15 October,2015
Table of Contents
You may not know there are several avenues to gain lawful residency (Green Card) in U.S. If you are temporarily in United States on student visa and wish to make your home in U.S., you may able to apply for permanent residency and citizenship. But remember obtaining permanent residency solely depends on your status and/or converting to a status that is eligible to attain permanent residency. If you are a foreign student and giving serious thought about residing in US permanently, this is your chance to explore the ways.
Student Visa to Green Card
The steps to becoming a Green Card holder (permanent resident) vary by category and depend on whether you currently living inside or outside the United States. Immigrant visa is awarded based on
Until a foreign national gets the approval from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and an immigration visa number, the individual cannot be recognized as a permanent resident of United States. Before jumping into the application process for permanent residency, you should be aware of few things described here.
Note: F-1 international students do not have direct path to permanent residence. Many college students use F-1 practical training experience and H-1B temporary professional visas to get some practical work experience. Then, they qualify for employment-based immigrant visa. From there, they gain the right to change their status to permanent residency.
Before you apply to change your status, it is important to make sure whether you are eligible to do so. The first factor to determine the eligibility for obtaining permanent residency in US is the students’ current status. On that matter, if you have completed your course and your visa has expired, your status naturally changes from legal to illegal and you cannot apply for permanent for residency in US. In that case, you need to return to your native land and apply for a new visa to re-enter U.S., and then apply for permanent residency once your status is legal again.
Conditions of applying for permanent residency in U.S.:
If you are staying in U.S. on valid student visa, you are entitled to certain ways to obtain permanent residency. Remember, only certain categories of immigrants can apply for permanent residency. There are usually three qualifying categories:
Remember, a student visa does not automatically qualify. While your status is legal, you need to convert your status to another type. For example, if you are a studying in U.S. and you have become political target of your native country, then you would be eligible for asylum status. Once you are awarded asylum status, you may then apply for permanent residency. Here are the steps to gain permanent residency in U.S.
Here are three categories related to immigrant permanent residency.
Many people can get Green Cards (become permanent residents) through family members. In this category, U.S. citizen or permanent resident relative file a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. You may be eligible to get a green card as,
Calculate your chances through this reference list —
First Preference: Adult (unmarried) sons and daughters of U.S. citizens at the age of 21 or over
Second Preference A: Spouses and the unmarried children (under the age of 21) of permanent residents
Second Preference B: Unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents (at the age of 21 or over)
Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, their spouses and their minor children
Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S. citizen, their spouses and their minor children.
Here are the main ways to immigrate based on a job offer and employment. You can get permanent residency through,
Check your position in the following preference list:
First Preference: Priority worker, including aliens with extraordinary abilities, outstanding professors and researchers and certain multinational executives and manager
Second Preference: Professionals holding an advanced degree or persons of exceptional ability (including individuals seeking a National Interest Waiver)
Third Preference: Professionals, skilled workers and other qualified workers
Fourth Preference: Certain special immigrants
Fifth Preference: Employment certain immigration (entrepreneurs and investors).
If you are admitted to United States as a refugee or the qualifying spouse or child of a refugee, you require applying for permanent residency after one years of your entry. If you are granted asylum status or qualifying spouse or child of asylee, you need to apply for permanent residency. In both cases, you have to be present in U.S. for at least 1 year after being awarded respective status.
There are 50,000 Green Cards available each year through the diversity visa (also known as green card lottery). But only citizens of certain countries can apply for this. The process of the application starts at the end of the year and goes on for one month. You need to apply online. As the application process is free, so millions of people apply for to get the chance.
Depending on category you may choose, you should file petition accordingly. At the same time, you can file your Form I-485.
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens may be able to submit their Form I-485 and petition concurrently.
Most categories require first establishing yourself for the immigrant category by having an approved petition, only then you are eligible to file Form I-485. For these categories, you can’t file petition concurrently.
