Lawful Permanent Resident (“Green Card”) is an immigrant visa that allows an alien to live and work permanently in the United States . Green Card is a permanent status. A Green Card holder can work and travel in and out of the United States . A Green Card may be revoked if the holder commits certain crimes, or it can be abandoned if the holder stays outside the United States for more than a year. A Green Card holder can petition for his/her immediate relatives. A petition by a Green Card holder for spouses and children under 18 years old usually takes at least 3 years Meanwhile, a petition for children over 18 years old takes much longer.
There are different ways to qualify for a Green Card as listed below.
Green Card petition based on:
a) Green Card petition based on marriage to a United States citizen or to a Lawful Permanent Resident
Requirements:
A petitioner must show the existence of bona fide (good faith) marriage (ie. That the marriage was not entered into for purposes of Green Card)
An alien must be admissible (must show a record of lawful entry into the U.S. ; must have no inadmissible criminal convictions; and must pass medical exam or obtain a waiver)
A petitioner must execute Affidavit of Support* on behalf of the alien. (*If the petitioner is not qualified, co-sponsor must provide Affidavit of Support.)
Process:
Green Card petitions based on marriage is filed and processed by the local Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) office. In the case of Seattle BCIS office, it generally takes five to six months to process a Green Card petition based on marriage.
Once the petition is filed, BCIS issues an Employment Authorization (work permit) to the alien and schedules the alien to be fingerprinted about 4 weeks after filing the petition. Once the alien has been fingerprinted, BCIS schedules a Green Card interview within five to six month of filing. We usually meet with our clients just prior to a Green Card interview to prepare them.
At the interview, a BCIS examiner tries to determine whether the marriage was entered in good faith. The examiner generally reviews evidence of co-habitation, such as joint lease, bills, bank statements, auto and health insurance, photos, joint taxes and children born to the marriage, if any. If the examiner approves the petition, a temporary evidence of LPR is issued at the end of the interview. This initial Green Card issued is conditional. Under the condition, the alien must be married to the U.S. citizen spouse for at least two years in order to obtain a permanent Green Card.
Between 18 months but not later than 24 months after the alien obtained conditional resident status, the alien and the petitioner (if still married) must file a Form I-751 (Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence) to remove the condition.
Fee:
BCIS filing fee for a standard adjustment of status case is $745.00. This fee covers I-485, ($315), I-130 ($185), I-765 ($175) and fingerprint fee of $70. Attorney’s fees may vary depending on the complexity of the case. Contact us for more details.
b) Green Card petition based on parent or a child who is a United States citizen
Requirements :
A petitioner must prove his/her U.S. citizenship by providing a U.S. birth certificate or Certificate of Naturalization.
A petitioner must be at least 21 years old at the time of filing.
A petitioner must prove parent/child relationship by providing petitioner’s birth certificate and other relevant vital documents.
For a child of U.S. citizen parent to be considered an immediate relative for visa availability purposes, he/she must be under 21 years old. Otherwise, the visa availability is governed by the preference category it falls under. See Preference Categories for more details.
Process :
- Beneficiary in the United States:
Green Card petitions based on US citizen parent or child is filed and processed by the local Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) office. It generally takes five to six months to process the petition.
Once the petition is filed, BCIS issues an Employment Authorization (work permit) to the alien and schedules the alien to be fingerprinted about 4 weeks after filing the petition. Once the alien has been fingerprinted, BCIS schedules a Green Card interview within five to six month of filing. We usually meet with our clients prior to a Green Card interview to prepare them.
At the interview, a BCIS examiner tries to determine whether the parent/child relationship actually exits and whether the parent/child is admissible (no criminal conviction records, communicable diseases or public charge concerns). A Green Card obtained through U.S. citizen parent/child relationship is permanent once granted. A Green Card may be abandoned or if the alien is ordered to be deported or removed from the U.S. as a result of criminal conviction(s).
