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I-485Adjustment of status (green card inside the U.S.)

For people already in the United States who want to apply for a green card without leaving the country.

At a glance

How you apply
File Form I-485 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) while you are in the U.S., by mail or, for certain applicants, online
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1]
When you can file
Generally only when an immigrant visa is immediately available in your category; for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, one always is
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,2]
What you get
Permanent resident status (a green card). For most applicants (adjustment under INA 245) it is recorded as of the date USCIS approves your application; refugees are recorded as of the date they arrived in the U.S., and asylees generally as of one year before the approval date
Checked Oct 22, 2026[3,4,5]
Work and travel while waiting
Generally, while the I-485 is pending you may apply for a work permit (Form I-765) and for advance parole to travel (Form I-131). Leaving without advance parole generally abandons the I-485
Checked Oct 18, 2026[6]
Filing fee
$1,440 on paper or $1,390 online for general filing, including applicants 14 or older; $950 / $900 for a child under 14 filing together with a parent's I-485; some groups pay no fee (Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26)
Checked Oct 18, 2026[7,8]

Overview

Adjustment of status lets you apply for a green card without leaving the United States: you file Form I-485 with USCIS. The other route is consular processing, where you apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad. People outside the U.S. use it, and people living in the U.S. can also choose it.[3,9]

High confidence Form I-485 is the green card application itself, not a category of its own. You first need a basis to immigrate. Most people become eligible through a petition filed for them by a relative (Form I-130) or an employer (Form I-140); in some special categories Form I-360 is filed by you or for you, and investors file Form I-526 for themselves. Others qualify after getting refugee or asylum status or under other special provisions. Each applicant, including each family member, files a separate I-485.[3,9]

Basic requirements

  • You were inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled into the United States by an immigration officer (there are limited exceptions), and you are physically present in the U.S. when you file.[6,11]
  • You are eligible to receive an immigrant visa, usually as the beneficiary of a petition that is approved, still pending and ultimately approved, or filed together with your I-485 and ultimately approved. In a family case the qualifying relationship must still exist; in an employer case the job offered on Form I-140 must still exist and you must plan to accept it once the I-485 is approved (self-petitioners: plan to work in the same or similar field), unless you qualify to change jobs under INA 204(j).[6,11]
  • An immigrant visa is immediately available to you both when you file and when USCIS makes its final decision.[11,12]
  • None of the bars to adjustment in section 245(c) of the INA applies to you (if one does, you may still be able to adjust under INA 245(i)), and you are admissible for permanent residence or eligible for a waiver of inadmissibility or other relief.[6]
  • You merit a favorable exercise of USCIS's discretion.[6,11]

Who generally cannot adjust

If any of these may apply to you, have an immigration attorney review your history before you file.

  • 8 CFR 245.1(b) restricts several groups from adjusting under section 245 unless they qualify under section 245(i), which is requested with Supplement A to Form I-485. They include people who were not admitted or paroled after inspection by an immigration officer, who entered in transit without a visa, or who on arrival were serving on board a ship or aircraft, or coming to join one to serve on it.[3,13]
  • Also restricted, unless you are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen or certain special immigrants, or you qualify under section 245(i): having worked without authorization before filing, being out of lawful status on the day you file, having failed to keep lawful status continuously since entry (other than through no fault of your own or for technical reasons), or having otherwise violated the terms of a nonimmigrant admission.[13]
  • Also restricted, unless they qualify under section 245(i): visitors admitted under the Visa Waiver Program, unless they adjust as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, and employment-based applicants who are not maintaining lawful nonimmigrant status when they file. USCIS asks employment-based applicants for proof of continuous lawful status since arrival, or proof that they are exempt under INA 245(k).[11,13]
  • Some people cannot apply at all under 8 CFR 245.1(c), including: a current or former J exchange visitor subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement who has not met it or received a waiver; a K-1 fiancé(e) or K-2 child adjusting on any basis other than the K-1's marriage, within 90 days of entry, to the U.S. citizen who filed the petition; someone who is already a conditional permanent resident; and, unless an exemption applies (such as clear and convincing evidence of a good-faith marriage), someone adjusting through a marriage entered into on or after Nov. 10, 1986, while in removal, deportation or exclusion proceedings or related court proceedings.[13]

When you can file

An immigrant visa must be immediately available for an I-485 to be properly filed. For immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21, parents of citizens who are at least 21, and certain widows and widowers of citizens), visas are unlimited, so one is always available. Family-preference and employment-based visas are numerically limited; when demand exceeds supply, a waiting line forms, and your place in it is set by your priority date.[2,3]

