Green Card Category Codes Explained: IR1, F2A, E21, SL6 and the Rest

Every green card carries a short code in a field marked Category — IR1, F2A, E21, SL6, AS6, DV1. It is the single most compressed piece of information on the card: it records which law you became a permanent resident under, and it determines things that matter later, including when you can naturalize.

Almost nobody is told what theirs means.

Where to find yours

• On the green card itself, front side, in the field labelled Category, near the card number and the “Resident Since” date.
• On your I-485 approval notice, in the classification field.
• On an immigrant visa foil in your passport, if you entered on one.

The code on the visa foil and the code on the card can differ in their final digit. That is expected — see the next section.

The digit rule

This is the piece that makes the whole system legible, and it is rarely explained.

For most classifications, codes ending in 1 through 5 indicate an immigrant visa issued at a consulate abroad; codes ending in 6 through 9 indicate adjustment of status inside the United States.

So:

Someone who entered on an IR1 visa and someone who adjusted status as IR6 have exactly the same status and the same rights. The digit records the route, not a difference in outcome.

It is a strong convention rather than a universal law — a few classifications sit outside it — so read the code as a lookup, not as arithmetic.

Family-based codes

Immediate relatives of US citizens — no annual cap, no queue:

• IR1 / IR6 — spouse, married more than two years at approval
• CR1 / CR6 — spouse, married less than two years at approval. C is for conditional: this card is valid two years and requires removal of conditions on Form I-751.
• IR2 / CR2 — child of a US citizen
• IR3 / IR4 — orphan adopted abroad / to be adopted in the US
• IR5 — parent of a US citizen aged 21 or over
• IW1 / IW6 — widow or widower of a US citizen. See widow of a citizen.

Family preference categories — capped, and subject to the Visa Bulletin:

• F11 / F16 — F1: unmarried son or daughter of a US citizen
• F21 / F26 — F2A: spouse of a permanent resident
• F22 / F27 — F2A: child of a permanent resident
• F24 / F29 — F2B: unmarried son or daughter, 21 or over, of a permanent resident
• F31 / F36 — F3: married son or daughter of a US citizen
• F41 / F46 — F4: brother or sister of a US citizen

Note the two different naming systems in circulation. The Visa Bulletin uses F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4. Your card uses the three-character code. F2A on the bulletin corresponds to F21 and F22 on cards; F2B corresponds to F24. This mismatch is the reason people cannot find their category on the bulletin. See family-based green cards.

Employment-based codes

• E11 / E16 — EB-1A extraordinary ability. See EB-1A.
• E12 / E17 — EB-1B outstanding professor or researcher
• E13 / E18 — EB-1C multinational manager or executive
• E21 / E26 — EB-2 advanced degree or exceptional ability. A National Interest Waiver approval also appears as E21 — the code does not distinguish NIW from employer-sponsored EB-2.
• E31 / E36 — EB-3 skilled worker or professional
• EW3 / EW8 — EB-3 other worker, the unskilled subcategory. Separate and much slower — see EB-3 other.
• C5 / T5 / R5 / I5 and their adjustment equivalents — EB-5 investor variants, distinguishing targeted employment areas, regional centers and the set-asides.

The EB-3 distinction is the one to check on your own card. E31 and EW3 are both “EB-3” in conversation and are different queues in the Visa Bulletin, often by years.

Humanitarian and special codes

• SL1 / SL6 — Special Immigrant Juvenile. See SIJ.
• AS1 / AS6 / AS7 / AS8 — asylee, principal and derivatives. See asylum.
• RE6 and related — refugee adjustment. See refugee.
• CU6 / CF1 — Cuban Adjustment Act
• U-visa and T-visa adjustments — see U visa and T visa
• VAWA self-petitioners appear under the family code that matches their qualifying relationship, which is why a VAWA-based card does not say VAWA. See VAWA.
• Z13 — registry, for continuous residence since before the statutory cut-off
• DV1 / DV2 / DV3 — Diversity Visa principal, spouse and child

Why the code matters later

Naturalization timing. Most permanent residents may apply after five years. Those who obtained residence through marriage to a US citizen and remain married to that citizen may apply after three. An IR1 or IR6 code is the quickest way to identify the three-year track — see naturalization.

Conditional residence. A code beginning CR means a two-year card and an I-751 due in the 90 days before it expires. Missing that deadline puts you out of status. See removal of conditions.

Which Visa Bulletin row is yours. For anyone petitioning a relative or watching their own priority date, the code identifies the correct row. Check yours in the priority date tool.

Derivative status. Codes ending in 2, 3, 7 or 8 within a family typically indicate a spouse or child who obtained residence through a principal applicant. That can matter if the principal’s status is later questioned.

Proof of the route. For any later filing — a relative’s petition, a naturalization application, a records request — the code is how you establish how you got here.

Common questions

My card says CR1 and I have been married five years. Is that wrong? No. The code records your status at approval, not today. If you were married less than two years then, CR is correct, and it stays on that card. Your next card, after I-751 approval, will show IR6.

My visa said E21 but my card says E26. Which is right? Both. E21 was the consular classification, E26 the adjustment. If you have both documents you probably entered on one basis and later adjusted, or a data entry follows the location of the final action.

My card has a code not listed here. There are more than a hundred classifications. The State Department publishes the full list of immigrant visa symbols; start there, then check your approval notice.

Can I change my category? Not retroactively. You can obtain residence again under a different category in some narrow circumstances, but the code on an issued card reflects a completed adjudication.

Does the code appear on my Social Security or work records? No. It appears on immigration documents only.