Prepare Your USCIS Form I-824Follow to Join Application

Follow-to-Join is an option for family members of green card holders to immigrate to the United States. It is a faster and more convenient way to come to the country than through the traditional immigration process.

Find out if you qualify for Follow-to-Join and how the process can help you bring your immediate family members into the country.

Who Can Use the Follow to Join Process?

After receiving permanent resident status, the principal applicant may apply to bring their spouse or unmarried children under the age of 21 to the United States through Follow-to-Join.

What Is the Cost of Applying?

The application form you must submit for Follow-to-Join is Form I-824. This form is formally titled Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition. The filing fee for Form I-824 is $465.

Restrictions on Eligibility

There are many restrictions upon eligibility for a Follow-to-Join application. Only green card holders are eligible to be the principal applicant of a Follow-to-Join application.

Once a permanent resident goes through the naturalization process and becomes a U.S. citizen, they can no longer bring their family over in this manner. Instead, they must file a separate visa petition to bring their family over.

Another restriction is that in order to bring a spouse over through Follow-to-Join, the marriage must have occurred before the principal applicant became a permanent resident. Likewise, qualifying children must have been born before the permanent resident status was achieved.

A principal applicant must not have received their permanent residency through the Immediate Relative category in order to use Follow-to-Join to bring over other family members. If you became a permanent resident through the Immediate Relative category, you can instead petition for visas for your spouse or children by filing Form I-130.