According to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a non-immigrant can change his/her temporary status to permanent resident status, if he/she meets all the requirements for a US Green Card, in a particular category. This process, of adjusting non-immigrant status to permanent resident status, is known as adjustment of status. Form I-485 must be filed by a non-immigrant living in the United States who seeks to adjust his status to permanent resident status.
You have two options to file this form.You can either file the paper form or file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status online. There are 6 pages in this form and all these pages must be completed. Completing this form is pretty simple.
This form requires personal information about the applicant and information about his identity. The answers the applicant provides will help the immigration officers to determine that the applicant is admissible into the country. The following instructions will help you to easily complete the application for adjustment of status.
Part 1 – Information About You
Personal information about you must be provided in the first part of Form I-485. You need to give your permanent address. See to it that you enter your name and your birth date in the correct format. “Date of Last Arrival” is the date on which you entered into the United States. This refers to your most recent entry into the country.
You can find the I-94 Number on your Form I-94, Arrival/Departure record, issued by the Customs and Border Protection. Your Current USCIS Status, is your current status in the country. For example, if you hold a student visa, you are a student. Remember that, if you have overstayed your non-immigrant visa and if you are currently out of status, you cannot adjust your status. Provide your Social Security number and your Alien Registration number, if you have one.
Part 2 – Application Type
The reason why you are filing this form must be entered in the second part of this form. There are 10 options in this part. You need to check the box beside the option that applies to you.
In case you are applying for adjustment of status based on family sponsorship and if a visa number is available, you need to check box “a”.
Part 3 – Processing Information
You need to provide information that is needed to process this form. In Section A, you will have to enter the names of your parents, your occupation, your visa number, the date on which a non-immigrant visa was issued to you and your name as it appears on your arrival/departure record. This part of the form is self-explanatory.
In the next section, Section B, under Part 3, information about your marriage(s) must be provided. You must enter the names of your spouse and children and their birth dates. You need to provide information about all your children and your spouse, even if they are not immigrating with you.
Questions in Section C are to make sure that you are not connected to any criminal organization. If you are/were a member of any organization, make sure that you list the name of the organization in which you are/were a member, in the space that has been provided.
Followed by that, there are 18 questions. You need to check the appropriate box beside those questions. If your answer to any of those questions is “yes”, you need to provide explanation and you need to do this on a separate sheet of paper. Do not try to conceal information and do not provide false information. This will lead to the denial of your petition.
Part 4 – Accommodations for Individuals With Disabilities and/or Impairments
This part of the application is meant for the applicants with disabilities or impairments. The ones who need special accommodations for their interview, need to fill out this part of the form. For example, applicants who are deaf, can request sign-language interpreters. Applicants need to explain what kind of accommodation they need.
Part 5 – Signature
This is the last part of the application where you need to affix your signature. If you had sought the help of an interpreter to fill out this form, the interpreter will also have to sign the form. If the form was completed by someone else on your behalf, the person who completed the form must complete Part 6 and affix his/her signature.
After you complete the application, you may go through it once to ensure that there are no errors and that you have provided all the required information.
