Parent of U.S. Citizen Adjustment of Status

Can a parent of a U.S. citizen adjust status?

See Immediate Relative Adjustment of Status.

There is no Visa Bulletin wait for a qualifying parent

A parent of a U.S. citizen is not placed in a numerically limited family-preference category.

Once the U.S. citizen petitioner is at least 21 and a qualifying parent-child relationship exists, an immigrant visa is generally immediately available.

This can permit concurrent filing of:

• Form I-130 by the U.S. citizen son or daughter; and
• Form I-485 by the parent, if the parent is eligible to adjust status.

See Concurrent Filing of Form I-130 and Form I-485.

What counts as a qualifying parent?

The immigration definition of parent depends on whether the U.S. citizen petitioner qualified as the parent's “child” under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Potential relationships include:

• Biological mother;
• Biological father;
• Step-parent where the qualifying marriage created the relationship before the child's 18th birthday;
• Adoptive parent where the applicable immigration adoption requirements were satisfied; and
• Other parent-child relationships recognized by the INA.

Petitioning for a mother

A U.S. citizen petitioning for a biological mother generally establishes the relationship through a birth certificate or equivalent civil record showing the mother's identity.

Additional evidence may be required if:

• The birth was not timely registered;
• The civil record is unavailable;
• Names differ among records;
• The birth certificate was amended;
• The parent used multiple identities; or
• USCIS questions the claimed biological relationship.

Secondary evidence, affidavits, school or medical records, religious records, or DNA testing may become relevant in unusual cases.

Petitioning for a father

A father petition can require additional documentation depending on the circumstances of the petitioner's birth and the parents' marital history.

Evidence can include:

• The petitioner's birth certificate identifying the father;
• The parents' marriage certificate where applicable;
• Evidence of legitimation under the governing law;
• Evidence of a bona fide parent-child relationship established while the petitioner was young and unmarried where the applicable statutory route requires it; and
• Evidence terminating prior marriages where relevant to the parents' marriage.

The appropriate evidentiary framework depends on the facts and the statutory parent-child relationship being claimed.

Step-parent cases

A U.S. citizen may potentially petition for a step-parent if the marriage creating the step-relationship occurred before the U.S. citizen child's 18th birthday.

Evidence generally includes:

• The petitioner's birth certificate;
• The marriage certificate between the biological parent and step-parent;
• Proof that the marriage occurred before the petitioner's 18th birthday; and
• Evidence terminating any prior marriages of the parties.

Adoptive parent cases

A petition for an adoptive parent requires proof that the parent-child relationship satisfies the applicable immigration adoption provisions.

Depending on the history, evidence may involve:

• Final adoption decree;
• Date and age at adoption;
• Legal custody;
• Joint residence;
• Applicable orphan or Hague adoption history; and
• Other statutory requirements governing the immigration parent-child relationship.

Not every domestic-law adoption automatically creates the parent-child relationship required by the INA.

The parent generally must have been admitted or paroled

As with other immediate relatives, the exemption from certain adjustment bars does not ordinarily eliminate INA §245(a)'s threshold entry requirement.

See Entry Without Inspection and Adjustment of Status.

Parents who overstayed can often still adjust

A qualifying parent of a U.S. citizen is generally exempt from the principal INA §245(c)(2) unlawful-status bar.

A parent may therefore potentially qualify even after:

• Remaining beyond a B-1/B-2 admission;
• Falling out of F-1 or another nonimmigrant status;
• Remaining in the United States for years after an I-94 expired; or
• Other failures to maintain lawful nonimmigrant status.

See Visa Overstay and Adjustment of Status.

Unauthorized employment can also be exempt

A qualifying immediate-relative parent is generally exempt from the ordinary INA §245(c) unauthorized-employment bars.

This can be important where the parent:

• Worked without an EAD;
• Performed domestic or caregiving work;
• Worked for cash;
• Performed freelance or independent-contractor services;
• Operated a small business without employment authorization; or
• Continued working after authorized status ended.

See Unauthorized Employment and Adjustment of Status.

Entry without inspection is not cured by having a U.S. citizen child

The fact that the petitioner is a U.S. citizen over age 21 does not by itself permit a parent who entered without inspection to use ordinary INA §245(a) adjustment.

Possible alternative provisions may include:

• INA §245(i) grandfathering;
• Qualifying parole;
• Parole in place in an eligible military-family case;
• Another special adjustment statute; or
• Consular processing after careful analysis of inadmissibility and departure consequences.

See INA §245(i) and Parole in Place and Adjustment of Status.

Prior immigration applications should be reviewed carefully

Parents often have long immigration histories before an adult U.S. citizen child becomes eligible to petition for them.

The record may include:

• Prior visitor visa applications;
• Prior entries to the United States;
• Extensions or changes of status;
• Student applications;
• Employment history;
• Prior family petitions;
• Asylum filings;
• Removal proceedings;
• Voluntary departure;
• Prior consular processing; or
• Prior immigration representations concerning family, work, or intent.

Those records should be reviewed for consistency before filing Form I-485.

A prior misrepresentation can create inadmissibility

A parent who previously made a willful and material misrepresentation to obtain a visa, admission, or another immigration benefit may be inadmissible under INA §212(a)(6)(C)(i).

