How to Get a Marriage Green Card: Step-by-Step Guide

When a foreign national marries a U.S. citizen, the non-U.S. spouse may apply to become a Lawful Permanent Resident (“LPR”) of the United States and be issued a “green card” based on the marriage. The U.S. citizen spouse is referred to as the “petitioner” as s/he will file a Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative which, upon approval, allows the spouse to apply for legal permanent residence in the United States. The non-U.S. citizen spouse is known as the “beneficiary” as s/he is the recipient of the benefit(s) requested in the petitioner’s I-130 petition. For ease of reference, these terms will be used below.
 

Overview of the Marriage Green Card Process

The immigrant visa process for a spouse of a U.S. citizen is a two-part process that may be achieved in one of two way. Each process has different forms, fees and requirements and processing times vary according to the method chosen. In either case, the process begins with the filing of the I-130 petition. The second part is the beneficiary’s “green card” process.
 

Option 1: Adjustment of Status

The first option, known as “adjustment of status,” allows the beneficiary to apply to adjust status from non-immigrant to immigrant from within the United States. To be eligible, the beneficiary must prove that the last entry into the U.S. was lawful in nature. An entry into the U.S. is considered lawful when the individual is either admitted or paroled by a government official at a port of entry. Typically, a Customs and Border Protection officer will grant entry and issue an I-94 record which is proof of the date of entry, manner of entry and an “admit until” date, which is the date by which the beneficiary was expected to depart from the U.S.
 
In this case, the application to adjust status is filed concurrently with the petitioner’s I-130 petition and the entire process is adjudicated by USCIS. Because both steps of the process are filed simultaneously, the adjustment of status process is less complicated than the alternative of applying for a visa at a U.S. consulate in the beneficiary’s home country (or a different country in which the beneficiary has lawful status), which is referred to as “consular processing,” the second option further discussed below.
 

Option 2: Consular Processing

The second option, known as “consular processing,” is a bifurcated process in which the I-130 petition is filed in the U.S. but the second part of the process is completed abroad. Upon USCIS’ approval of the I-130 petition, the case is transferred to the Department of State (“DOS”) as DOS is the government agency responsible for visa issuance world-wide. In this case, the beneficiary must wait for the I-130 to be approved before being able to apply for an immigrant visa. The National Visa Center (“NVC”) is a sub-agency of the DOS and is tasked with the processing of immigrant visa applications. After all required documents have been received and reviewed by the NVC, the case is transferred to the appropriate consulate and the beneficiary must wait to be scheduled to appear before a consular officer for an in-person visa interview. Once the visa is issued, the beneficiary must travel to the U.S. within the validity period as stated on the visa. Thereafter, the actual “green card” will be mailed to the beneficiary’s designated address in the United States. The endorsed visa in the passport remains valid proof of the beneficiary’s Lawful Permanent Resident status while waiting for the green card to arrive by mail, which typically occurs within 30 to 90 days after entering the U.S. with an immigrant visa.
 
A foreign national spouse of a U.S. citizen is viewed as an “immediate relative” for immigration purposes. Immediate relatives are limited to U.S. citizen spouses, parents and unmarried children under the age of 21. This category of family-based petitions enjoy certain privileges that do not extend to other family-based categories which include married and unmarried children over the age of 21, spouses and unmarried children of Legal Permanent Residents (also referred to as “green card” holders) and siblings of US citizens. These are known as “preference” cases.
 
There will always be a visa number available to spouses of U.S. citizens due to their “immediate relative” status. This means that they are not subject to the quotas that apply to the preference categories listed above. By law, there are annual limits on the number of visas allocated to the family-sponsored preference cases. Since there are more beneficiaries than visas available, they may only receive their green cards when a visa number becomes available to them, sometimes after waiting several years.
 

Fees and Processing Times

According to the USCIS website, www.uscis.gov, the current processing time for I-130 petitions is anywhere between 17-64 months, with stand-alone petitions on the lower end of the estimate and the petitions filed concurrently with the beneficiary’s adjustment of status application on the higher end. This is due to the requirement of an in-person interview at a USCIS location. The processing time varies significantly by service center and whether it’s a consular vs. concurrent adjustment filing. Most spousal I-130s are not taking 64 months in practice. As of 2025, processing times for Form I-130 for U.S. citizen spouses typically range from 10 to 18 months, though they can vary depending on USCIS workload and the service center. The filing fee is $675 if a paper application is mailed to USCIS and $625 if filed online. USCIS incentivises the online filing with a reduced fee and less wait time.
 

