Section 245(i): A Green Card After an Unlawful Entry or Overstay

For millions of people living in the United States, the hardest fact in immigration law is a quiet one: being eligible for a green card on paper is not the same as being able to get it here. Someone can be married to a U.S. citizen, have U.S.-citizen children, and have an approved petition — and still be stuck, because they entered the country without being inspected at the border, or they let a visa lapse years ago. The default rule pushes those people out of the country to finish the process at a consulate, straight into the unlawful-presence bars that can separate families for a decade.

Section 245(i) is the law Congress wrote to solve exactly that problem, and it is one of the most underused tools in the field because most people have never heard of it. This article explains, in plain terms, who is grandfathered under 245(i) in 2026, what the April 30, 2001 deadline really means, why an old and even "dead" petition can still be worth a fortune to you, the $1,000 penalty and the forms involved, and how 245(i) can turn a removal case into a green card.

Why a lawful entry usually matters — and why 245(i) is the exception

Under INA § 245(a), to adjust status to permanent resident from inside the United States you generally must have been inspected and admitted or paroled — in other words, you entered lawfully through a port of entry. People who crossed the border without inspection (an "EWI" entry) do not meet that requirement, so § 245(a) will not let them adjust here even when they have an approved family petition. Their normal path is to leave and consular process abroad.

That is where the trap springs. Once someone has accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence and then departs, the INA § 212(a)(9)(B) bars kick in: a 3-year bar for more than 180 days, and a 10-year bar for a year or more. So the very act of leaving to "do it the right way" can lock a person out for a decade. Section 245(i) exists to let grandfathered applicants avoid that departure entirely — they stay, they adjust here, and the bars are never triggered.

Who is grandfathered under Section 245(i)

Section 245(i), as extended by the LIFE Act amendments, protects a person for whom a qualifying immigrant petition or labor certification was filed by a hard cutoff date. There are two pieces to it.

The grandfathering follows the person, not the petition

This is the single most important — and most misunderstood — feature of 245(i), and it is where real cases are won. The grandfathered status attaches to the individual. Once a qualifying petition was filed for you by the deadline and was approvable when filed, you are grandfathered, essentially for life. That protection does not disappear if:

• the original petition was later denied, withdrawn, or revoked (for reasons other than fraud/lack of merit at filing);
• the petitioner died or the qualifying relationship ended;
• you never actually immigrated through that old case at all.

That means a woman whose first husband filed an I-130 for her in 1999 — a petition that fell apart when they divorced — can marry a U.S. citizen in 2026, have him file a fresh I-130, and use 245(i) to adjust here despite her original entry without inspection. The 1999 filing she assumed was worthless is the key to her green card today.

What 245(i) does not do

Section 245(i) fixes the manner-of-entry problem and lets you adjust here with a penalty. It is not a stand-alone green card and it does not waive everything.

The cost and the forms: I-485, Supplement A, and the $1,000 penalty

A 245(i) applicant files Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) together with Form I-485 Supplement A, the supplement designed specifically for 245(i), and pays the $1,000 penalty fee the statute requires, on top of the ordinary I-485 and biometrics fees. Some applicants are exempt from the $1,000 — for example, certain people who were unmarried and under 17 at the time of filing, or who were the spouse or child of a legalized alien in specific programs. The penalty is the price of adjusting here instead of departing; measured against a 10-year bar and years of family separation, it is almost always the bargain of the case.

245(i) as a defense to removal

Section 245(i) is not only an affirmative filing with USCIS — it is one of the strongest tools available inside immigration court. A person in removal proceedings who entered without inspection often has no way to adjust under § 245(a). But if they are grandfathered and have a current priority date with an approvable petition, they can request 245(i) adjustment before the immigration judge as relief from removal. Granted, it ends the case not with a deportation order but with a green card. In the current enforcement environment, identifying an old grandfathering filing for a detained or in-proceedings client can be the difference between removal and permanent residence.

What we see at Modern Law Group

A representative example from our office: a longtime client came in convinced her only option was to leave the country and risk a 10-year bar. She had entered without inspection in the 1990s, married a U.S. citizen, and had two U.S.-citizen kids — but the border crossing made adjusting here seem impossible. In taking her history, we asked the question we always ask: had anyone ever filed anything for her before? It turned out an uncle had filed a family petition for her mother in early 2001, and she had been listed as a derivative. That old, long-forgotten filing grandfathered her under 245(i). We filed her I-485 with Supplement A and the $1,000 penalty through her husband's petition, and she got her green card without ever leaving her children.

The pattern repeats constantly: the client assumes an old case is dead and irrelevant, and it turns out to be the most valuable document they own. The people who lose out are almost never ineligible — they simply never knew to look, or were told "you entered illegally, nothing can be done" by someone who did not check for a 245(i) filing.

