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Explore visasI-130Full guide

IR-1 / CR-1Spouse of a U.S. citizen

For the husband or wife of a U.S. citizen who wants to live in the United States as a permanent resident (green card holder).

At a glance

How you apply
Your U.S. citizen spouse files Form I-130. If you are in the U.S. after a lawful admission or parole, you can file Form I-485 at the same time; if you are abroad, the approved petition is sent for consular processing
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1]
Wait for a visa number
None. Immigrant visas for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are not numerically limited, so one is always available
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3]
IR-1 or CR-1
Married less than 2 years: conditional residence (CR-1), removed later with Form I-751. Married 2 years or more: no conditions (IR-1). USCIS counts the marriage on the day you are granted permanent residence; for the visa, the State Department counts it on the day the visa is issued High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,4]
Work
With Form I-485 pending in the U.S., you can generally apply for a work permit on Form I-765. If you are admitted on an immigrant visa, you are a permanent resident who can live and work in the U.S. permanently
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,5]
I-130 filing fee
$675 on paper, $625 online (Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26)
Checked Oct 18, 2026[6]

What IR-1 and CR-1 are

IR-1 and CR-1 are the immigrant visa classifications for the spouse of a U.S. citizen. Both are immediate relative classes under section 201(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); CR-1 is the conditional version, which also falls under INA 216.[4,7]

Immediate relatives include the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen, and the parent of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21. The number of immigrants in these classes is not limited each fiscal year, so a spouse does not wait for a visa number to become available.[2,4]

The process starts when the U.S. citizen files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Filing or approval of the petition does not by itself give the spouse any immigration status or benefit.[3]

IR-1 or CR-1: which one applies

Official classes from 22 CFR 42.11. The two-year rule is from the State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM 502.2), which counts the marriage on the date the visa is issued, and from USCIS, which describes conditional status by the length of the marriage when permanent residence is granted.
SymbolOfficial classWhen it appliesWhat you receive
IR1Spouse of U.S. CitizenThe marriage was entered into 2 years or more before the immigrant visa is issuedPermanent resident status without conditions
CR1Spouse of U.S. Citizen (Conditional Status)The marriage was entered into less than 2 years before the immigrant visa is issuedConditional permanent resident status; you and your spouse later file Form I-751 together to remove the conditions (or you file alone with a request to waive joint filing, if you qualify)
High confidenceChecked Oct 18, 2026[1,4,7,8]

Who can file and what must be true

  • The petitioner is a U.S. citizen who is married to you. The relationship is proved with a marriage certificate issued by civil authorities and proof that every previous marriage of both spouses legally ended.[9]
  • The marriage must not be a sham. USCIS will deny the petition for anyone who has attempted or conspired to enter into a marriage to evade the immigration laws, when there is substantial and probative evidence of it in their file, even if they got no benefit from it and were never prosecuted or convicted.[9]
  • Marriage during removal proceedings: if you married on or after November 10, 1986, while the immigrant spouse was in exclusion, deportation or removal proceedings (or related court proceedings), the petition cannot be approved unless an exemption applies. Exemptions include the spouse having lived outside the U.S. for 2 or more years after the marriage, or the petitioner proving with clear and convincing evidence that the marriage was entered into in good faith and under the laws of the place where it took place, not to obtain the spouse's entry as an immigrant, and without any fee or other consideration given for filing the petition (other than to an attorney). The exemption request needs no separate form or fee: it is made in writing with Form I-130, states the reason and includes supporting documents.[9,10]Whether an exemption fits your case depends on the facts; an immigration attorney can apply the rule to them.

What goes with Form I-130

  • Form I-130, signed and with the correct fee, plus Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary. In Part 4 (Question 61 or 62), choose exactly one: adjustment of status inside the U.S. or consular processing abroad. USCIS rejects unsigned forms.[1,3]
  • Proof of the petitioner's U.S. citizenship, such as a copy of an unexpired U.S. passport, a U.S. birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240), a naturalization certificate or a certificate of citizenship, or an original statement from a U.S. consular officer verifying that the petitioner is a U.S. citizen with a valid passport.[1,3]
  • A copy of your civil marriage certificate; copies of all divorce decrees, death certificates or annulment decrees showing that every previous marriage of either spouse ended; passport-style photos of you and your spouse (the Form I-130 instructions give the photo requirements); and evidence of any legal name change.[1]
  • Evidence that the marriage is real (bona fide), such as joint ownership of property, a lease showing you live at the same address, combined finances, birth certificates of children you have together, and sworn affidavits from people who know your relationship. Each affidavit gives the person's full name, address, date and place of birth, and how they know about your marriage. Do not send DNA samples, non-paper items such as DVDs or thumb drives, or graphic photos of childbirth or intimate relations; photos or copies of items are accepted.[3]
  • Any document in a foreign language, for example a marriage certificate issued in Chinese, needs a full English translation with the translator's certification that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate into English.[3]

