Who Can Apply for a Green Card?

Applying for a Green Card

When an immigrant would like to have permanent resident status in the United States, they must apply for a green card. This can ensure that the U.S. government gives you the right to enter, work, exit, move around in, and live in the U.S. for your whole life. Once you have a green card, you can apply for U.S. citizenship. However, it is not as simple as applying for a green card, getting it, and moving on to apply for U.S. citizenship. Below, you will find more information on how to determine if you are eligible for a green card as well as factors that may make this process harder for you. To speak with an immigration attorney who can help you as you apply for your green card, please reach out to compassionate attorneys today.

Who qualifies for a green card?

There are many different factors in determining whether you do or do not qualify for a green card.

1. Do you have immediate family members that are U.S. citizens? If you have immediate relatives who are U.S. citizens, this can help bump you to the top of the list when the government is determining who qualifies for a green card. An “immediate family member” can be:

  • A spouse of a U.S. citizen, including a recent widow or widower as well as same–sex spouses.
  • An unmarried child who is under the age of 21 who has one parent who is a U.S. citizen.
  • Stepchildren or stepparents of U.S. citizens.
  • Parents of U.S. citizens if the child is over the age of 21.
  • Adopted children if their parents are permanent residents or if they are U.S. citizens.

2. Do you have other family members who are U.S. citizens? Access to getting a green card is not just restricted to those who are immediate family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents. In this case, they are not as high on the list as an immediate family member and their eligibility is also based on a first-come, first-served basis. Some of these categories include:

  • Brothers or sisters of a U.S. citizen who is over 21 years old.
  • A married person of any age who has one U.S. parent.
  • Spouse or children under 21 years of age of a green cardholder.

3. What about people applying for jobs? The government offers over 100,000 green cards every year to immigrants who are joining the U.S. workforce. For this opportunity, the immigrant must typically have an employer offer a job and the employer must show that they could not find a more suitable candidate in the U.S.

4.  What about green card lotteries? It is also possible for you to win a green card through the green card lotteries.

If you have any more questions regarding what it takes to get a green card or what the process might be for becoming a U.S. resident, do not hesitate to reach out to a law firm today to speak with a compassionate immigration attorney, like an immigration attorney in DC from The Federal Practice Group, who can help you with your case.