The order of operations

Document checklist

• Any old receipt notice, approval notice, or priority-date letter for an I-130, I-140, or labor certification — for you or for a parent/spouse if you may be a derivative
• Proof of the filing date (the key is on or before April 30, 2001) and, if filed after January 14, 1998, evidence you were in the U.S. on December 21, 2000
• Your current qualifying petition (for example, a marriage-based I-130) and evidence of a current priority date
• Complete immigration history: dates and manner of every entry and departure, and any prior removals or reentries (for the § 212(a)(9)(C) screen)
• Certified dispositions for any arrests or convictions, for the inadmissibility screen
• Proof of the bona fides of the qualifying relationship (marriage/birth certificates, joint records)
• If you are in removal proceedings or detained: your A-number, court/EOIR records, and custody details

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Section 245(i) and who does it help?

Section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act lets certain people adjust status to a green card inside the United States even though they entered without inspection or fell out of lawful status, by paying a $1,000 penalty. Normally, INA § 245(a) requires a lawful entry (inspection and admission or parole) to adjust inside the country, which forces many people to leave and consular process abroad, where they can be hit with the 3- and 10-year unlawful-presence bars. Section 245(i) is a grandfathered exception: it protects people for whom a qualifying immigrant petition (Form I-130 or I-140) or an application for labor certification was filed on or before April 30, 2001. If you are covered, an unlawful entry or an overstay does not block your green card.

What is the April 30, 2001 deadline for 245(i)?

April 30, 2001 is the cutoff set by the LIFE Act amendments. To use Section 245(i), a qualifying petition (an I-130 family petition or an I-140 employment petition) or a labor certification application must have been properly filed on or before that date. If the petition was filed after January 14, 1998, you must also show you were physically present in the United States on December 21, 2000. The filing does not have to be the one you are using now, and it does not have to have been approved; what matters is that a qualifying case was filed by the deadline and was "approvable when filed." This is why 245(i) is called a grandfathering provision — the old filing preserves the benefit for later.

Can I still use 245(i) if that old petition was denied or the petitioner died?

Often, yes. The grandfathering under 245(i) attaches to the person, not to that one case. If a qualifying petition or labor certification was filed for you on or before April 30, 2001 and was approvable when filed, you may remain grandfathered even if that petition was later denied, withdrawn, or revoked, or the petitioner died — as long as it was legitimate and approvable at the time it was filed. That means you can later adjust through a different, newer petition (for example, a marriage to a U.S. citizen decades later) and still use 245(i). Spouses and children can sometimes be grandfathered as derivatives. This analysis is technical and depends on old records, so it must be verified case by case.

How much does 245(i) cost and what form do I file?

You file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) together with Form I-485 Supplement A, which is the specific supplement for 245(i) applicants, plus the $1,000 penalty fee required by the statute. The $1,000 is on top of the regular I-485 filing and biometrics fees. Certain applicants are exempt from the $1,000 penalty, including some who were unmarried and under 17, or who were the spouse or child of a legalized alien in specific categories. You also need a current, available immigrant visa (a current priority date) and an approved or approvable underlying petition to actually adjust.

Does 245(i) help me if I am in removal proceedings or entered without inspection?

Yes — those are exactly the situations 245(i) was built for. Entering without inspection normally bars you from adjusting inside the U.S. under § 245(a); 245(i) removes that bar for grandfathered applicants. If you are in removal proceedings before an immigration judge, you can request 245(i) adjustment as a defense to removal, provided you have a current priority date and an approvable petition. Winning it ends the case with a green card instead of a deportation. Because it lets people adjust here rather than departing and triggering the unlawful-presence bars abroad, 245(i) is frequently the single most valuable option a long-present family member has.

I have an old family petition from the 1990s — is it worth checking?

Absolutely, and this is the most common way people discover they are grandfathered. A parent, sibling, or former employer may have filed an I-130 or a labor certification for you or a family member years ago that you have forgotten about or assumed was dead. If it was filed on or before April 30, 2001 and was approvable when filed, it can grandfather you under 245(i) for life — even through a completely different petition today. The proof lives in old receipt notices, priority-date records, and USCIS files. An attorney can request the records and confirm eligibility. For many people who thought a green card was impossible without leaving the country, an old filing is the key that unlocks adjustment right here.

How Modern Law Group Can Help

Section 245(i) cases are won in the record. The first job is to find out whether an old, qualifying filing exists — for you or for a relative — and then confirm the grandfathering elements and line up a live petition and visa number. Most people who are eligible have no idea they are, which is exactly why the intake question matters.

• A full grandfathering investigation — reconstructing your and your relatives' filing history and requesting USCIS/FOIA records to find a qualifying I-130, I-140, or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001
• Eligibility analysis of the April 30, 2001 cutoff, the December 21, 2000 physical-presence rule, "approvable when filed," and derivative grandfathering for spouses and children
• Building the current path — a qualifying petition (often marriage-based) and a current priority date to pair with your grandfathered status
• A complete inadmissibility screen, including the § 212(a)(9)(C) permanent bar that 245(i) does not cure, and any waiver strategy needed
• Filing the I-485 with Supplement A and the $1,000 penalty — or presenting 245(i) adjustment as a defense before the immigration judge if you are in removal proceedings

Modern Law Group has secured more than 10,000 approvals for immigrant families with a success rate above 99%. If you entered without inspection or overstayed and assumed a green card here was impossible, do not take that as the final answer until someone has checked for a 245(i) filing. For a great many families, the door that looked closed was never locked.