What is the process to get a green card?-how do I get one?

Question

I don't know anyone in the states, I'm from Canada... however my great grandparents were born there, does that matter? What should I do?

Answer 1

A United States Permanent Resident Card, known popularly as a Green Card, is an identification card for a lawful permanent resident (LPR) of the United States of America who does not have U.S. citizenship. It is proof that the holder has permission to permanently reside and take employment in the U.S. Its former official title was Alien Registration Receipt Card, and it is now officially called a Permanent Resident Card, also referred to as form I-551.

The name "green card" comes from the fact that the predecessor form, I-151, introduced at the end of World War II, was printed on green paper. Form I-551 was adopted in 1977 and has been printed on paper of various colors, none of which were green, but the term "green card" has nonetheless remained in use. As of 2006, the card is mostly yellowish-white and the only prominent green feature is the background of the lettering on the back. A card includes the holder's name and photograph, and other information, and has been updated over the years with numerous anti-counterfeiting devices.

The card must be in the possession of the U.S. permanent resident at all times. This means the U.S. permanent resident must have a currently valid card on their person at all times, to show to a USCIS officer, if requested. One interesting aspect of American law is that permanent residents are required to carry identification cards, but citizens are not. This is because citizens are entitled to more constitutional rights than permanent residents, who are still classified as aliens. Before Sept. 11, 2001, while status was checked when one returned from foreign travel, the requirement to carry the green card was practically never enforced when the resident was traveling domestically. After Sep 11, 2001, officials from the US Department of Homeland Security began to occasionally ask people if they were US citizens or not, and in the latter case require that the person present their Permanent Resident Card or other proof of legal status.

Green cards were formerly issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). That agency has been absorbed into and replaced by the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), in the Department of Homeland Security.

If an immigrant wants to work while his application for a green card is pending, an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is needed.


Application process
An immigrant usually has to go through a three-step process to get the green card, which entitles him/her to live and work permanently in the United States. The whole process may take several years depending on the type of application and the country of origin.

In the first step, USCIS approves the immigrant petition by a qualifying relative, an employer, or in rare cases such as with an investor visa, the applicant. If a sibling is applying, it must be a nuclear relative with the same parents as the applicant.

Second, unless the applicant is an "immediate relative", an immigrant visa number through the State Department must be available. This number might not be immediately available even if the USCIS approves the petition because the amount of immigrant visa numbers is limited every year. There are also certain additional limitations by country. Thus, most immigrants will be placed on lengthy waiting lists. Those immigrants who are immediate relatives are not subjected to the limited quotas of immigrant visas and may proceed to the next step immediately. Immediate relatives are defined as spouses and children under 21 of U.S. citizens, and parents of a U.S. citizen who is 21 or over.

Finally, when an immigrant visa number is available, the applicant must apply with USCIS to adjust their current status to permanent resident status. If the applicant is outside the U.S., he/she has to apply for an immigrant visa at the nearest U.S. consulate before being allowed to come to the U.S.

Category Eligibility # available per year Immigrant visa backloga
FAMILY SPONSORED
IR Immediate relative (spouses, minor children & parents) of US citizens
(A US citizen must be at least 21 years of age in order to sponsor his or her parents.) No numerical limitb
F1 Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years of age or older) of US citizens 23,400 6-7 years
F2A Spouses and minor children (under 21 year old) of lawful permanent residents 87,934 5-6 years
F2B Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years of age or older) of lawful permanent residents 26,266 9-10 years
F3 Married sons and daughters of US citizens 23,400 8-9 years
F4 Brothers and sisters of adult US citizens 65,000 10-11 years
EMPLOYMENT BASED
EB1 Priority workers -- persons with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or outstanding professors and researchers 40,000 Currently available
EB2 Professionals holding advanced degrees (Ph.D., master's degree, or at least 5 years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience) or persons of exceptional ability in sciences, arts, or business 40,000 Currently available
EB3 Skilled workers, professionals, and other workers 40,000 4-5 years
EB4 Certain special immigrants -- ministers, religious workers, current or former US government workers, etc. 10,000 Currently available
EB5 Investors 10,000 Currently available
DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) 55,000
POLITICAL ASYLUM[1] No numerical limit
REFUGEE[1] 70,000[2]
a Individuals from China (mainland), India, Mexico and Philippines are subject to per-country quotas. See the US State Department's Visa Bulletins.
b 300,000-500,000 immediate relatives admitted annually.


