I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant
Use this form to classify an alien as:
- An Amerasian (born after Dec. 31, 1950, and before Oct. 23, 1982);
- The widow(er) of a U.S. citizen;
- A VAWA self-petitioning spouse of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident;
- A VAWA self-petitioning child of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident;
- A VAWA self-petitioning parent of an abusive U.S. citizen son or daughter who is 21 years old or older; or
- A special immigrant. We define a special immigrant as one of the following:
- Religious worker;
- Panama Canal company employee, Canal Zone government employee, or U.S. government in the Canal Zone employee;
- Physician licensed and practicing medicine in a U.S. state as of Jan. 9, 1978;
- International organization or NATO-6 employee or family member;
- Juvenile who needs the protection of a juvenile court because they have been abused, neglected or abandoned by a parent;
- U.S. armed forces member;
- Afghan or Iraqi national who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government as a translator;
- Iraqi national who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq;
- An Afghan national who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government or the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan; or
- Broadcasters for the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) or for a USAGM grantee.
Other classifications not listed above may also be eligible to use Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant. Please read the form instructions for more information.
Form Details
Dates are listed in mm/dd/yy format.
If you complete and print this form to mail it, make sure that the form edition date and page numbers are visible at the bottom of all pages and that all pages are from the same form edition. If any of the form’s pages are missing or are from a different form edition, we may reject your form.
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Where you file depends on your eligibility category, where you live, and whether you are also filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, at the same time (known as “concurrent filing”). For a complete list of addresses, visit our Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-360 page.
VAWA Self-Petitioning Spouses, Children, and Parents
File your Form I-360 at the Nebraska Service Center. For more information, visit our Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-360 page.
Special Immigrant Juvenile
Where you file your Form I-360 depends on your eligibility category. For more information, visit our Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-360 page.
Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Petitions
To obtain a Green Card as an Afghan who was employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government, whether you live inside or outside the United States, you must first seek special immigrant classification by filing either Form I-360 with USCIS or by filing Form DS-157, Petition for Special Immigrant Classification for Afghan SIV Applicants, with the U.S. Department of State (DOS).
Afghan citizens or nationals who already started the SIV application process and received DOS Chief of Mission (COM) approval on or before July 20, 2022, must still file Form I-360 with USCIS on their own behalf. For individuals in the United States with COM requests pending on July 20, 2022, please reference the chart below.
| Afghan nationals located in the United States | |
|---|---|
| If | Then |
| COM pending and have a signed Form DS-157 | Once COM and Form DS-157 are approved, file Form I-485 |
| COM pending and have an unsigned Form DS-157 | Once COM is approved, file Form I-360 |
| COM pending and have no Form DS-157 | Once COM is approved, file Form I-360 |
| COM approved before 7/20/22 | File Form I-360 |
| Form I-360 pending with USCIS | Once Form I-360 is approved, file Form I-485 |
Note: COM = Department of State Chief of Mission (COM) approval
Further guidance related to obtaining a Green Card as an Afghan who was employed by or on behalf of the U.S. government can be found in the Form I-360 instructions and by visiting the Green Card for an Afghan Who Was Employed by or on Behalf of the U.S. Government webpage.
Please note that Afghans who start the SIV application process on or after July 20, 2022, no longer need to file Form I-360. Instead, they would seek classification as a special immigrant with the DOS. For more information on that process, see Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans - Who Were Employed by/on Behalf of the U.S. Government on the DOS web site.
Special Immigrant Juvenile
If you are filing Form I-360 as a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ), you must file your petition for SIJ classification before your 21st birthday. See 8 CFR 204.11(b). Sometimes, circumstances such as mailing delays or state court delays in obtaining a required juvenile court order might prevent you from timely filing your petition before your 21st birthday. To help you file Form I-360 before your 21st birthday, we will allow you to file the Form I-360 in person at a USCIS field office within 2 weeks before you turn 21.
You (or your attorney or accredited representative) may contact the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 to request an SIJ expedite appointment with a USCIS field office to file the Form I-360 in person within the 2 weeks before your 21st birthday. At the appointment, the field office will accept the Form I-360 and date-stamp the first page. The field office will give you a photocopy of the first page of the Form I-360 and will send the form and any supporting documents to the USCIS lockbox for receipting.
