What Are Green Cards and How Do They Work?
Living in the United States is a dream for many people around the world. But for that dream to be true, you need a Green Card that holds the authority and the power.
It’s commonly known as the United States Permanent Resident Card. In this article, we are going to cover what is a Green Card, how it works and one of the confusing points that is Green Cards vs Citizenship.
Understanding the What: The Power of a Green Card
What are Green Cards? A Green Card is an identification card that indicates someone has the legal right to live and work in the USA permanently. The holders of the Green Cards are Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR). Being a LPR is the best status to attain if you want to be part of American society but do not plan to become a citizen.
There are considerable benefits to having one of these prized Green Cards. Permanent residents can:
- Live and work in any location in the United States.
- Purchase property and go to school.
- Use certain social welfare benefits and services.
- Sponsor immediate family members for their own Green Cards.
- Be granted the protection of all federal, state, and local laws in the United States.
Importantly, there are several key differences to note in the Green Card vs Citizenship discussion.
Permanent residents have exactly the same rights as the U.S. citizens, but there are some differences. Green Card holders can’t vote in federal elections.
They may also lose their status under various conditions, including a serious criminal conviction and/or travelling outside the U.S. for a long time.
How the Process Works: The Pathways to a Green Card
The Green Card process is a complicated, and competitive, multi-step endeavor with a few main pathways.
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Family Sponsorship: This is among the most common pathways to Green Cards. Citizens of the U.S. and permanent residents are entitled to sponsor certain family members for Green Cards. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents) do not have annual numerical limits, while other family members (e.g., married children, siblings of U.S. citizens) will have a very long wait depending on annual numbers.
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Employment Sponsorship: For those who possess truly valuable professional skills, employment sponsorship allows employers easy sponsorship to foreign nationals for a Green Card. This usually requires the employer to demonstrate that there are not qualified domestic workers in the labor market available for the position. Employment based Green Card sponsorship includes a structure that allows for "priority workers" (with extraordinary abilities), professional positions, skilled positions, and even certain unskilled assistance positions.
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Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (Green Card Lottery): The U.S. government runs a lottery every year to randomly select approx 50,000 (fifty thousand) applicants from various countries with low immigration rates to the U.S. The winners of the lottery have the opportunity to apply for a green card, based on their luck.
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Refugee or Asylee Status: Refugees and asylees in the U.S., who were persecuted in their own countries, may apply for a Green Card one year after they receive refugee or asylee status.
The Responsibilities and Next Steps
A Green Card is not only about rights, but also about responsibilities. For example, permanent residents must obey all U.S. laws, file tax returns on their global income.
Many people may want to pursue citizenship in the U.S. after they acquire their Green Card. The naturalization process typically commences when an individual has possessed a Green Card for five years (or three years if they were married to a U.S. citizen).