[edit] Application process via employment
Many immigrants opt for this route, which requires an employer to sponsor the immigrant (known as the 'alien beneficiary') through a hypothetical future job. The three step process outlined above is described in more detail here for immigrants sponsored via employment. After the process is complete, the alien is expected to take the certified job offered by the employer to substantiate his or her immigrant status, since the application ultimately rests on the alien's employment with that company in that particular position.

Labor certification. The employer must legally 'prove' that it has a need to hire for a specific position and that there are no qualified U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident available to fill that position, hence the reason for hiring the alien. Some of the requirements to prove this situation include proof of advertising for the specific position, skill requirements that are particular to the job, verification of the prevailing wage for a position, and the employer's ability to pay.

As of March 28, 2005, this is currently done through an electronic system known as PERM.[3] In some cases, for highly skilled foreign nationals (EB1 and EB2 National Interest Waiver, e.g. researchers, athletes, artists or business executives) and "Schedule A" labor[4] (nurses and physical therapists), this step is waived. This step is processed by the US Department of Labor.

After the labor certification, the alien has a choice to finalize the green card via consular processing or adjustment of status. Both require the immigrant visa to be available in the second step. The USCIS does not allow an alien to pursue consular processing and adjustment of status simultaneously.

Immigrant visa petition. The employer applies on the alien's behalf to obtain a visa number (described above). The application is called the I-140 form and is processed by the USCIS. Like family-based immigration, there are several categories [5] (EB, for 'employment-based') under which the alien may apply, with progressively stricter requirements, but often shorter waiting times. Many of the applications are processed under the EB3 category.[6] Currently, this process takes up to 6 months. Under many of the categories, the premium processing of this stage has also been started which allows this stage to be expedited.

Adjustment of Status. After the alien has been certified via the labor process and has been provisionally allocated a visa number, the final step is to change his or her status to permanent residency. The USCIS conducts a series of background checks, including fingerprinting and name checks, and finally mails the green card to the alien. The form submitted to the USCIS is called the I-485. If an immigrant visa number is available, the USCIS will accept the I-140 and the I-485 application submitted in the same package (or accept the I-485 even before the approval of I-140). This is known as concurrent filing.[7]

Consular Processing. This is an alternative to adjustment of status, but still requires the immigrant visa petition to be completed. The alien makes an appointment at a consulate in his or her home country, where a consular officer adjudicates the case. If the case is approved, the alien gains permanent resident status on the spot. In the past (pre-2005), this process was somewhat faster than applying for adjustment of status, so was sometimes used to circumvent long backlogs of over 2 years in some cases. However, due to recent efficiency improvements by the USCIS, it is not clear whether applying via consular processing is faster than the regular adjustment of status process. Consular processing is also thought to be riskier since there is no or little recourse for appeal if the officer denies the application. An analysis of the options can be found at a web site.[8]

Consular Processing vs Adjustment of Status[9]


[edit] Green card holders and nuclear families
Legal permanent residents (LPR) married to foreigners are unable to legally bring their spouses (and families) to join them in the U.S. The foreign spouse of a U.S. Green Card holder must wait for approval of an 'immigrant visa' from the State Department before entering the U.S. Due to a backlog in processing, such visas can take up to five years to be approved. In the interim, the spouse cannot enter the United States on any other visas or as a visitor. LPRs are in a uniquely disadvantaged situation:

Visitors and non-immigrants coming to the U.S. on temporary visas for work, business or studies (including on H1, L1, B, and F1 visas) can sponsor their dependent spouses to travel along with them.
American citizens can sponsor their spouses to come to the U.S. in non-immigrant status and then convert to an immigrant status under the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act (the "LIFE Act")
The issue of Lawful Permanent Residents separated from their families for years is not a new problem. A mechanism to unite families of LPRs was created by the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act of 2000 (the LIFE Act) by the introduction of a 'V visa,' signed into law by President Bush. It effectively expired and is no longer available.