Further guidance can be found in the Form I-360 instructions and by visiting the Special Immigrant Juveniles webpage.
Special Immigrant Religious Worker
If you are filing Form I-360 for a special immigrant religious worker, you must submit the employer attestation in Form I-360. If applicable, you are also required to submit the religious denomination certification in Form I-360. Further eligibility requirements can be found in the Form I-360 instructions and by visiting the Special Immigrant Religious Workers webpage.
VAWA Self-Petitioning Spouses, Children, and Parents
Under the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), you may be eligible to become a lawful permanent resident if you are the victim of battery or extreme cruelty committed by:
- A U.S. citizen spouse or former spouse;
- A U.S. citizen parent;
- A U.S. citizen son or daughter;
- A lawful permanent resident (LPR) spouse or former spouse; or
- An LPR parent.
You may self-petition under VAWA by filing Form I-360 without your abusive family member’s knowledge or consent. A person who files a VAWA self-petition is generally known as a VAWA self-petitioner. If your self-petition is approved and you meet other eligibility requirements, you may be eligible to apply to become a lawful permanent resident. For more information, see the Questions and Answers: Abused Spouses, Children and Parents Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and Green Card for VAWA Self-Petitioner webpages.
Widow(er)s of Deceased U.S. Citizens
At one time, section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act said a citizen’s surviving spouse could file an immigrant visa petition if the citizen and surviving spouse had been married at least 2 years. On Oct. 28, 2009, section 568(c) of Pub. L. 111-83 amended the Immigration and Nationality Act so that you may be eligible to immigrate, even if you and your deceased spouse were married for less than two years when your spouse died. However, you must still file your Form I-360 no later than 2 years after your spouse’s death.
Your eligibility for classification as the widow(er) of a U.S. citizen based on a Form I-360 that you file after your citizen spouse died, ends if you remarry before you immigrate or adjust status.
If your deceased citizen spouse filed a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, before they died, you do not need to file a Form I-360 because we automatically converted your spouse’s Form I-130 to a Form I-360. If your immigrant visa petition was originally filed as a Form I-130, your remarriage does not necessarily mean you cannot immigrate. Section 204(l) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows us to approve the petition as a Form I-130, even if you have remarried.
Further guidance can be found in the Form I-360 instructions and on the Widow(er) webpage.
Other classifications not listed above may be eligible to use Form I-360. Please refer to the form instructions for more information regarding eligibility and when to file.
However, you are exempt from paying the filing fee if you are:
- An Amerasian; (Box 1.A. on the form);
- A VAWA self-petitioning spouse of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (Box 1.I. on the form);
- A VAWA self-petitioning child of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (Box 1.J. on the form);
- A VAWA self-petitioning parent of an abusive U.S. citizen son or daughter (Box 1.K. on the form);
- A Special Immigrant Juveniles (Box 1.C. on the form);
- An Iraqi national who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq (Box 1.L. or Box 1.M. on the form); or
- An Afghan national who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Afghanistan (Box 1.L. or Box 1.N. on the form).
You can pay the fee with a money order, personal check, cashier’s check, or pay by credit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. If you pay by check, you must make your check payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing and biometric services fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request. Use our Fee Calculator to help determine your fee.
Pay each filing fee separately. We are transitioning to electronically processing immigration benefit requests, which requires us to use multiple systems to process your package. We may reject your entire package if you submit a single, combined payment for multiple forms.
If you are required to pay a fee for your petition or are unable to submit your petition electronically, you may still follow the form instructions and submit the Form I-360 by mail.
View the checklist of required initial evidence.
Filing Tips: Review our Tips for Filing Forms by Mail page for information on how to help ensure we will accept your form.
Don’t forget to sign your form. We will reject any unsigned form.
E-Notification: If you want to receive an e-mail and/or a text message that we have accepted your form at a USCIS lockbox, complete Form G-1145, E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance and clip it to the first page of your form.