Fees

USCIS fees from Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26; State Department fees from 22 CFR 22.1. Which rows apply depends on whether you adjust status in the U.S. or apply through a consulate.
ItemAmountWhen it applies
Form I-130$675 paper / $625 onlineEvery spouse petition, on either route
Form I-485$1,440 paper / $1,390 onlineSpouse adjusting status inside the U.S.
Form I-864 Affidavit of Support$0No USCIS filing fee for this form
Form I-765 work permit$260With a pending Form I-485 filed with a fee on or after April 1, 2024 (no fee if that I-485 was filed with its fee on or after July 30, 2007, and before April 1, 2024)
Form I-131 advance parole$630 paper / $580 onlineTravel while Form I-485 is pending (no fee if that I-485 was filed with its fee on or after July 30, 2007, and before April 1, 2024). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may also charge a separate parole fee each time you seek parole at a port of entry, unless an exception applies
Immigrant visa application (State Department)$325Spouse applying at a U.S. embassy or consulate
Affidavit of support review (State Department)$120Only when reviewed domestically
USCIS Immigrant Fee$235Spouse immigrating on an immigrant visa
Form I-751 (CR-1 only)$750 paper / $700 onlineRemoving conditions on residence ($0 when filed with a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on battery or extreme cruelty)
Checked Oct 18, 2026[6,11]

Each application or petition must include the correct fee unless you are exempt or eligible for a fee waiver; if the fee is incorrect, USCIS rejects it. Filing online often costs $50 less.[6]

Applying from inside the U.S.

If you are in the U.S., you can apply for a green card without leaving by filing Form I-485 (adjustment of status). The requirements include: you were inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled (USCIS notes some limited exceptions); you are physically present in the U.S. when you file; you are the beneficiary of an I-130 that is approved, pending, or filed with your I-485 and ultimately approved; the marriage relationship with the petitioner still exists; no applicable bar to adjustment applies; you are admissible (or eligible for a waiver or other relief); and you merit USCIS's favorable discretion.[2]

Because a visa is always available to the spouse of a U.S. citizen, Form I-485 can be filed together with Form I-130 (concurrent filing), while the I-130 is pending, or after it is approved and remains valid.[2,12]

Several bars to adjustment do not apply to an immediate relative: having worked without authorization, not being in lawful status on the filing date, having failed to keep lawful status continuously since entry, and having been admitted as a visitor under the Visa Waiver Program. Other bars still apply, for example to someone who was not admitted or paroled after inspection, entered in transit without a visa, or arrived as a crew member, unless they qualify under INA 245(i).[10]Grounds of inadmissibility are a separate question from these bars. An immigration attorney can check both against your history.

Your I-485 package includes, among other documents, Form I-864 Affidavit of Support and, if required, Form I-693, the medical examination record. A required Form I-693 must be submitted with the I-485, or USCIS may reject the application.[2]

While Form I-485 is pending, you can generally apply for a work permit on Form I-765 and for an advance parole travel document on Form I-131. If you leave the U.S. while the I-485 is pending without advance parole, USCIS generally treats the application as abandoned.[2,12]

Applying from abroad

  1. Petition goes to the NVC

    If you live outside the U.S. (or live in the U.S. but want to apply for the immigrant visa abroad), USCIS sends the approved I-130 to the State Department's National Visa Center (NVC).[5]

  2. Fees, documents, interview

    The NVC collects the visa application fees and supporting documents. The consular office then schedules an interview and decides whether you are eligible for an immigrant visa. Contact the NVC if your address or marital status changes.[5]

  3. Entry and green card

    After the visa is issued, pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee and give the unopened visa packet to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at the port of entry. If admitted, you are a permanent resident; USCIS mails the green card only after the fee is paid.[5,13]

CR-1: conditional residence and Form I-751

High confidence If you have been married less than 2 years when you are granted permanent resident status, you receive it on a conditional basis. USCIS describes this conditional status as lasting two years.[1,14]

To remove the conditions, you and your U.S. citizen spouse file Form I-751 together during the 90-day period immediately before your conditional residence expires. A petition filed before that window opens may be rejected. USCIS says that if you do not file during the window, your resident status will be terminated and you may be subject to removal from the U.S.; its I-751 checklist asks a joint petition filed late to include an explanation of the reason.[1,8]

With the joint petition, send copies of documents showing that the marriage was entered into in good faith and not to get around the immigration laws, covering your relationship from the date of the marriage to the present.[8]

If you cannot file jointly, you may file Form I-751 on your own with a request to waive the joint filing requirement at any time before your conditional status expires, for one of these reasons: you married in good faith but the marriage ended by divorce or annulment; you married in good faith but your spouse died; you married in good faith but you or your child were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by your spouse during the marriage; or ending your status and removing you would cause extreme hardship.[8]Which waiver fits, and what evidence it needs, depends on your facts; an immigration attorney can advise.

