Green Card
You may be a person who has just come to the United States. The United States government refers to you as a foreign citizen or national. Your desire is to stay in the United States. You want to make this country your home. The United States is where you want to work and live your life.
What do you have to do in order to have your permanent residency here in the United States? What steps do you have to take? What process do you have to go through?
This depends on what your ultimate goal and desire is. If you want to become a legal immigrant who can live in the United States for the rest of your life, there is an immigration process that you have to go through. If your goal is to become a United States citizen, there are requirements that you must meet and a citizenship process for you to complete. This process of becoming a United States citizen is called naturalization.
No matter what your ultimate goal is, the first step to permanently staying in the United States is to become what the government refers to as a “lawful permanent resident.” In order to do this, you have to obtain a United States Permanent Resident Card. This is commonly referred to as a “green card.”
A green card is an identification card. A green card attests to the fact that you have permanent resident status as an alien or foreign national here in the United States. The term “green card” can also refer to the immigration process of becoming a permanent resident.
Your green card serves as proof that you, a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), have been officially granted immigration benefits. These benefits include permission to reside and find employment in the United States.
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As holder of a green card, you have to maintain permanent resident status. You can also be deported from the United States if certain conditions of this status are not met.
If you do not have a green card this is the first thing that you have to do to stay in the United States. Obtaining a green card is essential to you remaining in this country.
You may say, “How do I get a green card? What do I have to do? What are the requirements for getting a green card?
Green cards used to be issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). That agency has been absorbed into and replaced by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS). This agency is a part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Shortly after the re-organization of the BCIS, it was re-named to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This is who you will get your green card from.
There are two major paths for getting a green card. They are through employment or a family that is a citizen of the United States.
There are four categories of workers that qualify for a green card. Advanced college degrees are especially helpful here. These categories are:
- Priority workers – These are people with high achievements in the fields of sciences, education, arts, business or athletics. This category includes noted researchers or professors. Executives and managers are also in this category. These people may have been transferred internationally by the company for which they work.
- People with exceptional abilities or advanced degrees – These are people with a degree that is higher than a bachelor’s degree. Doctors who will agree to do their practice in under-served areas of the United States are in this category.
- Professional or skilled workers – This category includes people with either two-years training in a skill, unskilled workers or those with a bachelor’s degree.
- Special immigrants – This category includes people who work or used to work for the United States government and religious workers.
You can complete the necessary paperwork for a green card after you verify your eligibility under one of these categories. You must have a job first, because your employer is the one who has to petition on your behalf.
The other major path to a green card is through a family member. Usually, your family member has to be a citizen, and prove that they can support you at 125% of the national poverty line. If they are a citizen, they can petition for residency for: their child, married or unmarried, under or over age 21; spouse; sibling, if the sponsor is at least 21 years old; or their parent, if the sponsor is at least 21 years old. If your relative has United States Permanent Residency, they can petition for residency for only their unmarried child, or spouse.
There are two important permits that you can get while waiting for your green card application to be approved. The first is a temporary work permit known as the Employment Authorization Document (EAD). This allows you to be employed in the United States. The second is a temporary travel document, advance parole, which allows you to re-enter the United States.
You or a relative may be trying to acquire a green card. If you or your relative is having difficulties and problems, you may need help of a legal professional.
A skilled immigration attorney may be able to help you or your relative overcome these difficulties and problems. He or she may be able to simplify and avoid delays in the process of obtaining a green card.
One of the reasons that you or your relative may need an immigration attorney is that immigration law is broad and complex. It is also ever changing.
An immigration attorney is one who specializes in immigration law. They specialize in cases and issues involving obtaining green cards, immigration, citizenship and naturalization. They keep up with the updates and changes to immigration law.
usimmigrationlawyer.com is the Web site where you or your relative will find a good immigration attorney that you can count and rely on. The proven immigration attorney at usimmigrationlawyer.com can help and guide you or your relative with any problems or difficulties that you are having in getting a green card.
Do not put this off. Do not delay. This is a matter of vial importance to you or your relative. It can affect you or your relative for the rest of their life. Contact the caring immigration attorney at usimmigrationlawyer.com, today.