Prepare Your USCIS Form I-485Adjustment of Status Application

If you are inside the U.S. for an allowed reason, then you can use Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status to ask to live here permanently and for a Green Card. Here are some examples:

Relatives of U.S. citizens – Children, spouses, parents, and siblings of U.S. citizens who showed USCIS a family relationship using Form I-130 and received a visa can use Form I-485 to ask for a Green Card. Visas are always available a citizen’s spouse, unmarried kids less than age 21, and parents; if this applies to you, then you and the citizen can send together Form I-130 and the Green Card application. A citizen’s spouse who used a fiancée visa to enter the U.S. and married within 90 days can also use Form I-485 to ask for a Green Card.

• Relatives of Green Card holders – Spouses and unmarried children of Green Card holders who showed USCIS a family relationship using Form I-130 and received a visa can use Form I-485 to ask for a Green Card. If you have a visa when your relative applies for a Green Card, then you can submit together your Forms I-485.

• Workers – If you are in the U.S. with a temporary work visa and have been offered a permanent job while you're in the U.S., you could use Form I-485 to ask to stay in the U.S. permanently. Your U.S. employer can start the process for your Green Card using Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker.

• Cuban citizens – A Cuban who received permission to enter the U.S. after January 1, 1959 has since been inside the U.S. for at least one year can use Form I-485 to apply for a Green Card. So can their spouse and unmarried children who received permission to enter the U.S. after January 1, 1959 and have since been inside the U.S. for at least one year.

• Refugees and Asylees – Refugees and Asylees can use Form I-485 to ask for a Green Card. In the Form I-485, you must prove that you are still an asylee, refugee, or refugee’s spouse or child and that you’ve been inside the U.S. for 1 year since were allowed to enter for that reason.

How long to get a visa

How long it takes to get a visa depends on the following:

• Priority date, the date the Form I-130 is properly filed
• Preference category, based on the family relationship
• Country of nationality, usually where your relative is a citizen

Cost

For most people between the ages of 14 and 78, the I-485 costs $1225, including fingerprinting.

• Application fee for most adults – $1,140
• Application for kids 13 or less who applies with at least one parent – $750
• Biometrics fee: $85 (not required for some refugees)