US Immigration Laws: Who Qualifies for a Green Card? (Permanent Visa)
How to Get a Green Card
Getting a green card is not an easy process. First, in most cases you must have a sponsor in the United States, usually a U.S. relative or employer who is willing to help. And you have to be able to convince the U.S. government that you are eligible under one of the ten categories available for permanent residence (see categories below).
After your sponsor starts the application process, you must apply for an immigrant visa (green card) at the embassy or consulate in the country where you live. (For more information, see Applying for a Visa Abroad: U.S. Embassies and Consulates.) If you are already in the United States, you may be allowed to stay there to apply directly for a green card, but usually only if you are there on a valid, unexpired visa. (For more information, see Filing Immigration Paperwork If You're Already in the U.S.)
The embassy or consulate will review your green card application, making sure you do not fall into any category of people who are excluded from the United States, which is called being "inadmissible."
If your application is approved, you will then get an immigrant visa stamped into your passport. You must enter the United States within six months to claim your green card.
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Categories That Qualify for Green Cards
The law provides strict categories for permanent residence (listed below). You must fit into one of those categories to be eligible for a green card. There are often numerical limits ("quotas") within categories, and certain categories are given higher preference than others. This leads to long waits for certain people, because the demand for green cards is always higher than the annual limits.
1. Immediate Relatives of U.S. Citizens
Immediate relatives are defined as:
spouses of U.S. citizens, including recent widows and widowers
unmarried people under the age of 21 who have at least one U.S. citizen parent
parents of U.S. citizens, if the U.S. citizen child is at least age 21
stepchildren and stepparents of U.S. citizens, if the marriage creating the stepparent/stepchild relationship took place before the child's 18th birthday, and
parents and children of U.S. citizens related through adoption, if the adoption took place before the child reached the age of 16.
There is no quota limit on the number of green cards that can be issued to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens -- if you apply for one, you will get a green card as soon as you can get through the paperwork and application process.
2. Other Family Members
Certain family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents are also eligible for green cards -- but not right away. The law defines the people listed below as falling into "preference categories," meaning that only a certain number of them will receive green cards each year (a total of 480,000). The system is first come, first served -- the earlier the U.S. citizen or permanent resident turns in the visa petition that starts the process, the sooner the immigrant will be eligible to turn in a green card application and get a green card. The waits range from approximately three to 23 years. Here are the subcategories of eligible preference relatives:
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Who Qualifies for a Green Card (Permanent Visa)
Family First Preference. Unmarried adults, age 21 or older, who have at least one U.S. citizen parent.
Family Second Preference. Section 2A: Spouses and unmarried children of a green card holder, so long as the children are younger than age 21. Section 2B: Unmarried children age 21 or older of a green card holder.
Family Third Preference. Married people, any age, who have at least one U.S. citizen parent.
Family Fourth Preference. Sisters and brothers of U.S. citizens, where the citizen is age 21 or older.
3. Preferred Employees and Workers
A total of 140,000 green cards are offered each year to people who have job skills that are needed in U.S. market. In most cases, a job offer is also required, and the employer must prove that they've recruited for the job and not found any willing, able, qualified U.S. citizens or residents to hire instead of the immigrant.
Because of the annual limits, this is called a "preference category," meaning that if more people apply in a year than there are green cards available, the government will, in effect, put the remaining names on a waiting list. As with family preference categories, the system is first come, first served -- and the waits can be years long. Here are the subcategories:
Employment First Preference. Priority workers, including the following three groups:
persons of extraordinary ability in the arts, the sciences, education, business, or athletics
outstanding professors and researchers, and
managers and executives of multinational companies.
Employment Second Preference. Professionals with advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
Employment Third Preference. Professionals and skilled or unskilled workers.
Employment Fourth Preference. Religious workers and various miscellaneous categories of workers and other "special immigrants."
Employment Fifth Preference. Individual investors willing to invest $1 million in a U.S. business -- or $500,000 if the business is in an economically depressed area. The investor must also employ at least ten workers.
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Who Qualifies for a Green Card (Permanent Visa)
4. Green Card Lotteries: Ethnic Diversity
A certain number of green cards are made available to people from countries that in recent years have sent the fewest immigrants to the United States. Applicants must also meet certain educational and financial criteria. The total number of green cards offered in this category is currently 50,000. The purpose of this program is to ensure a varied ethnic mix among those who immigrate to America. The method used for distributing these green cards is a random selection by computer, so the program is popularly known as the green card, or visa, lottery.
