Your green card after a VAWA self-petition
The self-petition on Form I-360 is the first step. The green card is a second application, Form I-485, for adjustment of status, and the law sets aside several rules that would otherwise stop a survivor at that stage. Your abuser does not sign it, attend it, or learn about it from us.
Current as of October 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any change in the law.
An approved self-petition answers one question: does the law recognize the relationship and the abuse. The green card answers a second one: can you be admitted as a permanent resident. They are separate forms, separate fees and sometimes separate years. This page walks the second step and links every guide in this section.
If you have not filed the self-petition yet, start with the VAWA self-petition. If you are in immigration court, the judge has a role in all of this; read VAWA in immigration court first.
Which category you are in
Who the abuser is to you decides the category of your petition, and the category decides when you can file for the green card.
| The abuser is | Your self-petition | What decides timing |
|---|---|---|
| Your U.S. citizen spouse | Immediate relative, INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iii) | USCIS processing; uscis.gov processing times |
| Your permanent resident spouse | Second preference (F2A), INA 204(a)(1)(B)(ii) | Your priority date must be current in the Visa Bulletin, INA 203(a)(2)(A) |
| Your citizen or resident parent | Abused child, unmarried and under 21, INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iv), (B)(iii) | Depends on the parent's status; reviewed at the consultation |
| Your citizen son or daughter, 21 or older | Abused parent, INA 204(a)(1)(A)(vii) | Reviewed at the consultation |
If a resident abuser naturalizes after you file, your petition converts to the immediate-relative category. If the resident abuser loses status after you file, your petition is not affected. Both rules are in INA 204(a)(1)(B)(v). The wait for a resident's spouse has its own page: the Visa Bulletin for the spouse of a green card holder.
Your children can be included on a spouse's petition as derivatives, whether or not they were abused (INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iii), (B)(ii); 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(4)). A derivative child who turns 21 before approval is treated as a self-petitioner with your priority date (INA 204(a)(1)(D)(i)(III), (D)(ii)).
Rules the law sets aside for you
Adjustment of status normally fails on several grounds that often apply to survivors: an entry without papers, a spouse who refused to sponsor, time without status. Congress wrote exceptions for VAWA self-petitioners into each of these.
- Entry without inspection. A person with an approved VAWA self-petition may adjust status even without inspection and admission or parole (INA 245(a), opening clause). The present-without-admission ground does not apply where there is a substantial connection between the abuse and the unlawful entry (INA 212(a)(6)(A)(ii)). See VAWA and entry without inspection.
- No sponsor. VAWA self-petitioners are exempt from the public-charge ground and file no Form I-864 (INA 212(a)(4)(C)(i), (E)(i)). See public charge and VAWA.
- The bars in INA 245(c). None of the 245(c) bars applies to a person with an approved VAWA self-petition (INA 245(c), opening clause). That includes the bars for crewmen, unauthorized employment, unlawful status or failure to maintain status, transit without visa, visa-waiver entrants and S nonimmigrants. Other grounds of inadmissibility still apply, so we read your record before filing.
- Unlawful presence and prior removals. There is an exception to the three- and ten-year unlawful-presence bars for a battered spouse or child who shows a substantial connection between the abuse and the violation of the terms of their nonimmigrant visa (INA 212(a)(9)(B)(iii)(IV)), and a waiver of the permanent bar for VAWA self-petitioners with a connection to the abuse (INA 212(a)(9)(C)(iii)).
- Criminal and fraud grounds. Waiver routes exist under INA 212(h)(1)(C), INA 212(i) and INA 237(a)(1)(H). For a VAWA self-petitioner, the 212(i) fraud waiver counts extreme hardship to you, or to your citizen, permanent resident or qualified-alien parent or child (INA 212(i)(1), as of October 2026). See waivers for VAWA self-petitioners.
Work, protection and benefits while you wait
An approved self-petitioner is eligible for employment authorization (INA 204(a)(1)(K)). See the work permit guide. Approved self-petitioners may be considered for deferred action on a case-by-case basis (USCIS Policy Manual Vol. 3, Part D), covered on the deferred action page.