In a preference category, a visa counts as available when your priority date is earlier than the date shown for your category and country of chargeability (usually your country of birth) in the applicable chart of the State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin, or when the chart shows "C" for current. A date that is current one month can move backward later; this is called retrogression.[2,13]

The Visa Bulletin has two charts: Final Action Dates and Dates for Filing. USCIS plans to designate one of them each month on its Adjustment of Status Filing Charts page; you may use Dates for Filing only when USCIS says so, and otherwise must use Final Action Dates. If your category is current on the Final Action Dates chart, or its date there is later than on the Dates for Filing chart, you may file using the Final Action Dates chart that month.[2,14]

High confidence If approval of the underlying petition would make a visa immediately available, you can often file the I-485 together with the petition or while the petition is still pending (concurrent filing). USCIS allows this for immediate relatives and widows or widowers of U.S. citizens; for family-preference relatives and most employment-based applicants when a visa number is immediately available; for certain special immigrants, such as special immigrant juveniles when an EB-4 visa number is immediately available; and for self-petitioning battered spouses and children when the abuser is a U.S. citizen or a visa number is immediately available. In some categories you need an approved petition before you can file the I-485; the instructions for your petition (Form I-130, I-140 or I-360) say whether you can file concurrently. Concurrent filing is not possible in consular processing.[3,15]

Documents

The common core for most applicants. The Form I-485 instructions for your category may add items.

  • A copy of the Form I-797 receipt or approval notice for the petition filed for you (unless you file the I-485 together with it), two passport-style photos, a copy of a government-issued photo ID, a copy of your birth certificate and, if applicable, copies of the passport pages with your visa and your admission or parole stamp and of your Form I-94 arrival/departure record. In family-based cases, include a copy of your marriage certificate if you are married and proof that any earlier marriages ended. A spouse or child applying as a derivative also sends proof of the relationship to the principal applicant, such as a marriage certificate, birth certificate or adoption decree.[6,11,12]
  • Form I-693, the report of your immigration medical exam, completed by a civil surgeon. If you must submit it, it goes in with the I-485; otherwise USCIS may reject the application. By mail, send it in the civil surgeon's sealed envelope; online, open the envelope, upload the form, and keep the original and the envelope until USCIS decides your case.[1]
  • Form I-864, Affidavit of Support (or I-864EZ), in family-based cases where it is required. In employment-based cases it is needed only if the I-140 was filed by a relative, or by a for-profit company in which a relative holds 5% or more of the ownership. Here a relative means your U.S.-citizen or permanent-resident spouse, parent, son or daughter, or your U.S.-citizen brother or sister.[11,12]
  • If they apply to you: certified police and court records of all criminal charges, arrests or convictions, whatever the outcome; waiver forms such as Form I-601 or Form I-212; and, for past or present J-1 or J-2 status, documentation of that status, including proof that you met the two-year foreign residence requirement or received a waiver.[6]
  • Supplements, when they apply: Supplement A if you adjust under INA 245(i); Supplement J in an employment-based case if your I-485 rests on an I-140 filed earlier or you are moving to a new job under INA 204(j). Supplement J is not needed when you file the I-485 together with an I-140 that names you as the principal beneficiary, or, per USCIS's employment-based page, when you are adjusting based on a National Interest Waiver without a job offer or as an alien of extraordinary ability.[1,11]

Fees

USCIS fees from Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and 8 CFR 106.2. Each form needs its own fee. Other fees, including those required by Public Law 119-21, apply in some cases; check the current G-1055 before you pay.
ItemAmountWhen it applies
Form I-485$1,440 paper / $1,390 onlineGeneral filing, including applicants 14 or older
Form I-485, child under 14$950 paper / $900 onlineFiled together with the I-485 of a parent
Form I-485, fee-exempt groups$0Among others: refugees; special immigrant juveniles; T and U nonimmigrants adjusting under INA 245(l) or 245(m); Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioners, including derivatives; certain Afghan and Iraqi special immigrants; certain U.S. armed forces members (INA 101(a)(27)(K)); applicants in removal proceedings whose fee the immigration court waives
Supplement A (INA 245(i))$1,000Unless an exemption applies, for example an unmarried applicant under 17
Supplement J, Form I-693, Form I-864$0No USCIS filing fee (this table does not cover what the civil surgeon charges)
Form I-765 (work permit)$260 paper or onlineYour I-485 was filed with a fee on or after April 1, 2024, and is still pending
Form I-765 (work permit)$0Your I-485 was filed on or after July 30, 2007, and before April 1, 2024, you paid its fee, and it is still pending
Form I-131 (advance parole)$630 paper / $580 onlineYou have a pending I-485 (Part 1, Item 5.A), unless the exemption in the next row applies
Form I-131 (advance parole)$0Your I-485 was filed on or after July 30, 2007, and before April 1, 2024, you paid its fee, and it is still pending
Checked Oct 18, 2026[7,8]

