F1 vs F2B Visa: What Is the Difference?

Both the F1 and F2B categories are part of the U.S. family preference immigrant visa system, which enables certain relatives to reunite with family in the United States.

The F1 category serves adult, unmarried children of U.S. citizens. The F2B category serves adult, unmarried children of lawful permanent residents (LPRs, or green card holders). Each is subject to annual limits and visa availability, which the Department of State publishes in the monthly Visa Bulletin.

The F1 preference category is for unmarried sons and daughters aged 21 or older of US citizens. The beneficiary must be unmarried when the petition is filed and until the green card is issued. If an F1 beneficiary marries, the case moves to the F3 category. The beneficiary’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 may qualify as derivative beneficiaries.

The U.S. citizen sponsor files Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. After USCIS approves the petition, the case goes to the National Visa Center and waits until the beneficiary’s priority date becomes current under the Visa Bulletin. The beneficiary then applies for a green card through consular processing abroad, or through adjustment of status in the United States if they meet the eligibility requirements.

The F2B preference category applies to unmarried sons and daughters aged 21 or older of lawful permanent residents. As in F1, the child must be unmarried, and marriage ends eligibility for F2B. The key difference is the sponsor’s status: the petitioner is a green card holder rather than a U.S. citizen, and files Form I-130 on the same basis. An LPR can sponsor only a spouse and unmarried children, not parents or siblings.

The primary difference between the F1 and F2B categories lies in the type of sponsor and therefore the family relationship:

• Sponsor status: F1 is for the unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens. F2B is for the unmarried adult children of lawful permanent residents.
• Annual limits: F1 receives 23,400 visas a year, plus any numbers not required for the fourth preference category. F2B receives 23 percent of the F2 allocation of 114,200 visas (about 26,266), and the F2 total can be higher in some years. No single country can receive more than 7 percent of the total family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas in a year, so applicants born in Mexico and the Philippines have their own dates.

At the present time, the processing of the F1 visa is quicker than for the F2B visa. However, this situation can often change depending on the progress of the visas so it is worth keeping up to date with the situation in the Department of State’s monthly visa bulletin.

Which route is faster also depends on the status of your sponsor and whether they are an American citizen or an American Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). A US citizen is classed as the highest individual status, while a permanent resident remain a citizen of their birth/home country.

If your sponsor is a LPR there is the possibility they could be deported and there are restrictions on how many family members they are able to sponsor.

US Immigration Services will update the visa category from F2B to F1 if the petition is filed by a LPR who is granted citizenship before the visa is processed. However, it is important to note that this change is optional and can be reversed – which is relevant if the F2B timescales are shorter.

The Visa Bulletin is published monthly. Demand in each category, the annual limits and the per-country limits all affect how far the dates move.

After USCIS approves your sponsor’s I-130, the case goes to the National Visa Center, where it waits until your priority date becomes current.

You then complete your immigrant visa application and attend an interview, or file Form I-485 if you are eligible to adjust status.

Waiting to move to the United States can be a long and stressful process for unmarried children and their parents. There is no guarantee of how long it will take, and priority dates can move backward as well as forward.

The Visa Bulletin gives an indication of the backlog. As of 2026, the cutoff dates for most countries are about 7 years behind (F1 about 6 years and 9 months, F2B about 7 years). For the Philippines the gap is about 13 years, and for Mexico it is about 18 years for F1 and about 16 years for F2B. Those gaps are an indication of the backlog, not a prediction of your individual wait.

Because delays are common, complete your application correctly and include all required documents. If you are unsure what is required, an immigration lawyer can advise you.

If the LPR sponsor becomes a U.S. citizen while the case is pending, an F2B petition automatically converts to F1 and keeps its original priority date. Whether that helps depends on the dates. Where the F1 category is moving more slowly than F2B, the beneficiary may opt out of the conversion by written request and remain in F2B. This is the beneficiary’s choice, and the request is made to USCIS (or through the NVC, which forwards it to USCIS).

If a beneficiary marries, the F1 or F2B category no longer applies, and the case moves to F3 or, for an LPR sponsor, ends as F2B. Seek advice before marrying while a petition is pending.