How to Get an Immigrant Visa — Process & Requirements

Understanding the Immigrant Visa Process

Most people assume an immigrant visa application starts with the person who wants to immigrate. It doesn't. In almost every case, someone else files the first petition on your behalf — a U.S. citizen or permanent resident family member, or an employer willing to sponsor you permanently. The exception is narrow: certain employment-based categories allow self-petitioning, and a handful of special immigrant classifications exist for specific populations. The difference between these paths isn't just procedural — it determines which agency adjudicates your case, how long you wait, and whether you can work while you wait.

An immigrant visa leads to lawful permanent residence — what most people call a green card. It's not the same as a nonimmigrant visa, which assumes you'll return home after a temporary stay. The immigrant visa process ends with either adjustment of status (filing Form I-485 while in the U.S.) or consular processing (attending an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad). Which route you take depends on where you are when the petition is approved and whether a visa number is immediately available.

The Two Tracks: Family-Based and Employment-Based

U.S. immigration law divides immigrant visas into two broad categories: family-sponsored and employment-based. Family-sponsored categories (immediate relatives and family preference categories) require a U.S. citizen or permanent resident petitioner filing Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. Employment-based categories (EB-1 through EB-5) generally require an employer filing Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, though EB-1A (extraordinary ability) and EB-2 with a National Interest Waiver allow self-petitioning.

Immediate relative categories — spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of U.S. citizens — have no annual cap. A visa number is always available once USCIS approves the I-130. Family preference categories (adult children, siblings, married children of U.S. citizens, and spouses/children of permanent residents) have annual limits and multi-year backlogs tracked by the monthly Visa Bulletin. Employment-based categories also have caps, with wait times varying by category and country of birth. Applicants from countries with high demand (India, China, Mexico, the Philippines) face significantly longer waits in most preference categories.

The category you qualify for determines not just the wait time but also the evidence you must gather, the government fees you'll pay, and whether you need a labor certification before the petition can be filed. The Law Offices of Peter D. Chu evaluates eligibility across both family and employment pathways to identify the route with the shortest timeline and strongest evidentiary foundation for each client's situation.

Step One: The Immigrant Petition

Every immigrant visa process begins with an approved petition. For family cases, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident files Form I-130 with USCIS, establishing the qualifying relationship. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees terminating prior marriages, and proof of the petitioner's citizenship or permanent residence form the core evidence package. USCIS adjudicates the I-130 and either approves it, denies it, or issues a Request for Evidence (RFE) if the initial submission lacks critical documentation.

For employment-based cases, the petition is Form I-140, filed by the sponsoring employer (or by the beneficiary in self-petition categories). Most employment-based categories require a labor certification from the Department of Labor before the I-140 can be filed. The PERM labor certification process requires the employer to test the U.S. labor market by advertising the position and documenting that no qualified U.S. workers are available. EB-1, EB-4, and EB-5 categories bypass labor certification. EB-1A and EB-2 NIW self-petitioners file their own I-140s.

Approval of the I-130 or I-140 does not grant status or work authorization. It establishes eligibility for an immigrant visa, but the applicant cannot move forward until a visa number becomes available. For immediate relatives, this happens immediately. For preference categories, the applicant enters a queue tracked by priority date — the date USCIS received the petition. Each month, the Visa Bulletin publishes cutoff dates showing which priority dates are current and can move to the next stage.

Step Two: Waiting for a Visa Number

If you're in a preference category, you wait. The priority date on your approved petition is your place in line. The Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin monthly at travel.state.gov, listing cutoff dates for each category and country. When your priority date is earlier than the published cutoff, your visa number is available and you can proceed to adjustment of status or consular processing.

Wait times vary dramatically. Family preference categories for applicants from countries without backlogs may wait one to three years; applicants from countries with high demand can wait over a decade. Employment-based categories show similar disparities: EB-1 for most countries moves quickly, but EB-2 and EB-3 for India and China carry multi-year (sometimes multi-decade) waits. Immediate relatives skip this step entirely.

