How to Become a U.S. Permanent Resident
or "Green Card" Holder
Green Card
The "green card," which has not really been green-colored for many years, is also known by other terms: a permanent visa, lawful permanent residence, and immigration to the US. Students who have been to our biannual program, "Visas After Graduation" should already have a fairly clear understanding about the process to become a permanent resident of the United States. (If you have never attended this program and you are interested in any kind of stay in the US beyond the achievement of your degree goal, you should certainly attend before you finish at Cornell. Look for date and time in the ISSO.)
Five Ways
There are five ways to immigrate to the US. Most of these categories for immigration have yearly numerical limits, or quotas. The overall yearly limit is about 700,000. Immediate relatives (spouses and minor children of US citizens, and parents of adult US citizens) have no limit.
Immediate Relatives
The first route is through the petition of a close relative -- spouse, child over 21, parent, brother or sister who is a citizen of the US; or spouse or parent who is a US permanent resident. (Anyone born in the US is a citizen of the US; permanent residents can become citizens through naturalization, after a required period of residence in the US.) Some of these routes to permanent residence are severely back-logged, however, depending on the type of relative and the nationality of the applicant. The brother or sister of a US citizen could have a wait of as much as ten years, depending on their nationality.
Diversity Lottery
Secondly, there is the "lottery"! The purpose of the "diversity immigrants"
category is to increase US immigration from countries with low representation
over the last few decades. The "winners" were randomly selected from a huge
pool of applicants who mailed in simple applications within a specified period.
This year there will be 55,000 slots available per year for people from countries
determined to have low immigration, and the eligible applicants will be randomly
selected from a huge number of mailed-in requests. For more information and
instructions, go to:
The Diversity Lottery
Employer Sponsorship
The third way to get a green card is through an employer. An employer can petition for an extraordinary employee, an outstanding professor or researcher, a multinational executive or manager, a professional holding an advanced degree, or a person of "exceptional ability." There are also some permanent visas available for certain types of "skilled workers," professionals with basic degrees, ministers, and religious workers.
Two Other Ways
There are two other, less often used ways to obtain US permanent residence. Investors with $1 million in capital and the ability to employ at least 10 US nationals, have the possibility of getting one of 10,000 visas a year! There are also places reserved for refugees and people seeking political asylum.