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What is a Green Card?
A Green Card gives you the right to live and work anywhere in the
U.S., leave and re-enter the U.S. at any time, and the opportunity
to become a U.S. citizen.
What are the different ways to obtain
a Green Card?
There are several ways for an alien to obtain a Green Card or become
a permanent resident: through family, work, making significant
investments, or qualifying under one of the special immigrant classifications.
U.S. Congress has made it somewhat easier
for family members to be reunited with their relatives who are American
citizens or lawful permanent residents.
- Immediate Relative of an American Citizen
If you are the spouse, child, brother or
sister, parent, or if you are engaged to be married to an American
citizen, you can become a lawful permanent resident if the person
to whom you're related or engaged files a petition with the USCIS
(Formerly known as the INS) or the American Embassy of your country
of residence.
- Related to a Permanent Resident
If you are the spouse or unmarried child
of a lawful permanent resident, you can obtain a Green Card if the
relative who has the Green Card files a petition with the USCIS
(Formerly known as the INS) or American Embassy of your country
of residence.
- Other Relatives
If you are the aunt, uncle, niece, nephew,
cousin, grandmother, or grandfather of an American citizen, of if
you are the brother, sister, parent, or you are engaged to someone
who holds a Green Card, you DO NOT qualify for
a Green Card based on a "family relationship".
For more information about family-based
immigration, please click here.
If you are not eligible for family-based
sponsorship (or even if you are), you may be able to obtain a Green
Card on the basis of your work, as either a priority or non-priority
worker.
- Priority Workers
Priority workers (also known as EB-1) are
people who possess skills that are considered in short supply or
especially needed in the U.S. Priority workers include people with
extraordinary ability, outstanding researchers and professors, and
multinational executives and managers. These highly skilled workers
are exempt from undergoing the Labor Certification Process, which
is a lengthy process that tests the local U.S. job market and protects
U.S. workers' interests.
For more information about priority workers/EB-1,
please click here.
- Non-Priority Workers
This is a broad classification and includes
individuals with graduate degrees, professionals without graduate
degrees, skilled and unskilled workers. Generally, non-priority
workers are required to complete the Labor Certification Process
to ensure that the vacant position cannot be satisfactorily filled
by a U.S. worker. The exception to this rule involves National Interest
Waivers (NIWs).
For more information about NIWs, please
click here.
For more information about Labor Certifications,
please click here.
An alien entrepreneur from any country
who invests from $500K to $1 Million USD in a new business and employs
at least ten (10) American citizens or lawful permanent residents
is eligible for a Green Card. The category allows for 10,000 immigrant
visas per year to be issued and was designed to stimulate overseas
investment and employment.
Certain immigrants qualify as designated
special immigrants, including: religious workers, medical doctors,
certain former government and military officials, and retired international
organization officials. In addition, certain groups are granted
the right to immigrate to the U.S. or given amnesty.
Individuals who have suffered past persecution
and/or have a well-founded fear of future persecution based on race,
religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular
social group in his/her home country, are eligible to apply for
a Green Card. For more information about Asylum, please click
here.
For more information, please browse other
sections of our Immigration
Library.
For more information about attorney's fees,
please click here.
For more information about Road to Green
Card, please click the following topics:
Description
Frequently Asked Questions
and Answers about Road to Green Card
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