To get permanent residency in the USA, you need to qualify under one of four main pathways — a family relationship with a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, a job offer or investment through an employer-based category, selection in the diversity visa lottery, or humanitarian status as a refugee or asylee — and then move through a two-part process: an approved petition establishing your eligibility, followed by an application for the Green Card itself. Depending on your category and country of birth, that process runs anywhere from a few months to more than twenty years.
Which Pathway Applies to You
Family Sponsorship
A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident starts a family case by filing Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, on behalf of a qualifying relative.1U.S. Department of State. Step 1: Submit a Petition The relationship decides everything that follows.
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of a citizen who is at least 21 — are exempt from the annual numerical caps on immigrant visas.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – General Eligibility Requirements3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1151 – Worldwide Level of Immigration In practical terms, they never wait in line for a visa number.
Everyone else falls into the family preference categories, which do have caps and often long backlogs:
- First preference (F1): unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
- Second preference (F2A and F2B): spouses and children (F2A) or unmarried adult sons and daughters (F2B) of lawful permanent residents.
- Third preference (F3): married adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.
- Fourth preference (F4): siblings of adult U.S. citizens.
These categories are governed by worldwide and per-country limits set in 8 U.S.C. §§ 1151 and 1153.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1153 – Allocation of Immigrant Visas Waits range from a few years in F2A to more than two decades in F4 for certain countries.
Employment
Employment-based residency is divided into five preference categories. Most require a specific job offer from a U.S. employer, and EB-2 and EB-3 generally require the employer to first obtain a labor certification proving no qualified American worker is available.
- EB-1 covers people with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics; outstanding professors and researchers; and multinational executives or managers. No labor certification is required, and extraordinary-ability applicants can self-petition.
- EB-2 covers workers with a master’s degree or higher, or a bachelor’s plus five years of progressive experience. A national interest waiver lets some applicants self-petition without an employer or labor certification.
- EB-3 covers professionals with a bachelor’s degree, skilled workers with at least two years of experience, and other workers in unskilled positions. All EB-3 cases need labor certification.
- EB-4 is a mixed category that includes religious workers and certain former employees of the U.S. government abroad.
- EB-5 is for investors who put capital into a new U.S. business that creates at least 10 full-time jobs. The minimum investment is $800,000 in a targeted employment area (rural areas and high-unemployment areas) and $1,050,000 elsewhere. These figures apply through 2026; the first inflation adjustment takes effect for petitions filed on or after January 1, 2027.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. About the EB-5 Visa Classification
Once labor certification is done (where required), the employer files Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker. Labor certification alone can take many months, and it happens before the I-140 is even submitted.
Diversity Visa Lottery
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program makes up to 55,000 Green Cards available each year to nationals of countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States.6U.S. Department of State. Diversity Visa Instructions Selection is random, and being selected is not itself a Green Card. Selectees still need to meet education or work-experience requirements and pass all background and medical checks. The registration window opens once a year, usually in October, and entering is free.
Refugees and Asylees
People admitted as refugees or granted asylum can apply for permanent residency after one year of physical presence in the United States. Refugees must apply once they reach the one-year mark; asylees may apply then but are not tied to a specific deadline. Both file Form I-485 to adjust status. The affidavit of support requirement works differently for these categories than for family or employment cases.
The Visa Bulletin: When You Can Actually File
If your category has a numerical cap, an approved petition is not enough on its own. The Department of State publishes the Visa Bulletin monthly, listing a “Final Action Date” for each preference category and country of birth.7U.S. Department of State. The Visa Bulletin Your priority date — the date your I-130 or I-140 was filed — must be earlier than the Final Action Date before you can move to the Green Card application step.
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens can skip the bulletin entirely. Everyone else checks it monthly. Some categories are “current,” meaning anyone with an approved petition can file right away. Others show dates years in the past. The bulletin also publishes “Dates for Filing” that sometimes let you submit paperwork earlier than the Final Action Date, but USCIS decides each month whether to honor those dates for adjustment applicants.
Once you can proceed, the median USCIS processing time for I-485 adjustment applications has recently been about seven months for both family-based and employment-based cases.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Historic Processing Times That figure does not include the wait for a visa number to become available, which is where most of the real delay lives.
Filing the Green Card Application
Once your priority date is current (or immediately, for immediate relatives), you file either inside the United States or through a consulate abroad. The choice is determined by where you are, not by preference.
Inside the U.S.: Adjustment of Status
If you are already in the country in a lawful status, you file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The filing fee is $1,440 for most applicants aged 14 to 78 and includes biometric services; children under 14 pay a reduced fee. The form asks for a full address and employment history covering the past five years. Discrepancies between your answers and what the government finds during background checks are a frequent source of delays.
Outside the U.S.: Consular Processing
If you are abroad, you complete Form DS-260, the Immigrant Visa Electronic Application, through the Department of State’s Consular Electronic Application Center.9U.S. Department of State. Step 6: Complete Online Visa Application (DS-260) The interview happens at a U.S. embassy or consulate rather than a USCIS field office.
Supporting Documents
Whichever route applies, expect to submit your birth certificate, passport, copies of any previous U.S. visas, and passport-style photos. Photo timing rules differ: USCIS requires photos taken within 30 days of e-filing,10U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Paper Photograph Requirements for E-Filed Applications while the State Department requires photos taken within the last six months.11Travel.State.Gov. Photo Requirements
Any document not in English must be accompanied by a certified translation with a signed statement from the translator confirming that the translation is complete and accurate, along with the translator’s name, address, and the date.12U.S. Department of State. Information about Translating Foreign Documents The translator does not have to be a professional but cannot be the applicant.
