Marriage green card
Family · IR1 / CR1
If you are married to a U.S. citizen, this is the petition that makes you a permanent resident. It starts with Form I-130, the family relationship petition, and your answers decide the rest of the packet — including whether your case runs inside the U.S. or through a consulate abroad.
The forms
The family relationship petition — it proves the qualifying relationship between you and your relative.
Biographic information about the spouse seeking the green card, filed alongside the I-130.
The green card application itself — registering permanent residence from inside the U.S.
The work permit application, so you can work legally while your case is pending.
The travel document application — advance parole while a case is pending, or a re-entry permit.
The affidavit of support — the sponsor’s promise that the immigrant will have financial support.
Why this route
The spouse of a U.S. citizen is an immediate relative — no annual limit, no Visa Bulletin queue. The case moves as fast as it is processed.
No employer, no lottery, no degree requirements. What the case must prove is that the marriage is real — and your own life is the evidence.
Filing from inside the U.S., the work permit and travel document applications go into the same packet, so life continues while you wait.
A green card through marriage opens the three-year path to citizenship instead of five, if you remain married and living together.
Requirements
Three things carry the case, and the check confirms each for your situation.
The steps
Form I-130 proves the marriage. Inside the U.S., the green card application usually files with it in one packet; from abroad, the consular stage follows approval.
Fingerprints early; the work permit and travel document arrive while the case is pending, if you filed from inside.
An officer confirms your answers and your evidence — for couples, that the marriage is real. Your packet was built and checked for completeness before you filed.
Married less than two years at approval, the card is conditional — Form I-751 removes the conditions later. Otherwise it is the ten-year card.
How it works
In English, Spanish, or Portuguese. The software puts your answers on the official USCIS forms.
Your evidence is sorted into a numbered exhibit index, and every field, signature, and document is checked for completeness.
Download the assembled packet and file it yourself — or have an independent licensed attorney review and file it for you.
Pricing
Your exact technology fee depends on your petition type and is shown during the free eligibility check, before you pay anything. USCIS filing fees are set by the government and paid by you directly to USCIS.
Questions
If you are married to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, a marriage green card may be your path — inside or outside the U.S. The free check asks about your situation and shows the exact forms, documents, and government fees for your case.
Spouses, parents, children, and siblings each have their own petition paths, and which ones are open depends on whether the petitioner is a citizen or a permanent resident. Pick the relationship in the chooser, or let the free check identify the right petition from your answers.
The K-1 fiancé visa is the path for bringing your fiancé to marry in the U.S. Its page explains the requirements and documents, and the free check confirms whether it fits your situation.
Go deeper
Marriage green card