1 Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)
5
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.1 – General Information About Immediate Relative and Family-Sponsored Petitions
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Genetic Relationship Testing; Suggesting DNA Tests
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration, Adoption, and Citizenship for Stepchildren of U.S. Citizens and LPRs
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – Eligibility, Family-Based Adoption Petitions
9
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.2 – Petitions for Relatives, Widows and Widowers, and Abused Spouses and Children
10
USCIS. Instructions for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Tips for Filing Forms Online
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form G-1055 Fee Schedule
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055, Fee Schedule
15
USCIS. Form I-864 Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA