Marriage green card inside the United States (adjustment of status)

If you married a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident and you’re already in the United States, you may be able to apply for your green card without leaving the country. This process is called adjustment of status. Whether it’s possible depends mainly on how you entered the United States, your immigration history, and your spouse’s status.

If you’re the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, this page describes the process for your spouse, the person applying for the green card. In the sections below, “you” generally refers to that spouse.

Is your spouse a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident?

How it works

1. Family petition. Your spouse files Form I-130 and includes Form I-130A with your information, along with proof of their status and that the marriage is legally valid and real.
2. Green card application. When you’re able to apply to adjust, you file Form I-485. You normally must include the affidavit of support (I-864), unless an exemption applies. If Form I-693, the medical exam, or its vaccination section is required, you must send it with the I-485; leaving it out can cause the whole package to be rejected. Follow USCIS’s instructions for the medical exam. If you qualify, you can also apply for a work permit (I-765) and for advance parole, a travel permit (I-131). Filing those forms isn’t the same as having the permits approved.
3. Fingerprints. USCIS tells you whether you need to attend an appointment for your biometrics.
4. Interview. USCIS may call you both in to review the marriage and the application.
5. Decision. If you’ve been married less than two years when the application is approved, you receive two-year conditional residence and must later apply to remove the conditions. If you’ve been married two years or more, you receive permanent residence without conditions and a card that is normally valid for ten years. The card’s expiration date isn’t the length of your resident status.

Filing the application doesn’t give you a green card, or by itself permission to work. While the I-485 is pending, leaving the country without the required travel document can cause it to be considered abandoned, unless an exception applies. Having advance parole doesn’t guarantee your return or remove other grounds of inadmissibility either. Under USCIS’s current warning, leaving even with that document can trigger the three- or ten-year bars if you accrued the unlawful presence the law requires. Talk to us before any trip.

Can you adjust status without leaving the country?

It depends on several factors, including how you entered and your history. In general, adjustment requires that you were inspected and admitted, or were paroled into the United States, in addition to meeting the other requirements.

If your spouse is a permanent resident, a pending or approved I-130 isn’t enough to keep your status or to work. To file the I-485, check the Visa Bulletin chart that USCIS allows that month. A visa must also be available for the adjustment to be approved.

If your spouse is a U.S. citizen and you were inspected and admitted, or received parole, time you spent out of status after entering doesn’t always prevent adjustment. Some bars related to lack of status or unauthorized work don’t apply to immediate relatives. Those exceptions do not remove other grounds of inadmissibility, including those involving fraud or certain false statements.

If you entered without inspection, being married to a U.S. citizen isn’t enough to adjust status. There are exceptions, such as certain cases protected under section 245(i), that must be evaluated individually. In some cases, the path is consular processing with a provisional unlawful presence waiver (I-601A) requested before leaving the country. For that waiver you must show, among other requirements, extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent if you’re not allowed to return. It only covers certain unlawful-presence bars; it doesn’t cure other grounds of inadmissibility. Applying for it or having it approved doesn’t give you status, a work permit, or a guarantee of a visa or of return. If that’s the chosen strategy, it must be approved before you leave for the consular interview.

Cost

Basic government fees, in U.S. dollars, verified as of October 14, 2026:

With only the I-130 and I-485 on paper, the subtotal is $2,115. These amounts don’t include the medical exam with a USCIS-designated doctor, translations, waivers, other charges that may apply, or legal fees. Some older I-485 applications paid before April 1, 2024 have different rules for the I-765 and I-131; we check the date and category.

The fee for filing the I-131 is separate from any charge for being paroled on return. There’s an exception to that charge for certain adjustment applicants returning from a temporary trip; CBP decides whether it applies. The increases announced for October 16, 2026 don’t change the basic filing fees in this table. Check the amounts when you file each application at USCIS.

Our fee: a flat representation fee. We give it to you at your consultation and in writing before we start. We offer payment plans.

Timing

The wait has several parts: review of the petition, the green card application, and the interview, if there is one. If your spouse is a permanent resident, you also have to wait for a visa to be available under the Visa Bulletin.

Times vary by USCIS office. See USCIS processing times. There is no guaranteed total time.

Documents usually needed

Next step

Book a consultation with Visia to review how you entered the United States, your history, and your spouse’s status before you file.