Immigration Laws

Most people don’t realize that there is several ways to get a green card. Green cards are granted for permanent residency in the United States for people that meet certain conditions. A citizen of the United States can sponsor various family members to enable them to get a green card. A husband or wife can sponsor their spouse, an unmarried child or a married child. If the sponsor is over 21 years of age they can also sponsor their brothers, sisters, or parents also. Permanent residents of the United States can only sponsor their spouse or unmarried children. There are also green cards issued through employers, a green card lottery that issues 50,000 green cards to people that have signed up for the lottery, and there are green cards issued to people on conditions of Asylum.

The first step to getting your green card is to have your sponsor file a petition on your behalf. You will also need to file a copy of the petition. The petition is a form called Form I-130 and it need to be filled out completely along with Form G-325A which is Biographic Information Immigration Form. Make sure that you include 2 color photographs with your copy of the application. Make sure that you follow all the procedures and rules for getting a green card. Making a mistake can cause you to start the process from the beginning. Getting a green card is not a quick operation, the backlog of green cards and visas is quite large. While there are companies that help people file their papers for their green cards, individuals can file on their own.

After the petition has been filed with the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) it will be either approved or denied. If it is denied then the process will have to be re-started with the corrections that have to be made corrected. Sometimes the first step in getting a green card is to get a immigrant visa number from the State Department. Even though the USCIS approves the application it doesn’t mean the applicant will get a number right away. Current laws limit the yearly immigrant visa numbers issued per year some applicants have to wait for an extended period of time before they get their number.

After the immigrant visa number is finally issued, the applicant must either apply with USCIS if they are living in the United States for an adjustment of status to obtain permanent resident status. If the applicant is living outside the United States they will have to go to the US Consulate in their country to apply for an immigrant visa before entering the United States. While the road to getting your green card is not a fast one, it is one well worth taking.