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Explore visasI-539Overview

V-1 / V-2 / V-3Spouse or child of a permanent resident (V visa)

For the spouse or unmarried under-21 child of a green card holder who filed Form I-130 for them on or before December 21, 2000, and who has waited at least 3 years since: a way to live and work in the United States while waiting for the green card.

At a glance

How you apply
Already in the U.S.: file Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, with Supplement A and the Form I-693 medical exam report, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Outside the U.S.: apply for a V visa at a U.S. consular office abroad
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,2]
Who qualifies
The spouse or unmarried child under 21 (including a stepchild) of a permanent resident who filed Form I-130 for them on or before December 21, 2000, once they have waited at least 3 years since that filing and are still waiting for the green card (see Who qualifies). An I-130 filed after December 21, 2000 does not qualify
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,2]
How long you can stay
V-1 spouse: up to 2 years at a time. V-2 or V-3 child: up to 2 years or until the day before the 21st birthday, whichever comes first. You can apply to extend on Form I-539 while you remain eligible. A shorter 6-month rule applies if your priority date (the date your I-130 was properly filed) is current but you have no pending immigrant visa or green card application High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3]
Can you work
Yes. V status allows you to work, but to work you must apply on Form I-765 for a work permit card (Employment Authorization Document, EAD); you may file it with your Form I-539. USCIS issues the EAD to people who remain eligible for V status, valid for the same period as their authorized V admission High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,4,5]
Main fees
Form I-539: $470 for paper filing (Form G-1055 lists $420 for general online filing; check whether a V request can be filed online). Form I-765: $520 paper / $470 online, and less in some cases when you have a pending Form I-485 (Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26). See Fees
Checked Oct 22, 2026[6]

What the V visa is

The V visa is a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa created by the Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act of 2000. It lets the spouse or child of a permanent resident (green card holder) live and work in the United States while waiting for immigrant status. There are three classes: V-1 for the spouse, V-2 for the child, and V-3 for a dependent child of the V-1 or V-2 who comes with them or follows to join them.[2,7]

Who qualifies

  • High confidence Under the V-visa regulation (8 CFR 214.15 in the Code of Federal Regulations, or CFR), you must be the beneficiary of a Form I-130 that a permanent resident filed on or before December 21, 2000, to classify you as their spouse or child (including a stepchild) in the family second preference category for spouses and unmarried children under 21 of permanent residents (section 203(a)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA; called F2A in the Visa Bulletin). Your own child is included if the child is eligible to receive a visa as a derivative under INA 203(d). An I-130 filed after December 21, 2000 cannot lead to V status.[1,2,3,8]
  • At least 3 years have passed, in one of these ways: the I-130 has been pending for 3 years or more; or it has been approved, 3 or more years have passed since it was filed, and either an immigrant visa is not immediately available to you because of the waiting list in that category, or your immigrant visa application or Form I-485 based on that approval is still pending.[2,7]
  • An I-130 counts as pending only if it was properly filed and has not been decided. If USCIS returned it, or sent a Request for Evidence (RFE) or a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID), the petitioner must have complied with the request within the time USCIS set. A denied petition on administrative appeal stays pending until USCIS decides the appeal; a petition USCIS rejected as not properly filed is not pending.[2]

How to apply

Already in the United States

  • You apply to USCIS with Form I-539 and its fee, Supplement A to Form I-539 with the evidence that you qualify, and Form I-693, the medical exam report, without the vaccination supplement. You must be admissible to the United States, but three grounds of inadmissibility do not apply when USCIS decides on V status: INA 212(a)(6)(A), (a)(7) and (a)(9)(B).[1,2]
  • You should submit proof that the qualifying I-130 was filed. This may include Form I-797, Notice of Action (its receipt or approval notice), or a receipt or approval notice from a local district office. Without such proof, USCIS will review other evidence, such as correspondence about the pending petition; if you have none of these but believe you are eligible, you should state where and when the petition was filed, the petitioner's name and alien registration number (A-number), and the names of all beneficiaries if you know them.[2]

Outside the United States

  • You go through consular processing: you apply for a V visa at a U.S. consular office abroad, under the State Department's procedures in 22 CFR 41.86, and you need a visa in the V category to be admitted at a port of entry. If you are otherwise eligible, the ground of inadmissibility for past unlawful presence (INA 212(a)(9)(B)) does not apply to your V admission, even if you accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence in the United States. This exemption covers only your admission as a V nonimmigrant: the same ground does apply when you later apply for an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to get the green card.[1,2]

Fees

USCIS amounts from Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and 8 CFR 106.2. Paper and online filing have different fees, and some applicants qualify for reduced fees or fee waivers; check Form G-1055 before you file. This table lists USCIS forms only.
FormAmountWho pays and when
Form I-539, to apply for V status in the U.S. or to extend it$470 for paper filing. Form G-1055 lists $420 for general online filing; check the Form I-539 page whether your V request can be filed onlineYou, when you apply for V status or an extension
Form I-765, work permit card (EAD)$520 paper / $470 online; $260 if you filed Form I-485 with a fee on or after April 1, 2024 and it is still pending; $0 if you have a pending Form I-485 filed on or after July 30, 2007 and before April 1, 2024, and you paid its feeEach person who requests an EAD
Form I-485, green card application from inside the U.S.$1,440 paper / $1,390 online; $950 paper / $900 online for a child under 14 filing together with one parent's Form I-485Each applicant, when filing for the green card
Checked Oct 22, 2026[6,9]

