Updated November 7, 2026

F2B Visa Processing Time: Adult Children of Green Card Holders

Your F2B visa processing time depends on your place in the monthly Visa Bulletin queue. USCIS notes that all family-sponsored preference categories combined are capped at 226,000 visas per year, with additional limits for each country. Your wait begins on your priority date (the day your parent properly files Form I-130) and ends only when that date passes the cutoff date for your country of chargeability.

For November 2026, USCIS directs all family-sponsored adjustment of status applicants to use the Dates for Filing chart in the Department of State Visa Bulletin.

What is the F2B visa category and who qualifies?

The family second preference (F2B) category is for the unmarried sons and daughters, age 21 or older, of U.S. lawful permanent residents (green card holders). In U.S. immigration law, USCIS defines a "child" as an unmarried person under 21, while a "son" or "daughter" is someone who is 21 or older or married.

A green card holder can petition only for a spouse, an unmarried child under 21 (the F2A category), or an unmarried son or daughter of any age (F2B). There is no visa category for a married son or daughter of a permanent resident. If you are waiting on a spouse or fiancé visa through a U.S. citizen instead, see our guides to CR-1 visa processing time and K-1 visa processing time.

If you are the unmarried adult son or daughter in an F2B petition, your own unmarried children under 21 may be included on the same petition as derivative applicants without a separate Form I-130.

USCIS recognizes several parent-child relationships for a family petition:

• A genetic child born in wedlock.
• A genetic child born out of wedlock. If the mother petitions, no legitimation is required. If the father petitions, the child must be legitimated under the laws of the father's or child's residence before turning 18, or the father must prove a bona fide parent-child relationship (emotional or financial involvement) existed before the child turned 21 and while the child was unmarried.
• A child born through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to a non-genetic gestational mother recognized by the relevant jurisdiction as the legal parent at birth.
• A stepchild, if the marriage creating the step-relationship took place before the child turned 18.
• An adopted child, if adopted before age 16 (or before age 18 in certain circumstances) and the adoptive parent had both 2 years of legal custody and 2 years of physical custody.

How does F2B processing time work from Form I-130 to the interview?

Every F2B case moves through the same sequence, and the longest stretch is the visa queue between the petition and the final application. An approved Form I-130 does not give you legal status or let you live in the United States. USCIS notes that its only function is to prove the qualifying relationship and give you a place in line.

By comparison, employment-based preference visas have a separate annual pool of 140,000 visas per year, which we cover in our EB-3 visa processing time guide. For F2B, the stages work in this order:

[PRACTICE_BOX]

• Stage 1: Your permanent resident parent files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, with USCIS alongside proof of their green card and proof of your parent-child relationship.
• Stage 2: You get a priority date on your Form I-797, Notice of Action. For family preference cases, your priority date is the exact date Form I-130 was properly filed with USCIS.
• Stage 3: You wait in the visa queue. Because demand exceeds the 226,000 annual family preference limit and per-country limits, the Department of State (DOS) holds a waiting list by preference category, country of chargeability (usually your country of birth), and priority date.
• Stage 4: Your priority date reaches the cutoff date in the monthly DOS Visa Bulletin. If you are outside the United States, your approved petition at the National Visa Center (NVC) moves forward to document assembly and forwarding to a U.S. embassy or consulate. If you are inside the United States in lawful status, you file Form I-485 to adjust status.
• Stage 5: You complete your medical examination and attend your consular interview (or USCIS adjustment processing) to receive your immigrant visa or green card.

How family preference categories compare on USCIS eligibility rules

How do you read the Visa Bulletin and what is retrogression?

Each month, the Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin with two charts for family-sponsored preference cases: the Application Final Action Dates chart (when immigrant visa numbers are authorized for issuance) and the Dates for Filing Applications chart (when applicants outside the U.S. should be notified to assemble and submit documents to the National Visa Center).

If you are inside the United States and plan to file Form I-485 for adjustment of status, USCIS announces each month within one week of DOS publishing the bulletin which chart you may use. When USCIS determines there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than known applicants, it lets you file using the Dates for Filing chart. Otherwise, you must use the Final Action Dates chart. For November 2026, USCIS states that all family-sponsored preference categories must use the Dates for Filing chart.

When you check the F2B row under your country of chargeability on the applicable chart, you will see one of three entries:

Sometimes a priority date that is current in one month is no longer current the next month, or the cutoff date on the Visa Bulletin moves backward to an earlier date. USCIS calls this visa retrogression. It happens when more people apply for a visa in a category than there are visas available for that month, usually when the annual numerical limit for the category or country is used up or expected to run out soon. When the new federal fiscal year starts on October 1, a fresh supply of visa numbers becomes available, which usually (though not always) returns the cutoff dates to where they were before retrogression.

