When a couple starts a marriage-based green card case, one form usually shows up right away: Form I-130. That can be confusing at first. Some people assume it is the green card application itself. Others think the immigrant spouse files it. And once Form I-485 enters the picture, everything can start to feel like one large package instead of separate parts with separate jobs. That is exactly why this page matters. The I-130 petition for alien relative is the part of the case