Immediate Relative Spouse Processing

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Immediate relative Spouses of United States citizens are not subject to any quota restrictions and may immigrate as soon as their immediate relative petitions (I-130) are approved.

If in the United States, and immediate relative spouse may file an application for adjustment of status (I-485. concurrently with the US citizen spouse's filing of the I-130 immediate relative petition.

If outside the United States, the beneficiary will apply for an immigrant visa though an overseas US consular post after the petition has been approved and initial processing of the immigrant visa has been done by the Department of State's National Visa Center.

In both instances, the process involves the United States citizen petitioning spouse filing an immediate relative petition (I-130). The petitioner must establish that he or she is a United States citizen and that he or she is the bona fide spouse the beneficiary of the petition.

Before this process starts, the foreign national spouse needs to determine whether he or she will apply for immigrant status through adjustment of status or consular processing.

An important fact to remember is that unlike the case with immigrant preference petitions, there are no derivative immediate relatives. That is, each immediate relative must have his or her own petition and no one may qualify as an accompanying or following to join immediate relative.