You can check your petition's progress at USCIS Case Status Online, and once your file is with the State Department for consular processing, you can look up what each status means in our CEAC status guide.

• A specific cutoff date (for example, USCIS illustrates cutoffs with a hypothetical date of 15DEC07): a visa is available to you only if your priority date is earlier than the date printed in the chart.
• The letter "C" (Current): demand is less than supply for that category and country, so a visa is immediately available to all qualified applicants regardless of priority date.
• The letter "U" (Unavailable): visas are temporarily unavailable to all applicants in that category and country.

How to check your F2B row in the November 2026 Visa Bulletin charts across countries of chargeability

What happens to your F2B petition if your parent becomes a U.S. citizen or you get married?

Two life events can change or end your F2B petition during the wait: your parent naturalizing as a U.S. citizen, or you getting married.

If you get married: To stay eligible for an F2B visa or green card, you must remain unmarried, and the qualifying relationship must still exist when USCIS makes a final decision. Because permanent residents cannot petition for married sons or daughters, marrying while your parent is a green card holder ends your eligibility under that F2B petition. By contrast, U.S. citizens may petition for married sons and daughters under the third preference (F3) category.

If your parent becomes a U.S. citizen: Your petition does not become an uncapped immediate relative case (which applies only when the unmarried child is under 21 on the date the parent naturalizes). Instead, USCIS states that an F2B petition normally converts automatically to the family first preference (F1) category for unmarried sons and daughters age 21 and older of U.S. citizens.

Automatic conversion to F1 is not always faster. Under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), you can opt out of automatic conversion and stay in F2B if the F2B waiting time is shorter than the F1 waiting time. USCIS sets specific rules for requesting an F2B-to-F1 opt-out:

• Compare the F1 and F2B rows for your country in the Visa Bulletin to confirm F2B has a shorter waiting time.
• Write and sign the request letter yourself. USCIS specifies that you (the beneficiary), not your petitioning parent, must sign and send the opt-out letter.
• State clearly in the letter that you wish to opt out of the conversion from F2B to F1.
• Include your full name and date of birth, your parent's full name and date of birth, and the receipt number for your Form I-130 (found on your Form I-797 receipt and approval notices).
• Mail the signed written request to the USCIS office that approved your Form I-130 (shown on your approval notice, or call the USCIS Contact Center if you do not know which office approved it).

How does CSPA age calculation work for F2B and derivative children?

Turning 21 before your green card is approved is called "aging out." It comes up in F2B when a younger child originally petitioned under F2A turns 21 during the wait, or when an F2B applicant's own derivative child approaches age 21.

The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), which took effect on August 6, 2002, does not change the rule that a child must be under 21 and unmarried. Instead, for family preference principal and derivative applicants with a qualifying Form I-485 or Form I-130 filed or pending on or after August 6, 2002, CSPA subtracts the time Form I-130 was pending with USCIS from the applicant's biological age when a visa becomes available:

CSPA Age = Age at Time of Visa Availability minus Pending Time.

Here is how the USCIS example walks through the calculation and the 1-year filing deadline:

• 1. Find the Pending Time (Approval Date minus Filing Date): In the USCIS example, a mother files Form I-130 on February 1, 2016, and USCIS approves it on August 1, 2016, giving a Pending Time of 6 months.
• 2. Find the Age at Time of Visa Availability: This is the LATER of two dates: (a) the date USCIS approved Form I-130, or (b) the first day of the month of the DOS Visa Bulletin that shows a visa is available for your priority date and country in the Final Action Dates chart. In the USCIS example, the applicant is 21 years and 4 months old on that later date.
• 3. Subtract Pending Time from Age at Visa Availability: Taking 21 years and 4 months minus 6 months gives a CSPA age of 20 years and 10 months. Because that is under 21, the applicant keeps "child" status if unmarried. Because your priority date queue runs at the same time Form I-130 is pending, a longer USCIS Form I-130 processing time actually helps protect derivative children by subtracting more pending time from their biological age.
• 4. Meet the 1-year "sought to acquire" deadline: Unless you establish extraordinary circumstances, you must seek to acquire lawful permanent resident status within 1 year of visa availability. You can meet this deadline by properly filing Form I-485, submitting a completed Part 1 of Form DS-260, paying the immigrant visa fee to DOS, paying the Form I-864 review fee to DOS, having Form I-824 properly filed on your behalf, or submitting a written request to transfer the underlying basis of a pending Form I-485.

What are the next steps and required documents when your priority date is current?