Bills HR1823 and HR4448 are currently in the U.S. Congress. The proposal for reviving the visa is based on something that has little controversy - family unity - but passing such a bill into law is not a small matter.


[edit] Green Card Lottery
Each year, around 50,000 immigrant visas are made available through a lottery to people who were born in countries with low rates of immigration to the United States (fewer than 50,000 immigrants in the past five years). Applicants can only qualify by country of birth, not by citizenship. Anyone who is selected under this lottery will be given the opportunity to apply for permanent residence. They can also file for their spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21. If permanent residence is granted, the winner (and his/her family, if applicable) will receive an immigrant visa in their passport(s), which has to be "activated" within six months of issuing at any port of entry to the United States. The new immigrant will receive a stamp on the visa as proof of lawful admittance to the United States, and the individual will be authorized to live and work permanently in the US. Finally, the actual "greencard" will typically arrive by mail within a few months.


[edit] Green Card Lottery Scam
There is a growing number of fraudulent green card lottery scams, in which agents take money from applicants by submitting application forms for them, usually for a fee between US$50 to US$250. Some claim that they can increase the chance of winning the lottery. This is not true - in fact, they may even delay the application or not submit the application at all. Likewise, some claim that they will provide free airline ticket to winners or other benefits such as multiple years submissions in future year. However, there is no way to guarantee their claims; actually, there are ample reasons for them not to fulfil their promises.

Both the Department of State and the Federal Trade Commission have issued warning statements about this type of fraud or similar business practices.[10][11]


[edit] Maintaining permanent resident status
It must be noted that under certain conditions, permanent residence status can be lost. This includes committing a criminal act that makes a person removable from the United States. A person might also be found to have abandoned their status if he or she moves to another country to live there permanently, stays outside the US for more than 365 days (without obtaining a re-entry permit prior to leaving), or does not file income tax.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Permanent_Resident_Card

Fares Al-sagri

Answer 2

It doesn't make a difference if your great-grandparents were born here. You will have to apply with Immigration. They need to verify all your information and health. I think you also need to take a test. You could probably just call any immigration office and they will send you more information.

Answer 3

Please, do not make a donkey rear end of your self its for sure that your husband is out for himself and the golf green card. Its appropriate there on your face! He exchange into messing around on you to used it later to break up with you as quickly as he had maintain his green card. He could have informed you relating to the baby himself and the you that he does not love you. this could harm you undesirable sufficient to report for divorce. And he's abode unfastened along with his green card in hand. you would be able to love the guy yet his action is so sparkling that he rather do not love you in any respect. Please woman, think of roughly this for a 2d. while the two considered one of you adjust into separated, who reason the combat to convey this approximately? Why for a year and a a million/2 earlier he teach returned up at your door step? If he rather love you, the two considered one of you could have paintings out the priority. and not chop up up for 18 months, that sound very fishy in my e book. yet another element, your love for him saved you from snoozing around on him, appropriate? Why, did not his love avert him to sleep around on you, huh? He merely utilising you and that's the final analysis. shop your self the issues and the drama with him. give up the paper paintings for his green card ASAP and checklist him to the INS. enable them to be responsive to the he exchange into utilising you to get a green card. on the grounds it is the only element he choose is that green card. Sorry which you had to bypass via this kinda mess. shop your head up and sturdy success....

Answer 4

Marry a US Citizen,

Answer 5

Go personally to the US Embassy to inquire about it to let you satisfy what you wanted to know