- Beneficiary outside the United States:
When an alien (beneficiary) is outside the United States , the Green Card petition is essentially processed by mail with the BCIS Service Centers. The Service Center the petition is file depends on the state of residency of the petitioner. We have experience dealing with Nebraska Service Center , Texas Service Center, and Vermont Service Center. It generally takes a year or less to process the petition when the beneficiary is outside the U.S.
The initial filing of Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) is done with the Service Center having jurisdiction over the petitioner’s U.S. state of residence. It takes the Service Center up to 183 days to adjudicate the initial I-130 petition. Once approved, the I-130 petition is transferred to the National Visa Center (NVC) for visa processing, normally within 5 weeks. The NVC usually issues the petitioner or his/her attorney a visa number for processing, along with the bill for the Affidavit of Support (I-864) fee(s) of $65.00 (per case as noted on the Affidavit of Support bill) and Immigrant Visa application fee(s) of $335.00 (per traveling applicant).
Once the petitioner pays these fees, the NVC forwards a Packet-3, which contains Affidavit of Support (I-864) and Application for Immigrant Visa (DS-230 Part I & II). The forms contained in the Packet-3 need to be filled out by both the alien and the petitioner. The alien is also requested to provide other supporting documents, such as birth certificates, police certificates, passports, marriage certificates, termination of prior marriages, depending on the country.
With respect to the Affidavit of Support, the petitioner is required to provide tax return for the three preceding years and a proof of employment or assets to ensure that the alien (beneficiary) would not become a public charge. The petitioner is required to show income of 125% above poverty guideline depending on his/her household size or support obligation. If the petitioner does not show sufficient income, a co-sponsor may file I-864 on behalf of the alien. To be eligible to file I-864, a co-sponsor must show a proof of lawful immigrant status and meet the income guidelines.
Once all the necessary documents are forwarded to the NVC, it takes at least 2 months for the NVC to complete administrative processing of the immigrant visa application. The alien may be requested to provide additional information if he/she has incomplete or missing documents. After completing the process, the NVC notifies the U.S. Consulate in the alien’s home country to schedule a visa interview. The alien is required to do medical examination at specified clinics in his/her native country in preparation for the interview.
If the interview is satisfactory, the alien is given an authorization to enter the United States within 90 days of issuance and a temporary evidence of LPR upon entry into the United States.
c) Green Card petition based on employment
(a) Based on approved Labor Certification
(b) Based on Special Ability (National Interest Waiver)
(c) Religious Worker with approved I-360 (Petition for Amerasian, Widow or Special Immigrant)
Requirements for (a)(b):
Approved I-140 with current verification of employment
Completed Adjustment Packet (I-485, G-325)
No bars to admissibility, such as criminal record, lawful entry and status, no public change danger, and no public health issues
Requirements for (c):
Approved I-360
Adjustment Packet
No bars to admissibility
d) Green Card petition based on granted asylum
Requirements/Qualifications:
An alien who has been granted asylum in the United States may apply for adjustment of status after a year of asylum being granted.
Process:
The alien applicant must file adjustment of status and provide proof of asylum grant. The alien must meet general requirements of admissibility (no criminal conviction records, communicable diseases or public charge concerns). An applicant for LPR based on asylum may file for derivative petition for family members who are also physically present in the United States . Note: The interview for asylum-based petition is currently taking over 5 years because of backlog of cases.
e) Green Card based on Diversity Visa lottery
Requirements/Qualifications:
An alien in lawful immigration status in the United States may adjust to LPR status upon winning the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery. The DV adjustment in the United States while an alien is in the United States is highly technical. We therefore recommend that the alien consult an immigration attorney prior to filing. The reason is that the alien’s ability to adjust may depend on whether the alien’s winning number is “low enough” to enable the alien to secure a visa. Furthermore, there are intermediate steps the alien must take in order to secure the visa number. Finally, whether the alien can adjust status depends on the alien’s lawful status at the time of adjustment. Call us for additional information regarding DV adjustment.
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