If you are the spouse of a US citizen, no matter where you were married, you may be eligible to apply for Lawful Permanent Residence (also called “Green Card”) through either Consular processing or Adjustment of Status as long as other conditions are met;
1) You are a US citizen petitioning on behalf of your spouse and financially capable to support him/her for the application.
2) You are an applying foreign national and has no criminal records except for minor ones either in the U.S.A or anywhere in the World; entered the U.S legitimately on any type of visa; and are in mentally and physically good shape as set forth in Immigration and Naturalization Act.
What if your spouse is a lawful permanent resident?
Unlike US citizen spouse, a lawful permanent resident is subject to visa availability to file an Adjustment of Status or immigrant visa abroad on behalf of their families. Therefore, he/she has to wait some period of time after having filed immigration petition(s) until the priority date of the category (mostly F2A or F2B) passes the cutoff date for filing or visa application date on Visa Bulletin.
| Petitioner | US Citizen | Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) |
| Category | Immediate Relative
No Visa Availability Required (FBIR) |
Subject to Visa availability in accordance with Visa Bulletin |
| Type of Petition | I-130 for each family members | Derivative status allowed (F2A) |
| Beneficiary’s Legal Status | Out of Status may be forgiven | Legal status is required to be eligible for Adjustment of Status. |
| Son or Daughter over 21 or married as a beneficiary | No Immediate Relative status and subject to longer waiting time. (FB3) | Same as left. (F2B) |
| Parent(s) as a beneficiary | FBIR status rendered | No category applicable |