Your children

Children do not come along automatically. The spouse of a U.S. citizen has no derivative beneficiaries, so each child needs a separate Form I-130 filed by the U.S. citizen, with a photocopy of the receipt notice for the spouse's I-130.[3,4,9]

High confidence Your child from an earlier relationship counts as the U.S. citizen's stepchild only if the child was under 18 when you married. Under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), an immediate relative child's age is frozen on the date the I-130 is filed: a child under 21 on that date will not age out, but must remain unmarried. A stepchild immigrating on a marriage less than two years old when the visa is issued is also classified as conditional (CR-2).[4,15,16,17]

Recent policy changes

Recent policy changes

Official

Updates

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Answers come from our sourced database and your own timeline, sorted into fact, public data, inference and unknown. No AI model is used in this version, so questions outside what we cover get an honest "not covered".

Questions people ask

Can I live in the U.S. while the I-130 is pending?

High confidence Possibly, with a K-3 visa. If you are abroad and the U.S. citizen has filed Form I-130 for you, you may be eligible for a K-3 visa to come to the U.S. and wait there for the I-130 decision; K-3 status includes permission to work. Your spouse files Form I-129F, with no fee for a K-3 spouse, and this step is optional. Once the I-130 is approved you are no longer eligible for K-3, and USCIS says the I-130 is approved first or at the same time in the vast majority of cases, so the State Department rarely issues K-3 visas.[1,15]

My spouse filed for me as a green card holder and has now become a U.S. citizen. What changes?

High confidence Once your spouse is a U.S. citizen, an immigrant visa is immediately available to you. From the naturalization date, a currently valid F2A petition for you is regarded as approved for immediate relative status; the State Department treats an approved F21 petition as automatically converted to IR1 if the visa has not been issued yet. Your spouse should notify USCIS if the I-130 is still pending, or the NVC if it has been approved, with proof of naturalization. Children included only as derivatives on the F2A petition lose that status when it converts, so each child then needs a separate I-130 of their own.[3,4,9,17]

We live outside the U.S. Can the I-130 be filed at a U.S. embassy?

Only in certain limited circumstances. A petitioner who lives outside the U.S. can file at the USCIS Chicago lockbox or online. A U.S. citizen filing for an immediate relative, such as a spouse, may request to file at a U.S. embassy or consulate only in the limited circumstances described in the USCIS Policy Manual (Volume 6, Part B, Chapter 3).[3]

How soon can I apply for U.S. citizenship?

High confidence Spouses of U.S. citizens have their own route under INA 319(a). You need at least 3 years of continuous residence after becoming a permanent resident, you must have lived in marital union with your spouse during the 3 years immediately before you file, your spouse must have been a citizen that whole time, and you need at least 18 months of physical presence in the U.S., plus the other naturalization requirements. Conditional residents are lawful permanent residents and may apply for naturalization if otherwise eligible.[18,19,20]If the marriage ends by death or divorce before you become a citizen, you lose eligibility under this rule, and any legal separation breaks the marital union.

What if my U.S. citizen spouse is abusive?

High confidence You may be able to file a petition for yourself, independent of the abuser, as a self-petitioner under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) on Form I-360, which has no filing fee for a VAWA self-petitioner. Permanent residence based on a VAWA self-petition is not conditional, whatever the date of the marriage. If you already have conditional residence and entered the marriage in good faith, you can ask to waive the joint I-751 filing because you or your child were battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by your spouse during the marriage; that I-751 has no filing fee.[3,4,6,8,19]

What happens if the I-130 is denied?

The denial notice gives the reasons and explains how to appeal and by when. After the appeal form and fee are processed, the appeal goes to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).[1,9]

Related categories

Content last reviewed: Oct 18, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. 1.Bringing Spouses to Live in the United States as Permanent Residents - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  2. 2.Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  3. 3.I-130, Petition for Alien Relative - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  4. 4.9 FAM 502.2 FAMILY-BASED IV CLASSIFICATIONSU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  5. 5.Consular ProcessingUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  6. 6.Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  7. 7.22 CFR 42.11eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  8. 8.I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  9. 9.8 CFR 204.2eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  10. 10.8 CFR 245.1eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  11. 11.22 CFR 22.1 - Schedule of fees for consular services (Department of State)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  12. 12.8 CFR 245.2 — Application (adjustment of status)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  13. 13.USCIS Immigrant FeeUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  14. 14.Green Card for Fiancé(e) of U.S. Citizen - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  15. 15.K-3/K-4 Nonimmigrant Visas - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  16. 16.Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)USCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  17. 17.9 FAM 502.1 IV CLASSIFICATIONS OVERVIEWU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  18. 18.8 CFR 319.1eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  19. 19.8 CFR 216.1eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  20. 20.8 U.S.C. 1430 (INA 319) - Married persons and employees of certain nonprofit organizationsU.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), United States Code 2024 edition · Statute · Checked Oct 22, 2026