Many people dream of being permanent residents in the United States, and of ensuring that they live the “American Dream,” getting a Green Card would be the answer that gets them one step closer to that dream. But one may wonder, what is a Green Card?
What is a Green Card?
Getting a Green card allows a non-U.S. citizen to gain permanent residence in the United States. People from outside the United States dream of having a green card because it would allow them to live and work almost anywhere in the United States and then qualify for U.S. citizenship after three or five years.
Millions of Green Cards are issued by the U.S. Government every year. The most common method of getting a Green Card is through a Green card petition. This is done when a family member who is a current Green Card Holder and a resident of the U.S. The next category of most number of Green Card applicants would be people from other countries who are offered permanent employment in the U.S.
There are several types of Green Cards, depending on the status and reason of the person being petitioned.
Family-petitioned
Individuals who have a close relative who is already a U.S. citizen and current green card holders are eligible to apply or petition their “alien” relatives—considered as eligible family members include parents, spouses, children, and siblings, as well as the spouses and children of those spouses, adult children, and siblings.
Widows and widowers who were married to a U.S. citizen are also considered under this category as long as they can provide and present documents of marriage and other supporting documents that the USCIS may ask from them.
Unfortunately, extended family members, including aunts, cousins, uncles, and grandparents, do not qualify.
EmploymentÂ
Under this category are individuals who are being offered permanent or long temporary employment opportunities. Under this category include Priority workers (EB-1), Professionals with advanced degrees and exceptional abilities (EB-2 or EB2 Visa), Physicians (EB-2 with a special waiver), Skilled, unskilled, and professional workers (EB-3), Special workers (EB-4), and Investors (EB-5).
Regarding the latter, it is worth noting that, depending on your interests, your options will vary. You will mainly have two options, one of them being the TEAs, which are classified as areas with high unemployment rates in rural zones. Hence, a choice that requires a careful and well-thought-out approach. Among the advantages of rural EB-5 projects is that the minimum amount to be invested is reduced to $800,000, and such applications are often prioritised.
HumanitarianÂ
Refugees are people who have experienced persecution in their home country for various reasons such as religion, ethnicity, race, nationality, political affiliation or opinion or membership in a particular social group and is seeking protection in the U.S. If they choose to apply for a green card, then they can be considered under this category.
In some cases, other or extended family members of refugees and asylees are allowed to be petitioned or file for a Green Card after a year since they have received the refugee or asylee status under the Humanitarian Green Cards, several categories are also included such as human-trafficking victims, crime victims, and abuse victims.
Lottery Green Card
Also known as Diversity Visa Lottery Program, the U.S. government every year randomly selects up to 50,000 people from a pool of entries it receives from six geographic regions, such as Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Countries that have had little immigration to the United States in the past are prioritized by the U.S. Government to diversify the population of the United States.
Some lottery applicants live in their home countries at the time they cast their entries. Others are already living in the United States under a different category type of immigration status.
Long-time Residents
If an individual has been living in the U.S. since January 1, 1972, then they may apply for a Green Card and go through a unique process called “registry.”
The U.S. government issues many other types of green cards, which some are even called “special immigrants,” Special criteria are given to these applicants. Some have qualified because they work for the U.S. Government, but the place of employment would be outside the United States, and one good example of this is personnel working in the Naval Bases outside U.S. Soil.