Each form needs its own correct fee unless you are exempt or qualify for a fee waiver (Form I-912); for most applications, you cannot request a fee waiver when filing online. If you file your I-485 after April 1, 2024, you pay separately for Form I-765 and Form I-131, though you may still file them together with the I-485.[1,7]

After you file

  1. 1. Receipt notice

    USCIS sends a receipt notice (Form I-797C). If you filed at a USCIS lockbox, your Alien Registration Number (A-Number) may come in a second notice a few days after USCIS accepts the I-485. Keep the receipt: if you file Form I-765 or I-131 later, you include a copy of it.[1,16]

  2. 2. Biometrics and interview

    High confidence USCIS uses Form I-797C notices to schedule fingerprint (biometrics) appointments and interviews. Not every applicant is interviewed: sending all required initial evidence with the I-485 may avoid a Request for Evidence (RFE), and may help avoid delays if USCIS decides you do not need an interview.[1,16]

  3. 3. Decision

    If USCIS approves an adjustment under INA 245, your permanent residence is recorded as of the approval date (refugees are recorded as of the date they arrived in the U.S., and asylees generally as of one year before the approval date); some spouses, sons and daughters (under INA 216) and some entrepreneurs (immigrant investors) and their spouses and children (under INA 216A) receive it on a conditional basis. A preference-category I-485 cannot be approved until the State Department allocates a visa number. If USCIS denies, the notice states the reasons.[3,4,5,13]

While the I-485 is pending you can apply for a work permit (Employment Authorization Document, EAD) on Form I-765 under category (c)(9), filed with the I-485 or later with a copy of your receipt. Adjustment applicants are in the group that must apply for work authorization and may work once authorized. If you were already authorized to work before filing and that authorization does not expire while the I-485 is pending, the regulation says you need not apply for a new one to keep working during that period.[17,18]

Spouse and children

In family-preference and employment-based cases, your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can apply as derivatives, each on their own I-485 and each meeting the adjustment requirements. They can file together with your I-485 or while it is pending, and in both cases yours must ultimately be approved. They can also file after you become a permanent resident, as long as you still are one and they were your spouse or child when your I-485 was approved (or when you were admitted on an immigrant visa). They must still be your spouse or child when they apply. Under State Department rules, a child born after your admission or adjustment to a marriage that already existed before it counts as acquired before it and is entitled to your priority date.[11,12,20]

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens cannot bring derivatives: the spouse or child of an immediate relative must qualify for a green card independently and file their own application.[6]

A child must be unmarried and under 21. A child who turns 21 before getting the green card "ages out" and can no longer be considered a child. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), which applies only to certain categories of applicants, gives a way to calculate a "CSPA age" that lets some of them stay classified as children past their 21st birthday. CSPA does not change the requirement to be unmarried to stay classified as a child.[21]

Adjustment of status or consular processing

Adjustment of status (Form I-485)

  • You can stay in the U.S. while USCIS decides. The law sets limits on adjusting status that do not apply to people seeking an immigrant visa from abroad, and under most provisions USCIS treats approval as a matter of discretion.[9,10]

Consular processing (immigrant visa abroad)

  • After USCIS approves the petition, it goes to the State Department's National Visa Center (NVC), which collects fees and documents; the consulate interviews you once your priority date is current. You become a permanent resident when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) admits you on the immigrant visa, and you pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee so your green card can be produced.[9]

Common mistakes

Problems USCIS's own pages warn about. They do not replace advice on your own case.

  • Filing before a visa is available, or by the wrong chart. Unless USCIS's filing-charts page says otherwise for that month, you must use the Final Action Dates chart to decide when you can file.[2]
  • Using an outdated edition or forgetting to sign. USCIS rejects unsigned forms, and for filings postmarked or submitted on or after Sept. 18, 2026, accepts only the 09/18/26 edition of Form I-485, which was revised to align with the Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility Final Rule.[1]
  • Paying the wrong amount or mailing to the wrong place. An application with an incorrect fee is rejected, and the mailing address depends on your eligibility category. USCIS changed the I-485 filing locations on Oct. 7, 2026, so check its current filing addresses before you mail.[1,7]

Processing time (Form I-485)

The panel shows USCIS's published I-485 times for family-based and employment-based cases. They are not a promise for any single case; check the figure for your own category with the USCIS tool linked there.