5. Special Immigrants
Occasionally, laws are passed making green cards available to people in special situations. The current special immigrant categories are:
clergy and other religious workers for legitimate religious organizations
foreign medical graduates who have been in the United States since 1978
former employees of the Panama Canal Zone
foreign workers who were formerly longtime employees of the U.S. government
retired officers or employees of certain international organizations who have lived in the United States for a certain time
foreign workers who have been employees of the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong for at least three years
foreign children who have been declared dependent in juvenile courts in the United States, and
international broadcasting employees.
6. Refuge and Political Asylum
The U.S. government offers refuge to people who fear, or have experienced, persecution in their home country. A person still outside the United States would apply to be a refugee; a person already in the United States would apply for political asylum. The qualifications for refugee status and political asylum are similar.
The persecution must be based on the person's race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. If you are fleeing only poverty or random violence, you do not qualify in either category.
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Who Qualifies for a Green Card (Permanent Visa)
The number of refugees allowed into the United States each year is established by the U.S. president. There is no limit on the number who can receive political asylum, except that only 1,000 immigrants will be accepted whose asylum claim was based on opposition to coercive family planning practices (most of the applicants in this category come from China).
If you don't qualify for asylum, you may at least get temporary protection (Temporary Protected Status, or TPS). The U.S. government sometimes decides to give citizens of certain countries temporary safe haven in the United States when conditions in their homeland become dangerous. This is called Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS is similar to political asylum, except that it is always temporary and will never by itself qualify you for a green card. To find out who is eligible for TPS, visit the website of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly called the INS) at http://www.uscis.gov. Click on Immigration Services and Benefits, then on Temporary Protected Status.
7. Amnesty
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) gave amnesty to aliens who had been living in the United States illegally since January 1, 1982, by making green cards available to them. The deadline for filing applications was May 4, 1988. However, the "LIFE" Act created new opportunities for certain applicants whose cases have not yet been decided, and who were members of the "CSS," "LULAC," or "Zambrano" class action lawsuits. If you believe you may still be eligible for amnesty, check with an immigration attorney immediately.
Congress added an amnesty for Nicaraguan and Cuban nationals in a 1997 bill called the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA). Some provisions also benefit Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Eastern Europeans. The deadline for filing applications has passed, but check with an immigration attorney to see whether new opportunities have arisen.
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Who Qualifies for a Green Card (Permanent Visa)
8. Special Agricultural Workers
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 also contained an amnesty green card opportunity for agricultural laborers who worked in the fields for at least 90 days between May 1, 1985 and May 1, 1986. The filing deadline for these temporary residency applications was November 30, 1988. However, late applications may be accepted under very rare circumstances. Check with an immigration attorney if you think you are eligible in this category.
9. Long-Term Residents
The law allows certain people who have lived illegally in the United States for more than ten years to request permanent legal residence, usually as a defense against efforts to deport you. Reaching ten years is not enough by itself -- you must also show that your spouse or children -- who must be U.S. citizens -- would face "extraordinary and exceptionally unusual hardship" if you were forced to leave the country.
If you believe that you meet this requirement, you should consult a lawyer before going to USCIS to make an application. If you don't fall clearly into this category, you may cause your own deportation by making yourself known to the authorities. In fact, this remedy is realistically available only to persons already in immigration court proceedings. USCIS has no obligation to act on any other application, and the application may sit in its files for years -- or until the law changes against you.
An alternate remedy called "registry" allows people who have lived in the United States continuously since January 1, 1972 to apply for a green card. To qualify, you'll need to show that you have good moral character and are not inadmissible. Your stay in the United States need not have been illegal -- time spent on a visa counts as well.
10. Special Cases
Individual members of the U.S. Congress have, on occasion, intervened for humanitarian reasons in extraordinary cases, helping an individual to get permanent residence even if the law would not allow it.
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Who Qualifies for a Green Card (Permanent Visa)
Resources for Applying for a Green Card
Nolo offers the following books that explain the green card process in detail:
How to Get a Green Card: Legal Ways to Stay in the USA, by attorney Loida Nicolas Lewis
Fiancé & Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration, by attorney Ilona Bray
U.S. Immigration Made Easy, by attorneys Laurence A. Canter and Martha S. Siegel.