Getting a US green card without an employer sponsor and without million-dollar investments is possible through four mechanisms: self-petition for extraordinary ability (EB-1A), waiver from labor certification in the national interest (EB-2 NIW), family-based immigration, or green card lottery. There is no universal easy way — the price is always either proof of professional excellence, waiting time, or pure chance.
Self-Petition for Extraordinary Ability (EB-1A)
The main advantage of this path is full self-petition: the applicant files a petition for themselves without an employer, labor certification, or million-dollar investments. Payment comes not in money but in proof of professional excellence.
You don’t need to be a Nobel Prize laureate or a world-class celebrity. You must prove that the applicant is among the best in their field and recognized far beyond their own company. To do this, you need to meet at least 3 of 10 official criteria: professional awards, publications about the applicant’s work, participation on panels or juries, authorship of significant articles, high salary or substantial contribution to the field — whether IT, medicine, business, science, or the arts.
Meeting three criteria is only the first step. Next, an officer reviews all evidence together and decides whether the applicant truly ranks among the best in their field.
National Interest in the United States (EB-2 NIW)
If the EB-1A threshold seems too high, there’s another path without an employer — EB-2 NIW, which stands for a waiver from labor certification in the national interest of the United States. This is also completely self-petition, and you don’t need to prove “extraordinary ability.”
First, you must meet EB-2 category requirements: have a master’s degree, or a bachelor’s degree and five years of experience, or exceptional ability. Then pass what’s known as the Dhanasar test, which requires proving three things: the applicant’s enterprise or professional activities have significant value and national importance to the United States; the applicant personally has sufficient qualifications, experience, and a plan to implement the project; and finally, it would benefit the United States to waive the requirement for an employer and labor certification for this applicant.
Ultimately, you need a clear plan: what the applicant will do in the United States and why it benefits the country.
Family-Based Immigration
If not relying on profession, there’s an immigration option through family ties. This path may seem the simplest, but its price is time.
US citizens can sponsor a husband or wife, minor and adult children, parents, and siblings. To petition for parents, siblings, a citizen must be at least 21 years old. Green card holders can only petition for a spouse and unmarried children.
The main trap is the visa bulletin and waiting lists. For immediate relatives of US citizens, there are no queues: timelines depend only on case processing. For other categories, you’ll wait for years: for example, in October 2026, siblings of US citizens from most countries faced approximately 15-year wait times. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and nieces cannot file family petitions — no such category exists.
Green Card Lottery
The simplest option in terms of requirements but with the lowest odds — the green card lottery. It requires neither an employer nor relatives: a high school diploma or two years of experience in a skilled profession is sufficient.
Winning is pure chance, and the odds are small. So consider the lottery as a nice bonus, not your main immigration plan. It’s typically held annually, but registration for DV-2027 has not yet opened.
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