USCIS notifies the petitioner about the results. If your petition gets approval and you are a beneficiary of the petition, living in U.S. or outside of U.S. and choose to apply for permanent visa, USCIS will then send approval to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) where it will remain until you get your visa number.
Regardless of whether a petition must be filed or approved, you need to apply for Form I-485. You can apply before filing the petition or at the same time while submitting your petition.
The National Visa Center will notify petitioner about when the immigration will be available, the data of submitting additional documents and processing fees related to permanent visa.
After filling your application, you will be informed to appear at an Application Support Center for biometrics collection, having your pictures and fingerprints taken.
You may be notified the date, time and location at a USCIS to offer answer questions by taking oath of your application.
Contact the NVC if there is a change in your personal situation or if you want to change your address. It is important to notify if you reach 21 or have changed your marital status.
After all your paper work has been received, interviews conducted, security checks completed, and other eligibility requirements reviewed, your case will be revised by USCIS. After revision, you will be informed in written a manner.
In case, your application for adjustment of status is denied, the notice will let you know about your appeal rights. Remember not every decision can be appealed. Generally, if your decision can be appealed, you should file the appeal within 30 days of the service of the decision.
You qualify for citizenship if you have been
One can attain citizenship through parents in three stages (1) At birth (2) After birth but before 18 years of age.
There are many other ways of attaining citizenship through parents (refer INA 301 or INA 309)
3.If everything goes well, USCIS sends the approval notice and transfers the file to appropriate place for paperwork. Several weeks or months after that , the Green Card applicant is called for interview.
For immigrants
Approval for immedeate relatives is attained within 5-12 months time frame.
Approval for family preference comes 6 months to 6 years after filing.
Yes. But if you came to US on a tourist Visa , you are expected to leave after the scheduled time of stay shown on your form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record.
No, you cannot change b1 b2 visa to green card. The maximum duration of residing in US with b1 b2 green card is 6 months. They are strictly for temporary visits to United States.
Yes a green card holder can file for his folliwng family members. But the preference levels according to statutes are different
If you overstay your Visa for 180 days or more, when you depart from Us, you would be barred from entering US for next 3 years. If the overstay is less than 180 days, you would not be barred from entry.
If you have overstayed your Visa, you can still enter into a bonafide marraige with a natural US citizen and then apply for status adjustment of your Visa or apply for a green card.
After 180 days or more of expiry of Visa, deporation proceedings start.
Yes.
DS 160
Consular Electronic Application Center website.
Excel in academics- With myassignmenthelp.com
Do you know the recipe of creating a good assignment? When you hire someone to do your assignment, you don’t need to know the recipe. You just have to wait to receive your final solution from the writing service company. Students from all over the world now use online assignment help services as a way to relieve their academic burden. MyAssignmenthelp.com is one of the most popular names among its competitors, that provides quality assignment help.
The first thing that comes into your mind is price: are the services affordable? Yes, our pricing policies allow every student to avail expert help from professionals.
We allocate every assigned job to our best-fitted expert who has in-depth knowledge regarding the subject and is experienced to create an assignment material that helps you attain higher grades. Hence our team of writers, experts, tutors and researchers help you achieve academic excellence without facing any hassle and complication.
MyAssignmenthelp.com is a one-stop solution for all those students who think academic writing is a tough job. Here is a list of services that our in-house tutors and experts offer:
Hi, I am Mark, a Literature writer by profession. Fueled by a lifelong passion for Literature, story, and creative expression, I went on to get a PhD in creative writing. Over all these years, my passion has helped me manage a publication of my write ups in prominent websites and e-magazines. I have also been working part-time as a writing expert for myassignmenthelp.com for 5+ years now. It’s fun to guide students on academic write ups and bag those top grades like a pro. Apart from my professional life, I am a big-time foodie and travel enthusiast in my personal life. So, when I am not working, I am probably travelling places to try regional delicacies and sharing my experiences with people through my blog.
WhatsApp
