Green Card (Permanent Residency) Basics

Permanent residence enables you and your immediate family to live and work in the United States for the rest of your lives. Most people obtain green cards by being sponsored by their employers or their relatives. Other people obtain permanent residence through the green card lottery, through asylum and through various other means.The main ways to obtain a green card are:

	through marriage
	through employment
	through family based immigration
	through investment
	green card lottery
	special categories of immigrants (physicians, religious workers, international adoptions etc.)

Green Card Through Marriage

Each year, over 160,000 citizens of the United States marry foreign-born persons and petition for them to obtain permanent residence in the U.S. Spouses of U.S. citizens are considered "immediate relatives" under the immigration laws, and are exempt from all numerical quota limitations. In other words, marriage to a U.S. citizen is the fast lane to a green card.

Green Card Through Employment

H1B holders are eligible to obtain permanent residency (green card) through employment. H1B is a temporary work VISA which will allow foreign nationals to work in USA for the period of 6 years. During this six year period, they can process their green card and become a permanent resident. The permanent residency process (or green card) is a multi step process and may take 2-5 years depending upon the category and INS processing speed.

Step - 1 Labor certification

The U.S. employer completes a labor certification request (Form ETA 750) for the applicant and submits it to the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.

Step - 2 Immigrant VISA petition (I-140)

A fter the certification is granted, the employer wishing to bring the applicant to the United States to work permanently, files a petition in step 2. INS must approve the immigrant visa petition, Form I-140, Petition for Alien Worker, for the person wishing to immigrate to the United States. The employer acts as the sponsor (or petitioner) for the applicant (or beneficiary) who wants to live and work on a permanent basis in the United States.

Step - 3 Adjust to permanent resident status (I-485)

If the applicant is already in the United States, he or she must apply (I-485) to adjust to permanent resident status after a visa number becomes available. If the applicant is outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available, he or she will be notified and must complete the process at his or her local U.S. consulate office.

Family Based Immigration

To be eligible for lawful permanent residence based on a family relationship you must meet the following criteria:

	You must have a relative who is a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States, who is willing to sponsor you for lawful permanent residency.
	Your relative must prove they can support you by providing documentation that their income is 125% above the mandated poverty line for their family, including you and all other sponsored family members.
	If your relative is a US Citizen and they legally have to prove you share one of the following relationships:
		Husband or wife
		Unmarried son or daughter over 21
		Child under 21 years old
		Married son or daughter of any age
		Brother or sister if you are at least 21 years old
		Parents if you are at least 21 years old
	If your relative is a lawful permanent resident they legally have to prove you share one of the following relationships:
		Husband or wife
		Unmarried son or daughter of any age

Green Card Through Investment

In order to qualify as an immigrant investor, the individual must invest at least $1 million in a new commercial enterprise, which employs at least 10 U.S. citizens (excluding the individual, her/his spouse and children). If the investment is made either in a rural area or an area experiencing high unemployment, the minimum investment may be reduced to $500,000, but this latter option has a restricted quota of 3,000 investor visas out of a total of 10,000 investor visas each fiscal year.

Due to the limited number of people applying under this category the INS has issued regulations allowing for a more subjective and a less literal reading of the law. However, due to fraud concerns, there is a two year conditional status accorded to such investors, similar to the conditional status of spouses of U.S. citizens.

Green Card Lottery

This program makes available by random selection of 55,000 permanent residence visas (green cards) to people from around the world. The objective of the program is to issue Green Cards to individuals born in countries with historically low levels of immigration to the United States. More informationon on qualification requirements, eligibility and process can be found here.