In the process of applying for U.S. lawful permanent resident status (green card), whether your Form I-485 (Application to Adjust Status) is accepted depends on whether a visa number is available for your immigration category—i.e., whether your priority date is current.

If the applicant’s spouse was born in a different country, the applicant may choose to use the spouse’s country of birth for visa chargeability. This is known as “cross-chargeability” or “using the spouse’s country of birth” strategy.