If you are outside the United States (Consular Processing), USCIS sends your approved Form I-130 to the National Visa Center (NVC), which notifies you to submit documents and forwards your petition to a U.S. embassy or consulate when a visa number is available.

If you are inside the United States (Adjustment of Status), you can file Form I-485 once a visa is immediately available under the USCIS-designated chart. You must have been inspected and admitted or paroled, and you must be physically present in the United States. You also need to have continuously maintained lawful status, with no INA 245(c) bars unless you qualify under INA 245(i) using Supplement A. Finally, the qualifying family relationship must still exist, and you must be admissible or eligible for a waiver on Form I-601 or Form I-212.

Our team organized the required steps and documents from USCIS instructions into stage checklists:

• Stage A (Form I-130 filing by parent): Signed Form I-130 with fee, proof of parent's permanent residence (front and back copy of Form I-551 Green Card or foreign passport stamp showing temporary evidence of permanent residence), and proof of any legal name change.
• Stage A (Relationship proof): Civil birth certificate for a genetic or legal gestational mother. A genetic father adds the parents' marriage certificate (and any marriage termination records), or proof of legitimation before age 18, or proof of a bona fide father-child relationship before age 21. A step-parent adds the marriage certificate before age 18 and prior marriage termination records. An adoptive parent adds the final adoption decree and proof of 2 years of legal custody and 2 years of physical custody.
• Stage B1 (Consular Processing outside the U.S. via NVC): Wait for NVC notification under the Dates for Filing chart, pay the immigrant visa fee and Form I-864 review fee to DOS, submit Part 1 of Form DS-260, and submit civil documents and Form I-864 so NVC can forward your file to the embassy or consulate.
• Stage B2 (Adjustment of Status inside the U.S. with Form I-485): File Form I-485 with fee, two passport photos, copy of government photo ID, birth certificate, copy of Form I-797 Notice for Form I-130, passport pages with nonimmigrant visa and admission or parole stamp, Form I-94, proof of continuous lawful status, Form I-864 or I-864EZ, certified police and court records of any arrests or charges, and prior marriage termination records.
• Stage B2 (Medical exam and optional work or travel forms): Submit Form I-693 (or partial Form I-693) WITH Form I-485 if required, or USCIS may reject your Form I-485. While Form I-485 is pending, you may file Form I-765 for employment authorization and Form I-131 (selecting item 5.A. in Part 1) for Advance Parole, since leaving the U.S. without Advance Parole generally abandons a pending Form I-485.
• Stage C (Follow-to-join for an unmarried child under 21 who did not immigrate with you): If your child relationship existed when you became a permanent resident under F2B and still exists, your child can apply without a separate Form I-130 by filing Form I-824 (if you adjusted status in the U.S.) or by emailing NVCInquiry@state.gov or writing to the National Visa Center at ATTN: WC, 32 Rochester Ave., Portsmouth, NH 03801-2909 (if you received an immigrant visa overseas).

What the officer may ask at your F2B interview (and how to prepare)

At an F2B consular or adjustment interview, the officer verifies that your qualifying relationship to your petitioning parent is genuine, that you still meet every F2B requirement after years in the queue, and that no inadmissibility ground applies. Prepare by checking these core questions against your civil documents:

• "Have you ever been married, or are you married now?" Checks that you remain an unmarried son or daughter of a permanent resident (or citizen, if converted to F1). Have your original civil status records and any divorce, annulment, or death certificates from prior marriages ready.
• "Who petitioned for you, and what is their current immigration status in the United States?" Checks whether your parent is still a lawful permanent resident, has naturalized (triggering F1 conversion or an opt-out check), or lives at the address on your forms. Know your parent's status, naturalization date if applicable, and whether you filed an F2B opt-out letter with USCIS.
• "Where does your parent work, and who signed your Affidavit of Support?" Verifies public charge admissibility and your Form I-864 or I-864EZ details. Know your petitioner's occupation, household size, and any joint sponsor's relationship and employment.
• "How did you establish your relationship with your father?" (when the father petitioned and was not married to the mother). Checks legitimation before age 18 or evidence of a bona fide emotional and financial father-child relationship before age 21.
• "Do you have any children immigrating with you, and how old are they?" Checks derivative eligibility and CSPA age calculation for any child approaching or past age 21. Bring the child's birth certificate and the dates your Form I-130 was filed and approved.
• "Have you ever lived in the United States, overstayed a visa, or been arrested in any country?" Checks INA 212(a) grounds of inadmissibility and continuous lawful status (for Form I-485). Bring all past passports, I-94 records, and certified police and court records.

Visaful is an AI mock interview app for US visa interviews: an AI officer asks your visa's questions out loud and shows what to fix.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or any government agency.