Form I-485
I-485 Eligibility Check
Find out if you can apply for a green card without leaving the United States.
- Free
- 2 minutes
- No signup required
The short answer
Who can adjust status with Form I-485?
You generally can adjust status if you are physically present in the U.S. and fall into a qualifying immigrant category: family, employment, humanitarian or a special program. You also need an approved or concurrently filed immigrant petition and an immigrant visa immediately available (not required for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens), and you must be admissible or qualify for a waiver.
What USCIS asks for
What USCIS asks for
- You are physically present in the United States
- You were inspected and admitted or paroled, or you qualify under INA 245(i)
- A visa is immediately available for your category
- You are admissible, with no unresolved bars to a green card
The check
What this I-485 eligibility check covers
- Whether you can adjust status here or need consular processing
- Your eligibility category, such as immediate relative, employment or asylum
- How you entered the country, and the INA 245(i) exception
- Visa availability for preference categories, with a [Visa Bulletin](/tools/visa-bulletin) link
- Status gaps and unauthorized work, including the 245(k) allowance
- Inadmissibility red flags worth an attorney review before you file
Questions
Frequently asked questions
People who are physically in the U.S., were inspected and admitted or paroled, have a visa immediately available for their category, and are admissible. Common categories include immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, family-preference and employment-based applicants, and asylees or refugees.
Not always. When a visa is immediately available you can file the petition and the I-485 together, which is called concurrent filing. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens can always do this.
Filing the immigrant petition and Form I-485 in the same package rather than waiting for the petition to be approved first. It is available whenever a visa number is immediately available in your category.
Compare your priority date against the State Department chart for your category and country of birth. The free Visa Bulletin tool does that comparison for you.
Only with an approved work permit. You can file Form I-765 alongside the I-485, and you must wait for the card before you start work.
Next
Where to go from here
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