Any history of arrest, detention, or criminal charges means submitting certified copies of the court records and disposition documents, even if the charges were dropped. Marriage certificates, divorce decrees, and military records fill in the rest of the legal profile.
The Medical Exam
Every adjustment applicant needs Form I-693, which documents an immigration medical exam. The exam has to be done by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon, not your regular doctor.13U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Immigration Medical Exams and Form I-693 The civil surgeon reviews your history, examines you, orders lab tests, and verifies your vaccination record. Cost typically runs between $200 and $500 depending on location and which vaccines you need, with individual shots adding $20 to $150 each.
The Affidavit of Support
For most family-based and some employment-based cases, a financial sponsor must file Form I-864, Affidavit of Support. It is a legally binding commitment to support the immigrant, and the obligation continues until the immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, earns 40 qualifying quarters of work credit under Social Security, permanently leaves the country, or dies.14U.S. Department of State. Affidavit of Support The sponsor must show household income of at least 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for their household size. If the petitioner’s income is too low, a joint sponsor who meets the threshold can be added, but the petitioner still submits their own I-864.15Department of State. I-864 Affidavit of Support (FAQs)
The affidavit ties into the public charge ground of inadmissibility. Under the rules in effect through 2026, an officer looks at whether the applicant is likely to become primarily dependent on cash public assistance or long-term government-funded institutional care.16Federal Register. Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility Use of Medicaid (other than for long-term institutional care), SNAP, and housing assistance does not count against you under the current rule. A sponsor who meets the income threshold helps address this concern directly.
Biometrics, Interview, and Decision
After USCIS accepts your I-485 and processes your fee, you get Form I-797, Notice of Action, as your receipt. The receipt number lets you check case status online. Keep the notice — you will use it repeatedly.
USCIS then schedules a biometrics appointment at a nearby Application Support Center. Staff take your fingerprints, photograph, and signature and run the results against federal criminal and security databases. Missing the appointment without rescheduling in advance is treated as abandonment.
Most applicants are called for an in-person interview, at a USCIS field office if you are adjusting status or at a consulate if you are abroad. The officer reviews your paperwork, asks about your background, and verifies the relationship or job offer behind the petition. Marriage cases get particularly close attention, with detailed questions about daily life, finances, and how you met. Bring organized originals of everything you submitted as a copy.
If the officer approves the case, you receive a notice by mail, and the physical Green Card arrives separately by post. Some cases are approved at the interview; others go on hold for additional evidence and can sit for weeks or months.
Working and Traveling While You Wait
The gap between filing and decision can stretch for months, and most people need to work and sometimes travel during that period.
You can apply for a work permit (Employment Authorization Document) by filing Form I-765, either together with your I-485 or later while it is pending. For I-485s filed on or after July 30, 2007, there is no separate fee for the work permit when it is tied to the pending application. If you file it later, include a copy of the I-797 receipt notice for the pending I-485.
Travel is riskier. If you leave the United States while your I-485 is pending without first obtaining advance parole (a travel document you request on Form I-131), USCIS will generally treat the application as abandoned and deny it.17U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Advance Parole The narrow exception is that applicants who hold valid H-1B or L-1 status and visas can travel on those visas without advance parole. For everyone else, wait for the travel document before booking flights. Form I-131 can be filed alongside the I-485.
Conditional Green Cards
Two situations produce a two-year conditional Green Card instead of the standard ten-year card, and missing the deadline to remove the conditions terminates your status automatically.
If your Green Card came through a marriage that was less than two years old when residency was approved, the card is conditional.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1186a – Conditional Permanent Resident Status for Certain Alien Spouses and Sons or Daughters During the 90-day window before the two-year expiration, you and your spouse must jointly file Form I-751 to remove the conditions. Miss that window and your permanent resident status terminates automatically, with removal proceedings a real possibility. If the marriage has ended by then, you can file a waiver on your own but will need to show the marriage was entered in good faith.
EB-5 investors and their family members also get two-year conditional cards. Within the 90-day window before the two-year mark, the investor files Form I-829 with evidence that the investment was sustained and the required jobs were created.19U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Process Same deadline mechanics, same consequences for missing them.
Keeping the Card Once You Have It
A Green Card does not expire the way a visa does, but it comes with ongoing obligations. Ignoring them can cost you the status.
Federal law requires every noncitizen to notify USCIS within 10 days of moving to a new address, using Form AR-11. The requirement applies whether or not you have a pending application.
Your Green Card authorizes you to live in the United States, and long absences put that in question. Trips of less than six months generally raise no issues. Absences of six months to a year can trigger questions at the border about abandonment. Absences longer than a year create a legal presumption that you have given up your status. If you know you will be abroad for a year or more, apply for a reentry permit on Form I-131 before you leave; you must be physically present in the United States when you file. The permit is typically valid for two years from issuance, though it is limited to one year if you have spent more than four of the last five years outside the country. It cannot be extended or renewed from abroad.
Green Card holders are treated as U.S. residents for tax purposes and must report worldwide income to the IRS on the same forms and deadlines as citizens.20Internal Revenue Service. U.S. Residents Foreign accounts and financial assets above certain thresholds trigger additional reporting. The obligation starts the year you become a permanent resident and continues even if you are living abroad.
After five years as a permanent resident with continuous residence in the United States, you become eligible to apply for naturalization.21Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1427 – Requirements of Naturalization If you got your card through marriage to a U.S. citizen and are still married and living together, the wait drops to three years.22USAGov. Become a U.S. Citizen Through Naturalization Citizenship removes the travel restrictions, ends the risk of status abandonment, and lets you sponsor additional family members as immediate relatives.