USCIS published processing time

Official

Median from USCIS's quarterly report

  • I-485 · FY2026 Q3 · all offices6 months

Half of the cases USCIS completed in that quarter took this long or less, from receipt to decision. Half took longer. The report does not say whether premium-processing cases are included. It is a different measure from the processing-times tool, so the two are not compared.

For the current figure for your form and office, check USCIS directly: USCIS processing times

Official

Source: All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types (Fiscal Year 2026, Quarter 3) · Retrieved Sep 27, 2026

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

I came in on the Visa Waiver Program (with an ESTA travel authorization). Can I file Form I-485?

Generally only as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen. The regulation restricts visitors admitted under the Visa Waiver Program from adjusting status unless they are immediate relatives, or unless they qualify under INA 245(i). An immigration attorney can check whether an exception fits your history.[13]

Can I change jobs while my I-485 is pending?

In EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 cases, possibly. Under INA 204(j), added by the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 (AC21), you may move ("port") to a new job offer with the same employer or a new one, including self-employment, if the I-140 is approved (or pending and ultimately approved), your properly filed I-485 has been pending 180 days or more when USCIS receives the request, and the new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the job in the petition. Requests made on or after Jan. 17, 2017, go on Form I-485 Supplement J. Different rules apply if your petition is based on extraordinary ability or a national interest waiver.[22]

My priority date was current when I filed, but now it has moved back. What happens?

High confidence USCIS cannot approve a preference-category I-485 until the State Department allocates a visa number, and a visa must be available both when you file and when USCIS makes its final decision. Cutoff dates sometimes move backward (retrogression), generally when the annual limit for a category or country has been used up or is expected to run out soon. When the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, a new supply of visa numbers becomes available; USCIS says this usually, but not always, returns cutoff dates to where they were before retrogression.[2,3,12]

What happens if my I-485 is denied?

The denial notice must explain the reasons; when the denial rests on discretion, it must set out the positive and negative factors considered and why the negative ones outweigh the positive. Generally there is no appeal, but an applicant who is not an arriving alien keeps the right to renew the application in removal proceedings under 8 CFR part 240, if placed in them; the regulation does not by itself entitle anyone to those proceedings. An immigration attorney can tell you which options fit your case.[3,10]

Do I need a lawyer to file Form I-485?

Representation is optional: you may be represented, at no expense to the U.S. government, by an attorney or other authorized representative, who submits Form G-28 with your I-485 or at the interview. For online filing, only an attorney or accredited representative, or an I-140 self-petitioner, can file the I-485 together with the underlying petition.[1,23]

Related categories

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

Sources

  1. 1.I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust StatusUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  2. 2.Visa Availability and Priority DatesUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  3. 3.8 CFR 245.2 — Application (adjustment of status)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  4. 4.8 CFR 209.1eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  5. 5.8 CFR 209.2eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  6. 6.Green Card for Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizen - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  7. 7.Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  8. 8.8 CFR 106.2 - USCIS feeseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  9. 9.Consular ProcessingUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  10. 10.Policy Memorandum PM-602-0199: Adjustment of Status is a Matter of Discretion and Administrative GraceUSCIS · Agency page · Published May 21, 2026 · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  11. 11.Green Card for Employment-Based ImmigrantsUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  12. 12.Green Card for Family Preference Immigrants - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  13. 13.8 CFR 245.1eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  14. 14.Adjustment of Status Filing Charts from the Visa BulletinUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  15. 15.Concurrent Filing of Form I-485USCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  16. 16.Form I-797: Types and FunctionsUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  17. 17.I-765, Application for Employment Authorization - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  18. 18.8 CFR 274a.12 - Classes of aliens authorized to accept employmenteCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  19. 19.I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  20. 20.9 FAM 502.1 IV CLASSIFICATIONS OVERVIEWU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  21. 21.Child Status Protection Act (CSPA)USCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  22. 22.USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 7, Part E, Chapter 5 — Job Portability after Adjustment Filing and Other AC21 ProvisionsUSCIS · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  23. 23.Forms Available to File Online - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 12, 2026