Examples requiring careful analysis can include false statements concerning:

• Employment;
• Purpose of travel;
• Marital status;
• Children or other family relationships;
• Prior U.S. stays;
• Prior immigration violations; or
• Other facts material to an immigration decision.

Unlawful presence waiver rules can also treat children differently

A parent may have accumulated unlawful presence before adjustment filing.

Remaining in the United States while eligible for immediate-relative adjustment is different from departing after significant unlawful presence has accrued.

Where INA §212(a)(9)(B) applies following departure, the statutory unlawful-presence waiver generally looks to extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent—not merely to a U.S. citizen son or daughter.

The parent must independently be admissible

USCIS reviews the parent's own admissibility under INA §212.

Potential issues include:

• Criminal history;
• Controlled substance issues;
• Fraud or willful misrepresentation;
• False claims to U.S. citizenship;
• Prior removal orders;
• Unlawful presence;
• Illegal reentry;
• Alien smuggling;
• Health-related grounds;
• Security-related grounds; and
• Public-charge requirements.

The adult child's citizenship does not automatically waive any of these grounds.

Form I-864 Affidavit of Support

The U.S. citizen son or daughter generally must execute Form I-864 for a parent adjusting as an immediate relative unless a statutory exemption applies.

The petitioner must ordinarily establish:

• U.S. citizenship;
• Age of at least 18 to execute the enforceable affidavit;
• U.S. domicile;
• Required income or qualifying assets; and
• The proper household size.

A joint sponsor can potentially help when the petitioner's income is insufficient, but the petitioning child generally must still submit the petitioner's own required affidavit.

A parent's spouse and children do not derive from the parent's immediate-relative petition

The parent category does not carry derivative beneficiaries.

If a U.S. citizen files Form I-130 for a mother or father:

• The parent's spouse does not automatically immigrate through that I-130; and
• The parent's other children do not automatically immigrate as derivatives.

Other family members need their own qualifying immigrant petitions and categories.

Petitioning for both parents

A U.S. citizen age 21 or older may file separate immediate-relative petitions for both qualifying parents.

The parents' cases remain legally separate.

One parent may qualify for adjustment while the other has a problem involving:

• Entry without inspection;
• A different immigration history;
• Criminal inadmissibility;
• Prior removal;
• Misrepresentation;
• Medical inadmissibility; or
• Another individual issue.

Approval of one parent's case does not compel approval of the other's.

Parents admitted as visitors

Many parent adjustment cases begin with a B-1/B-2 admission.

The parent may have entered for a legitimate temporary visit and later become eligible to adjust after circumstances changed.

USCIS can nevertheless review the parent's intentions and representations at the time of visa application and admission.

A later decision to adjust does not by itself establish fraud. The actual facts at the time of the earlier immigration representation control.

Caregiving and household employment

Parents sometimes perform childcare, elder care, housekeeping, or other household services while visiting family in the United States.

Whether an activity constitutes unauthorized employment depends on the actual facts, including whether services were performed for compensation or under an employment arrangement.

For an immediate-relative parent, unauthorized employment may be exempt from the ordinary adjustment bar. However, the filing should still accurately disclose employment history where required, and any related misrepresentation must be evaluated separately.

Removal proceedings and prior removal orders

A U.S. citizen child can file Form I-130 even when a parent has immigration-court history, but the petition does not automatically eliminate the procedural consequences of that history.

The case may require analysis of:

• Pending removal proceedings;
• An in absentia order;
• A prior final order;
• Reopening or reconsideration;
• Prior departure or removal;
• INA §212(a)(9) inadmissibility; and
• Whether USCIS or the immigration court has adjustment jurisdiction.

Medical examination and age-related issues

Older parents may have more substantial medical histories, but adjustment adjudication focuses on the statutory health-related grounds of inadmissibility rather than general health or age.

The required immigration medical examination addresses matters such as:

• Required vaccinations;
• Communicable diseases of public health significance;
• Specified physical or mental disorders associated with harmful behavior;
• Drug abuse or addiction; and
• Other matters within the statutory medical examination framework.

Ordinary chronic conditions or advanced age do not by themselves make a parent inadmissible.

Public charge and financial sponsorship

A parent applying through a U.S. citizen son or daughter generally must satisfy the applicable public-charge and affidavit-of-support requirements.

USCIS may review the required statutory factors and the legally enforceable Form I-864.

Applicants should provide complete and accurate financial documentation rather than assume that approval of Form I-130 resolves the financial component of adjustment.

Evidence checklist for parent adjustment

• Proof that the petitioner is a U.S. citizen.
• Proof the petitioner is at least 21 years old.
• Birth certificate establishing the relationship.
• Marriage records where necessary to establish a father or step-parent relationship.
• Legitimation or bona fide parent-child evidence where required.
• Adoption records where applicable.
• Evidence terminating prior marriages where relevant.
• Parent's passport and identity documents.
• Parent's I-94 or other admission or parole evidence.
• Complete immigration history.
• Employment history.
• Prior visa and immigration applications where relevant.
• Form I-864 and supporting financial evidence.
• Medical examination documentation.
• Certified criminal dispositions when applicable.
• Waiver evidence where an inadmissibility ground applies.

Common parent adjustment problems

Primary authorities

Related INA245.com guides

Frequently asked questions