Which route applies depends on where your partner is and whether you are already married. The fees and waits differ substantially.
Three routes, and which one applies is usually decided by facts you cannot change.
The immigrant visa route through a US consulate.
The path: Form I-130 → National Visa Center → Form DS-260 → consular interview → entry as a lawful permanent resident.
The significant advantage: your spouse arrives as a permanent resident, with work authorisation from day one. No separate work permit, no waiting.
For an unmarried partner abroad.
The path: Form I-129F → consular interview → entry → marry within 90 days → file Form I-485 to adjust status inside the US.
The 90 days is not flexible. And note that this route front-loads speed but back-loads cost and waiting: after entry, your spouse has no work authorisation until a separate application is processed, and you pay the adjustment fees on top of everything already spent.
If your spouse is already in the US in lawful status, they may be able to adjust without leaving.
Spouses of US citizens can file I-130 and I-485 concurrently — the petition and the green card application together.
This route has a major caveat: whether your spouse can adjust depends on how they entered and what status they hold. Certain entries and certain violations make adjustment impossible, and leaving the US to consular process could then trigger a bar on returning. This is the single most common situation where people need a lawyer before doing anything.
USCIS base fees, unchanged since 1 April 2024:
| Form | Fee |
|---|---|
| I-130, paper | $675 |
| I-130, online | $625 |
| I-129F (K-1) | $675 |
| I-485, applicant aged 14+ | $1,440 |
| I-765 filed with I-485 | $260 |
| I-131 filed with I-485 | $630 |
State Department fees:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Immigrant visa application (DS-260) | $325 per person |
| Affidavit of Support (I-864) review | $120 |
| K-1 nonimmigrant visa application | $265 |
The April 2024 change that catches people: I-765 (work permit) and I-131 (travel document) used to be free when filed with an I-485. They are not any more — $260 and $630 respectively. Applicants who filed I-485 before 1 April 2024 remain exempt from renewal fees while it is pending.
The 2025 and 2026 statutory fee changes under HR-1 did not touch I-130, I-129F, I-140 or I-485. They affect asylum, certain EADs and TPS only.
As at 1 September 2026:
| Filing | Range |
|---|---|
| I-130, spouse of US citizen | 24 – 80 months |
| I-130, LPR petitioner | 45 – 188.5 months |
| I-485, family-based | 6.5 – 31.5 months |
| I-129F (K-1) | ~12.5 months |
Two things about these numbers. They are very wide because USCIS publishes 80th-percentile figures per service centre, and your case is assigned to one you do not choose. And they move constantly.
Check the live tool at egov.uscis.gov/processing-times rather than trusting any published figure, including ours.
Note also the gap between a US citizen's spouse and a green card holder's spouse. Immediate relatives of US citizens are not subject to annual numerical limits; spouses of permanent residents are, and that is where the multi-year waits come from.
There is no clean answer, and it changes with processing times.
CR-1/IR-1 looks slower on the I-130 but delivers a spouse who can work immediately on arrival. K-1 can get your partner into the country sooner, then adds the adjustment wait, during which they cannot work without a separate approved application.
Compare total time to work authorisation and to permanent residence, not time to entry. That reverses the intuitive answer for a lot of couples.
Both routes require the US petitioner to file Form I-864, undertaking financial responsibility and demonstrating income above a threshold tied to household size. If you do not meet it, a joint sponsor can be used — which adds documentation and, if you are paying an attorney, usually a fee.