Living in the U.S. in V status

A V-1 spouse gets a period of admission of up to 2 years, whether admitted in V-1 status or changed to it inside the U.S.; a V-2 or V-3 child gets up to 2 years or until the day before the 21st birthday, whichever comes first. To extend, you file Form I-539 with its fee; if approved, USCIS grants an extension for the same maximum periods to people who remain eligible for V status. The regulation sets the filing time as “on or before 120 days before the expiration” of your status; an immigration attorney can confirm when to file in your case.[2]

Getting the green card

V status lets you wait for the green card, which you get either by adjustment of status in the United States or through an immigrant visa abroad. To adjust status, you file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. USCIS says you may be eligible to adjust if you are the spouse or child beneficiary of a petition a permanent resident filed by December 21, 2000; you got V status in the United States or abroad and have continuously maintained it while in the United States; you remain eligible to adjust as the spouse or child of a permanent resident (or of a U.S. citizen, if your spouse or parent has naturalized); an immigrant visa is immediately available to you; and you are admissible to the United States.[2,7]

USCIS's evidence list for this I-485 includes Form I-864, Affidavit of Support; Form I-693, the medical exam and vaccination record; the Form I-797 notice showing the date you were granted V status; and the Form I-797 receipt or approval notice for the I-130. You do not have to repeat the medical exam if you file the I-485 within one year of your original exam and either that exam did not reveal a Class A medical condition, or you received a conditional waiver with your V visa or change of status to V and you submit evidence that you complied with its terms. Even then, you must meet the vaccination requirements if the vaccination record was not part of the original exam report; if the panel physician abroad completed it properly, the USCIS officer may accept that assessment.[7,10]

Recent policy changes

Recent policy changes

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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

My priority date is current, but I have not filed for the green card yet. What happens to my V status?

A special rule applies if your priority date is current but you have no pending immigrant visa application abroad and no pending Form I-485: if you are admitted at a designated port of entry, you get 6 months (or until the day before your 21st birthday, as appropriate), and if you are already here and apply to extend, you get a one-time extension of up to 6 months. If you do not file for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa within that 6-month period, you cannot extend V status or be admitted in it again; if you do file in time, you remain eligible for further extensions while that application is pending.[2]

What happens if the permanent resident who filed for me becomes a U.S. citizen?

Your V status, and your children's, ends when your current period of admission ends. But you are considered an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen and can apply right away for adjustment of status and related work authorization. If a V-1 spouse or V-2 child had already filed Form I-485 by the time the permanent resident naturalized, a new I-485 is not required.[2]

Can I travel abroad while in V status?

High confidence Yes, but the Form I-797 notice of your V status is not a travel document: to be readmitted as a V nonimmigrant you need a valid passport and a V visa from a U.S. consular office abroad, unless you only went to contiguous territory or adjacent islands, have another valid visa and qualify for automatic revalidation. If you are in lawful V status, are not in exclusion, deportation or removal proceedings, and have a properly filed Form I-485 pending, you do not need advance parole to keep it from being treated as abandoned, as long as you are admissible as a V nonimmigrant when you return. But if you have more than 180 days of unlawful presence in the United States, leaving makes you inadmissible when you apply for the green card (adjustment of status or an immigrant visa), unless you obtain a waiver or an exception applies; an immigration attorney can check how this applies to you before you travel.[2,5,7,11]

I am in immigration court proceedings. Can I still apply for V status?

If you are already in immigration proceedings and believe you may have become eligible for V status, the regulation says you should ask the immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) to administratively close the proceedings (or ask the BIA to continue indefinitely a motion to reopen or reconsider that you already filed), so that you can apply to USCIS. If you appear eligible, the judge or the BIA, whichever has jurisdiction, is to close the proceedings or continue the motion. If USCIS finds you eligible, it can decide your change of status; if it finds you ineligible, it restarts the proceedings by filing a motion to re-calendar. An immigration attorney can apply this to your case.[2]

Related categories

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

Sources

  1. 1.V Nonimmigrant Visas - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  2. 2.8 CFR 214.15eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  3. 3.Family of Green Card Holders (Permanent Residents) - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  4. 4.8 CFR 274a.12 - Classes of aliens authorized to accept employmenteCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  5. 5.I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  6. 6.Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  7. 7.Green Card for a V Nonimmigrant - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  8. 8.9 FAM 502.2 FAMILY-BASED IV CLASSIFICATIONSU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  9. 9.8 CFR 106.2 - USCIS feeseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  10. 10.USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 8, Part B, Chapter 3 - Applicability of Medical Examination and Vaccination RequirementU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 22, 2026
  11. 11.8 CFR 245.2 — Application (adjustment of status)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026