During the wait, maintaining lawful status in the U.S. (if you're here) is critical. Falling out of status can bar you from adjusting and force consular processing, which triggers unlawful presence bars if you accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence. Tracking the Visa Bulletin and understanding retrogression — when cutoff dates move backward due to high demand — prevents missed filing windows.

Step Three: Adjustment of Status or Consular Processing

Once a visa number is available, you choose between two paths based on where you are physically located and whether you're in lawful status.

Adjustment of status (Form I-485) allows applicants already in the U.S. in a lawful nonimmigrant status to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country. USCIS adjudicates the I-485. Approval changes your status from nonimmigrant to permanent resident. You can apply for work authorization (Form I-765) and advance parole (travel permission, Form I-131) while the I-485 is pending. Processing times vary by USCIS field office and workload.

Consular processing is required if you're outside the U.S. or if you're ineligible to adjust (for example, you entered without inspection, overstayed a prior visa, or violated status). After the petition is approved and a visa number is available, the National Visa Center (NVC) instructs you to submit forms, documents, and fees. You attend an immigrant visa interview at the U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country. The consular officer adjudicates admissibility, reviews your documents, and either approves or denies the visa. If approved, you receive an immigrant visa stamp in your passport, valid for six months. You enter the U.S. on that visa, and your green card is mailed to you after entry.

Medical Examination and Vaccination Requirements

Both adjustment and consular processing require a medical examination by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon (for adjustment) or a panel physician approved by the U.S. embassy (for consular processing). The exam screens for communicable diseases of public health significance, failure to show required vaccinations, and certain physical or mental disorders. The civil surgeon or panel physician completes Form I-693, which must be sealed and submitted with the I-485 or brought to the consular interview.

Vaccination requirements are set by the CDC and include vaccines for mumps, measles, rubella, polio, tetanus and diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis B, and others depending on age and medical history. Applicants who lack proof of vaccination must receive the required doses before the exam can be completed. Religious or medical exemptions exist but require documentation.

Inadmissibility and Waivers

Immigrant visa applicants must prove they are admissible to the U.S. Grounds of inadmissibility include prior immigration violations (unlawful presence, misrepresentation, visa fraud), criminal history, public charge concerns, communicable diseases, and national security issues. USCIS (for adjustment) or the consular officer (for consular processing) reviews admissibility as part of the final decision.

Certain grounds of inadmissibility can be waived. Common waivers include:

• I-601 waiver for most grounds of inadmissibility when the applicant has a qualifying U.S. citizen or permanent resident relative who would suffer extreme hardship if the waiver is denied
• I-601A provisional unlawful presence waiver allows immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who accrued unlawful presence to apply for the waiver while still in the U.S., receive a decision, and only then travel abroad for consular processing
• I-212 waiver for applicants previously removed or deported who need permission to reapply for admission

Not every ground of inadmissibility has a waiver. Certain criminal convictions, fraud involving materiality, and terrorism-related activity can be permanent bars. A consular officer's finding of inadmissibility during consular processing can end the case unless a waiver is filed and approved.

What If My Priority Date Retrogresses?

Retrogression happens when demand in a category exceeds the annual limit and the Visa Bulletin cutoff date moves backward. Your priority date was current last month — you prepared your I-485 or consular processing documents — and this month the cutoff moved back two years. Your case pauses. You wait again until the date moves forward and becomes current.

Retrogression is common in employment-based categories for India and China and in certain family preference categories. It cannot be avoided or bypassed. You track the Visa Bulletin monthly and file as soon as your priority date becomes current. Once filed, retrogression after filing does not stop USCIS from adjudicating your I-485, but it can delay interviews and final approvals depending on how the agency interprets bulletin movement.

What If I Entered the U.S. Without Inspection?

Here's the honest answer: entering without inspection (crossing the border without presenting yourself to an immigration officer) bars you from adjusting status in most cases. Even if an immediate relative petition is approved and a visa number is available, you generally cannot file Form I-485. The exception is narrow: immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who can prove they were "grandfathered" under Section 245(i) by having a petition or labor certification filed on their behalf before April 30, 2001, can adjust despite unlawful entry if they pay a penalty fee.

