VisaProAdviserVisas, migration and life abroad
Routes to a US green card through family, employment, the DV lottery or talent: I-130 and I-485, EB-1A and EB-2 NIW petitions, the I-864 and Visa Bulletin.
114 articles tagged Green Card
Did DMV auto-register you to vote as a noncitizen? This can count as a false claim to U.S. citizenship and permanently bar a green card. Steps to fix it.
Entry fee is $1, photo must be 600×600 px and under 6 months old, birthdate goes month-day-year. A field-by-field walkthrough of the DV-2027 entry form.
An F-1 student who married a US citizen and filed for a green card must notify the school before leaving the program. Otherwise, SEVIS will close without explanation.
A 212(e) stamp on a J-1 visa is only a consular officer's preliminary guess. Learn who it actually binds, what it blocks, and how to get a Department of State ruling.
How the new Public Charge rule affects status changes in the US, what questions officers ask at interviews, and how to prepare documents.
Your I-140 is approved, but visa bulletin backlogs mean a long wait ahead. Here are the documents, deadlines, and decisions that can reset years of waiting.
A green card (Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551) lets a person live and work in the US permanently and later apply for citizenship. The main routes are family petitions (Form I-130), employment categories EB-1 to EB-5, the Diversity Visa lottery, and adjustment after asylum or refugee status.
Someone lawfully in the US can often adjust status without leaving by filing Form I-485; everyone else goes through a consulate. The monthly Visa Bulletin shows how long each category and country waits for a number.
A standard green card is valid for ten years, while a conditional card based on a marriage of less than two years lasts two years and requires removing conditions with Form I-751. Permanent residents must keep the US as their home, and long trips abroad can be treated as abandonment of status. For absences of more than a year, a re-entry permit should be requested in advance with Form I-131. Family and employment categories are subject to annual limits, so for many applicants the real obstacle is the queue rather than eligibility.