FAQ:  What is a Green Card and How Do Get One?

What’s A Green Card and How Do You Get One?

The term “green card” is often mistakenly used to describe any document granting permission to live or work in the United States, including temporary work permits and travel documents. When immigration lawyers talk of a green card, they usually mean evidence of lawful permanent residence, or the status of being a lawful permanent resident. The most common green card document is the Form I-551 registration card, which is not actually green, but was in an earlier version. Lawful permanent residents are also sometimes called legal immigrants; nonimmigrants are authorized to stay here only temporarily.

Green cards are available to immigrants on the basis of qualifying family or employment relationships in the United States, or on the basis of extraordinary credentials, a major investment in a job-producing enterprise, or luck in the visa lottery. Those who qualify as refugees or asylees may also succeed in adjusting to permanent residence. Green cards are not automatically granted upon marriage to a U.S. citizen or hiring by a U.S. company. Rather, the U.S. citizen or company must first have a petition approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once the petition is approved, the immigrant must make his or her own application, either with the USCIS in the United States or with a consular officer abroad. To find out which family relationships qualify, click on Family-Based Immigration.  For employment-based immigrant categories, see Outstanding Researchers and Scientists, Persons of “Extraordinary” or “Exceptional” Ability, and Other Professionals.

In addition, green card applications should not be confused with naturalization applications (applications for U.S. citizenship). Only green card holders can apply for naturalization to U.S. citizenship if they meet certain requirements. Moreover, maintaining green card status carries different requirements from those needed to become eligible to apply for naturalization.

If someone is not eligible for a green card, or if the processing times take too long, there may be a temporary (nonimmigrant) status available. A general overview of temporary statuses is provided in Alphabet Soup. A number of categories of temporary status are covered in detail: H-1B and Other Options for Professionals.