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How long each step of your US immigration case is taking

Pick the path that matches your case. Each step links to the numbers for it, with their source and how recent they are.

Spouse, parent or child of a US citizen, living abroad

Immediate relatives who immigrate through a US embassy or consulate (IR and CR visas).

  1. I-130 petition: your US citizen relative files it with USCIS.
  2. National Visa Center: it creates your case and reviews your documents until your case is documentarily complete (older sources say documentarily qualified). NVC emails you that date.
  3. Interview at your consulate: which month of documentarily complete cases it is scheduling.
  4. A spouse married less than 2 years when they enter the US on the visa gets a 2-year conditional green card (usually on a CR-1 visa): I-751 to remove the conditions, filed with your spouse in the 90 days before the card expires, not earlier; or, with a waiver of the joint filing requirement (after a divorce, for example), any time before it expires.

Spouse of a US citizen, living in the US

Getting a green card without leaving the US (adjustment of status). This is generally for people who were inspected and admitted or paroled into the US, as with a visa; if you entered another way, talk to an immigration lawyer before filing.

  1. I-130 petition and I-485 green card application, usually filed together.
  2. While the I-485 is pending: I-765 work permit and I-131 travel document, usually filed with it.
  3. If you were married less than 2 years when you got your green card, it is a 2-year conditional one: I-751 to remove the conditions, filed with your spouse in the 90 days before the card expires, not earlier; or, with a waiver of the joint filing requirement (after a divorce, for example), any time before it expires.

Fiancé(e) of a US citizen

Coming to the US on a K-1 visa to marry within 90 days.

  1. I-129F petition: your US citizen fiancé(e) files it with USCIS.
  2. K-1 interview at your consulate: State publishes no interview-scheduling data for K visas, and NVC’s timeframes do not cover them; your consulate’s page shows how many K-1 visas it issues.
  3. After you marry in the US: I-485 green card application, with the I-765 work permit and I-131 travel document.
  4. If you have been married less than 2 years when the I-485 is approved, as most K-1 couples are, you get a 2-year conditional green card: I-751 to remove the conditions, filed with your spouse in the 90 days before the card expires, not earlier; or, with a waiver of the joint filing requirement (after a divorce, for example), any time before it expires.

Becoming a US citizen

Naturalization for green card holders.

  1. N-400 application: the national range, and how your own field office is doing.

Employment-based green card

EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3, sponsored by an employer or self-petitioned.

  1. Prevailing wage and PERM labor certification, for most EB-2 and EB-3 cases: decided by the Department of Labor and not covered here; see its processing times.
  2. I-140 petition, filed with USCIS.
  3. Your priority date: in most categories you wait for it to be reached. See today’s cutoff dates. The Visa Bulletin has two charts. In the US, USCIS says each month which of them decides when you can file the I-485, on its filing charts page. Abroad, NVC can have you send your documents once the Dates for Filing chart passes your date, before an interview is possible: that needs your date to be current in the Final Action Dates chart.
  4. In the US: I-485 green card application, with the I-765 and I-131. Abroad: the National Visa Center and an interview at your consulate.

Other family: siblings, adult children, relatives of green card holders

The family preference categories (F1, F2A, F2B, F3 and F4).

  1. I-130 petition, filed by your relative with USCIS.
  2. Your priority date: you wait, often for years, for it to be reached. See today’s cutoff dates. The Visa Bulletin has two charts. In the US, USCIS says each month which of them decides when you can file the I-485, on its filing charts page. Abroad, NVC can have you send your documents once the Dates for Filing chart passes your date, before an interview is possible: that needs your date to be current in the Final Action Dates chart.
  3. Abroad: the National Visa Center and an interview at your consulate. In the US, if you can adjust status there: I-485.

Visitor, student or temporary work visa

B, F, J, H, L, O and other nonimmigrant visas.

  1. Most employer-sponsored work visas (H, L, O, P, Q and R) start with an I-129 petition from the employer. For an H-1B under the annual cap, the employer first registers the worker in USCIS’s H-1B registration and can file only if the worker is selected. For E and TN visas, the I-129 is used only to change or extend status inside the US, and J exchange visitors do not use it.
  2. Visa appointment waits at each consulate: the State Department’s Global Visa Wait Times, which are not covered here. The consulate pages show how many visas of each class a post issues.

These are the common routes, not legal advice: an immigration lawyer or accredited representative can tell you which one is yours and whether you qualify.