Before approval, a prima facie determination on the self-petition can make a self-petitioning spouse or child a "qualified alien" for certain public benefits, if the abuse happened in the United States, the benefits agency finds a substantial connection between the abuse and the need for benefits, and the abuser no longer lives in the same household (8 U.S.C. 1641(c); 8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(6)(i)). Parents are not covered, and no prima facie notice is issued for a petition filed from abroad. Using benefits you qualify for does not count against your green card, because the public-charge ground does not apply to you. See public benefits.
Fees and timing
As of October 2026, VAWA self-petitioners and their derivatives pay no government filing fee for Forms I-131, I-212, I-290B (in limited cases), I-485, I-601, I-601A, I-765 (for the listed categories) and I-824 related to the benefit (8 C.F.R. 106.3(b)(6)). The VAWA I-360 itself has no fee (8 C.F.R. 106.2(a)(17)(ii)). That covers the green card application filed with USCIS, the work permit and the travel document. If your green card application is decided in immigration court, we have not confirmed how the court-side fees apply to a VAWA applicant, so we do not print a figure; we check it for your case. The USCIS filing fee page is the authority. None of these government filing fees is our legal fee.
We do not copy processing times onto this site. USCIS posts them at uscis.gov/processing-times. If your petition or application has stalled past that time, read when the I-360 is taking too long.
When your life changes during the case
Divorce. A divorce after you file does not affect the petition. Remarriage before approval is a basis for denial; remarriage after approval is not a basis for revocation (8 C.F.R. 204.2(c)(1)(ii); INA 204(h)). See divorce, remarriage and your case.
Travel. Do not leave the United States before talking to us. As of October 2026, leaving even on advance parole is a departure that can trigger the unlawful-presence bars, after Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026), and leaving without advance parole generally abandons a pending I-485 (8 C.F.R. 245.2(a)(4)(ii)). See travel and advance parole.
An arrest or a charge. Abusers sometimes file complaints against the person they abused. If you were arrested or charged, talk to your criminal lawyer before you write anything down, and read arrested or charged.
Citizenship. A person who became a permanent resident as the battered spouse or child of a U.S. citizen may naturalize after 3 years, without the marital-union requirement (INA 319(a)). See citizenship after VAWA.
Your information stays protected at this stage too
DHS may not make an adverse determination of your admissibility using information furnished solely by the abuser or the abuser's family, unless you have been convicted of a crime listed in INA 237(a)(2), and may not disclose information about your case to anyone, with limited exceptions (8 U.S.C. 1367(a)(1), (a)(2)). Under USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-34, 1367 protection ends at naturalization. Read exactly what that does and does not do on confidentiality.
Read next: entry without inspection, your work permit, waivers, or the Visa Bulletin wait.
Common questions
Do I need my abuser to sign anything for the green card?
No. A VAWA self-petitioner files on their own. The adjustment application that follows is also yours. A VAWA self-petitioner is exempt from the public-charge ground and does not file a Form I-864 affidavit of support, under INA 212(a)(4)(C)(i) and (E)(i), so no sponsor's signature is needed.
I crossed the border without being inspected. Can I still get a green card?
Often, yes. The opening clause of INA 245(a) lets a VAWA self-petitioner adjust status even without inspection and admission or parole, and INA 212(a)(6)(A)(ii) keeps the entry-without-admission ground from applying where there is a substantial connection between the abuse and the unlawful entry. The connection is a fact you show, so we review how and why you entered before anything is filed.
How long does the green card take after the I-360 is approved?
We do not publish processing times. USCIS posts its own at uscis.gov/processing-times. If your abuser is a permanent resident, timing also depends on the Visa Bulletin, which the State Department publishes each month. If a case has stalled well past the posted time, there are steps we can take.
What does the green card application cost?
As of October 2026, a VAWA self-petitioner pays no government filing fee for the Form I-485 filed with USCIS, or for the related I-765, I-131, I-212, I-601 or I-601A, under 8 C.F.R. 106.3(b)(6). The uscis.gov fee page is the authority. Our legal fee is separate.
The lawyers who will handle your case
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