Required Forms and Documents

The list of required documents submitted to establish eligibility include: proof of the petitioner’s status as a U.S. citizen (birth certificate, valid U.S. passport, naturalization certificate); marriage certificate; proof that prior marriage(s) ended in divorce or death of the former spouse, if applicable (divorce decree or death certificate); evidence that the relationship between the petitioner and beneficiary is a bona fide marriage (lease agreement listing both spouses as residents, commingled finances, birth certificates of children together, etc.); proof of legal name change, if applicable and two passport-style photos of each spouse taken within 30 days of the filing of the I-130 petition. In addition, the beneficiary must complete and include Form I-130A in the submission to USCIS.
 
The beneficiary’s adjustment of status application is filed using Form I-485 and may also include an I-765 Application for Employment Authorization and I-131 Application for Advance Parole, which allow the beneficiary to work in the U.S. and travel abroad while waiting for the adjudication of the adjustment of status application. The adjustment of status application includes the following: copies of biographic page of current passport and U.S. visa(s), I-94 record (or stamp in passport) as evidence of lawful entry, birth certificate (with certified English translation, as necessary), medical exam in a sealed envelope, two passport-style photographs and a Form I-864, Affidavit of Support completed by the petitioner and accompanied with financial documents to prove the petitioner’s ability to support the beneficiary (W-2 and complete copy of the most recently filed tax return, pay stubs, employment confirmation letter, proof of assets, such as real property, bank accounts, retirement funds, etc.). If the beneficiary has ever been arrested, certified copies of the police report and court disposition must also be submitted to USCIS. The USCIS filing fees are broken down as follows: I-485 application is $1440, the I-765 is $260 and the I-131 application is $630. Fees can change, so it would be beneficial to confirm at USCIS.gov.
 
When applying for an immigrant visa through consular processing, the first step is to receive a case and invoice number from the NVC and access the account at the Consular Electronic Application Center (“CEAC”) website at: https://ceac.state.gov/ to pay the requisite visa fees. Currently, the immigrant visa fee is $325 and the affidavit of support processing fee is $120. Once the payments are processed, a live link will appear for the DS-260 Immigrant Visa Electronic Application to be completed and submitted through the beneficiary’s CEAC portal. Thereafter, scanned copies of the documents listed above are uploaded, with the exception of the medical exam. The medical exam will be conducted in the country where the application is being processed, typically a few weeks in advance of the scheduled visa interview. Once NVC has received all required documents and fees, it can still take several months before a visa interview is scheduled, depending on consular backlog and appointment availability. There is an additional requirement for consular processing cases: police report(s) from countries in which the beneficiary resided for more than one year after the age of 16, country of current residence for more than six months, country of nationality for more than six months after the age of 16, or where an arrest took place. Police certificates are not needed from the United States, even if the beneficiary lived there, unless requested by the consulate.
 

Conditional Residence and I-751

Unfortunately, there is a lot of fraud detected in marriage cases. In 1986, the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendment Act was enacted to combat such fraud. It created a “conditional resident” status for beneficiaries who obtain LPR status before celebrating their second wedding anniversary. In these cases, the green card is conditional and expires two years after being granted LPR status. The beneficiary and petitioner file a joint Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence to confirm the validity of the marriage by submitting documents that prove their continued cohabitation and the bona fide nature of the relationship. If the marriage is no longer intact, the beneficiary may file the petition to remove conditions alone and will have to show what happened to terminate the marriage. When approved, the beneficiary will receive a green card valid for ten years.
 

Path to U.S. Citizenship

Spouses of U.S. citizens who meet all of the requirements to become a U.S. citizen may apply 90 days in advance of the three-year anniversary of the date that LPR status was granted. All other LPR categories have to wait until 90 days before their five-year anniversary date.
 

Conclusion: Why Legal Help Matters

The requirements to achieve LPR status through marriage to a U.S. citizen have not changed. However, under the current administration, it is anticipated that there will be substantial delays and heightened scrutiny in adjudication of these cases. While the process may seem relatively straightforward, any mistake or omission may result in denial and possible referral to the immigration court to begin removal proceedings. It is critical to try your best to get it right the first time. An experienced immigration attorney will help to avoid common pitfalls and oversights that typically occur when filed without the guidance of a trained professional.
 
If you’re considering applying for a marriage-based green card in 2025, contact our experienced immigration team for a personalized consultation.