The Family-Based Immigration Process in Houston, Step by Step

How the Process Works

Every family case follows the same spine, but the route and the wait depend on two things: which category your relative falls into, and whether they are inside or outside the United States. This guide walks through each stage in the order it happens. If you want to know who can be sponsored and why families choose our firm, that is on our family immigration lawyer page. This page is about the mechanics.

The Six Stages of a Family Petition

1. 1

   Category · Visa Bulletin

   Confirm the category and check the priority date

   U.S. immigration law creates two tracks. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, meaning spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents, have no annual cap and move faster through the system. Family preference relatives face annual numerical limits and wait for their priority date to become current.

   Category	Who it covers	Typical wait
   IR	Spouse, unmarried child under 21, or parent of a U.S. citizen	No visa-number wait; only processing time
   F1	Unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of U.S. citizens	Years; varies by country
   F2A	Spouses and children under 21 of permanent residents	Close to current most of the time
   F2B	Unmarried sons and daughters, 21 or older, of permanent residents	Years; varies by country
   F3	Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens	Often 20+ years for Mexico and the Philippines
   F4	Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizens	Longest wait; 20+ years for Mexico

   The priority date is assigned when USCIS receives the I-130. A preference-category relative cannot receive a visa or adjust status until that date is current. The Visa Bulletin publishes priority dates monthly in two charts: Chart A, Final Action Dates, and Chart B, Dates for Filing. USCIS announces each month which chart adjustment applicants may use. We check both charts for every preference case and tell families what to expect for their category and country of birth.

2. 2

   Form I-130 · USCIS

   File the petition with the right evidence

   The U.S. citizen or permanent resident files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to establish the qualifying relationship. Evidence is what wins or delays this stage. Spouses submit the marriage certificate and proof the marriage is genuine: joint bank accounts, a shared lease or mortgage, photos together, insurance policies. Parents and children submit birth certificates. Siblings submit the birth certificates that show the common parent.

   USCIS approves the I-130 and then either transfers it to the National Visa Center for consular processing, or accepts a concurrent adjustment of status application for a relative already in the United States. Immediate relatives in the United States can usually file the I-130 and I-485 together in one package.

3. 3

   Form I-485 · Houston

   Route A: adjustment of status in Houston

   Adjustment of status lets an eligible relative apply for the green card without leaving the United States. The applicant must have been inspected and admitted or paroled at a port of entry, and must be in valid nonimmigrant status or fall within an exception. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens have an important exception: they can adjust even after overstaying a visa, as long as the entry itself was lawful.

   The adjustment package includes Form I-485, the I-864 affidavit of support, the medical exam on Form I-693 from a USCIS-designated civil surgeon, the I-130 approval notice or concurrent I-130, and the supporting documents. We also file the I-765 for employment authorization and the I-131 for advance parole so the applicant can work and travel while the case is pending.

   • Biometrics. USCIS schedules fingerprints and a photo at a Houston-area Application Support Center a few weeks after filing.
   • Interview. Most family adjustment cases are interviewed at the USCIS Houston Field Office, 810 Gears Road, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77067. An attorney from our office attends with you.
   • Work and travel. The work permit and advance parole usually arrive before the green card. Leaving the country without advance parole abandons the application.
4. 4

   NVC · DS-260 · Consulate

   Route B: consular processing for relatives abroad

   The National Visa Center is the State Department clearinghouse for approved petitions. It receives the approved I-130 from USCIS, assigns a case number and runs the documentation stage. The sponsor completes Form I-864 with financial documents. The relative completes Form DS-260, the online immigrant visa application, and uploads civil documents: birth certificates, police clearances from each country of residence, and military records if applicable.

   NVC reviews everything for completeness before it schedules the interview, and incomplete submissions go to the back of the line. We prepare the full NVC package for every client and check it against the current NVC requirements before submission, so the checklist review clears the first time. When a visa number is immediately available, NVC processing typically takes two to eight months before an interview is scheduled.

   The medical exam is performed by a panel physician in the relative’s home country using CDC protocols. It is valid for a limited period, so we time it to the expected interview date. Relatives from Mexico interview at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez, which handles all immigrant visas for Mexican nationals.

5. 5

   Form I-864

   The affidavit of support, on either route

   The sponsor must show income at or above 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for their household size, counting the intending immigrant. A sponsor who cannot meet the threshold alone may add a joint sponsor: a U.S. citizen or permanent resident living in the United States who meets the income requirement independently and takes on the same legal obligation.

   The affidavit binds the sponsor. If the sponsored immigrant receives certain means-tested public benefits, the agency that paid them can sue the sponsor for reimbursement. The obligation lasts until the immigrant works 40 qualifying quarters, becomes a U.S. citizen, permanently leaves the United States, or dies. We make sure every sponsor and joint sponsor understands this before signing.

6. 6

   Interview · Approval · After

   The interview, the decision and what comes after

   Whether at the Houston Field Office or a consulate, the officer reviews the file, asks about the relationship and the applicant’s background, and decides whether the applicant qualifies and is not inadmissible. Prior unlawful presence, certain criminal convictions and misrepresentation are the common grounds. When we see a potential ground, we file the waiver before the interview rather than respond to a denial afterward.

   • Consular approval. The immigrant visa is placed in the passport. The relative pays the USCIS Immigrant Fee online and, after entering the United States, the green card is mailed to the U.S. address.
   • Conditional residence. A spouse whose marriage is under two years old at approval receives a two-year conditional card. Form I-751 must be filed in the 90-day window before it expires, with evidence the marriage is ongoing and genuine. Divorced conditional residents and survivors of abuse can file alone with a waiver.
   • Children turning 21. The Child Status Protection Act subtracts USCIS processing time from a child’s age for certain purposes. We calculate CSPA age for every petition with a child approaching 21.

Government Fees in a Family Case

These are the USCIS and State Department fees as published in September 2026. They change, so we confirm every fee against the current USCIS fee schedule before filing. Attorney fees are quoted separately at your consultation.

The medical exam is paid directly to the civil surgeon or panel physician and varies by provider. Fee waivers exist for some applicants on some forms.

Timelines Houston Families Can Expect

Processing times move with USCIS and consulate workloads. These are the ranges we see and the published waits, not guarantees. USCIS posts current times by form and office on its processing times page.

Documents by Relationship

Houston Offices, Interviews and Consulates

• USCIS Houston Field Office. 810 Gears Road, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77067. Adjustment interviews for Houston-area families are held here. Bring the appointment notice, photo ID and the originals of every document in the file.
• Biometrics. USCIS assigns an Application Support Center appointment near the applicant’s address; Houston has several. The appointment takes about 30 minutes.
• Consulates. Relatives in Mexico interview in Ciudad Juárez. Our clients over the years have processed through consulates in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and dozens of other countries.
• Our office. 122 Tuam St., Houston, TX 77006. Consultations and document reviews in English or Spanish.

Directions to our office