Permanent resident :
A green card is a proof of lawful permanent resident status in the US. Having a green card is a proof of being officially granted immigration benefits to live and work in the United States legally.
There are different ways to get a green card. You can be sponsored by your family members for a green card. You can get one through employment. Here the sponsorer is the US company that decides to employ you. You also have the Diversity Visa lottery program. You can be one among the 55,000 lucky persons to get a green card through this program which is held every year. But you should be luckier enough to be a native of a qualifying country as not all countries are eligible to participate. If you were granted Refugee Status or Asylum, there is good news, you too can apply for a green card. Like there are many ways to get a green card, the process and procedures vary too.
You can get a green card either while you are in the US or outside the US. If you get one while being outside the US or when you are ineligible to adjust status, it is called Consular Processing. Whereas if you are already in the US and are eligible to apply for a green card based on being sponsored by an employer or family member or based on holding asylee or refugee status, you can file an application to adjust status to permanent resident using Form I 485 green card application.
If you are currently in the U.S. and have an approved immigrant petition, you will be eligible to file an application to adjust status to a permanent resident of the US. Unless you are applying in a category for which visa numbers are always available, you must have a “current” Priority Date in order to be eligible to file. If you are applying based on your relationship with a U.S. citizen spouse, the parent or child may be eligible to file the application to adjust status to permanent resident at the same time that the immigrant petition is submitted.
If you are an individual who held asylee or refugee status for one year or more, you may also be eligible to file to adjust status to a permanent resident. If you are outside the U.S., you will not be eligible to file to adjust status to permanent resident. In such a case, you can get a green card status by applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate in your country. The I 485 green card form can also be used by certain Cuban nationals to request a change in the date that their permanent residence began in the US.
You need to file the I 485 green card application with the needed supporting documents and fees with the USCIS. If you are 79 years of age or older, you will not be charged a biometric fee. If you are filing Form I 485 on the basis of being admitted to the United States as a refugee, then you need not pay any fee.
Posted by nancym22 on August 19, 2011 at 11:36 am
“Follow-to-join.” process is for Individuals who have adjusted status to Lawful Permanent Resident in the U.S. and whose family member(s) will apply for an Immigrant Visa at a U.S. consulate abroad.
The benefit of filing a follow-to-join application is that qualifying family members may apply for an Immigrant Visa without waiting for a Form I-130 Immigrant Petition to be approved and a visa number to become available.
In order to start the follow-to-join process most U.S. consulates require an approved Form I-824 Application The Form I-824 notifies the U.S. consulate that a Primary Applicant’s status has been adjusted to Lawful Permanent Resident
Posted by Kevin Kallis on November 16, 2011 at 11:14 am
Apart from being able to live and work in the US permanently as a green card holder, another main advantage is that green card holders qualify for US citizenship five years after being a permanent resident. If they are married to a US citizen, then they qualify in three years