Without 245(i) eligibility, you must leave the U.S. and process through a consulate. Leaving triggers unlawful presence bars: if you accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence, you face a three-year bar; more than one year triggers a ten-year bar. The I-601A provisional waiver (for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens only) allows you to apply for the unlawful presence waiver before leaving, receive approval, and then travel for the consular interview with the waiver already granted.

This is not a process to navigate without legal guidance. The interplay between unlawful presence accrual, the I-601A waiver, and consular processing carries significant risk — if the waiver is denied or if other inadmissibility grounds surface at the consular interview, you're stuck abroad.

What If My Petition Is Denied?

A denied I-130 or I-140 can be appealed to the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) or, in some cases, reopened or reconsidered if new evidence or legal arguments exist. Not every denial is appealable — certain categories and procedural grounds have limited appeal rights. The denial notice states whether appeal is available and the deadline to file.

If a petition is denied due to insufficient evidence, refiling with a stronger evidentiary package is often more practical than appealing, particularly in family cases where the relationship itself is not in question but documentation was incomplete. Employment-based denials — particularly labor certification or I-140 denials based on ability to pay or job requirements — require careful analysis of the denial reason and may need a new PERM filing rather than an appeal.

Consular visa denials are different. If a consular officer denies an immigrant visa due to inadmissibility, you cannot appeal the decision to the consulate. The remedy is either filing a waiver (if one exists for the ground of inadmissibility) or, if the denial was based on a factual error, requesting the consulate reconsider with additional evidence. Some consular denials are effectively final.

The Financial Requirements: Affidavit of Support

Family-based immigrant visa applicants and some employment-based applicants must submit an Affidavit of Support (Form I-864) from the petitioning sponsor. The sponsor must demonstrate income at or above 125% of the federal poverty guideline for their household size, including the intending immigrant. If the sponsor's income is insufficient, a joint sponsor (a U.S. citizen or permanent resident willing to take on the financial obligation) can file a separate I-864.

The I-864 is a legally enforceable contract. The sponsor is financially responsible for the immigrant until the immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, works 40 qualifying quarters, leaves the U.S. permanently, or dies. This obligation survives divorce. Sponsors must provide tax returns, W-2s, pay stubs, and employment verification letters. High-net-worth sponsors may substitute assets for income at a 3:1 or 5:1 ratio depending on the relationship.

Employment-based applicants generally do not need an I-864 unless they are using a family-based petition in addition to or instead of the employment petition.

Processing Times and Premium Processing

Processing times for I-130 and I-140 petitions vary by USCIS service center and are published on uscis.gov/processing-times. As of 2026, I-130 processing ranges from several months to over a year depending on the service center and category. I-140 processing is similarly variable. Premium processing — a service offering a guaranteed 15-business-day response for an additional fee — is available for most I-140 categories and is periodically available for certain I-130s, though availability changes.

Adjustment of status (I-485) processing depends on the field office workload. Some offices complete cases in under a year; others take several years. Consular processing timelines depend on NVC processing (document collection and fee payment) and embassy interview scheduling. High-demand posts and posts with reduced capacity due to staffing or security concerns see longer waits.

Premium processing does not create a visa number or bypass the Visa Bulletin. It only speeds the petition adjudication.

Legal Disclaimer

This article provides general information about the immigrant visa process. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and the Law Offices of Peter D. Chu. Immigration law is complex, and outcomes depend on individual facts and circumstances. Consult a licensed immigration attorney to evaluate your specific situation before taking action.

Based in San Diego, the firm represents individuals and families throughout Southern California and nationwide. Initial consultations are available for $250. Contact the firm at 858-268-8823 or visit peterchu.com to schedule an appointment.

Schedule a consultation with the Law Offices of Peter D. Chu — 4615 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111 · 858-268-8823 · Mon–Fri, 8:30 AM–5:30 PM. Consultation fee: $250.