Apply for a Green Card (2024)

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If you want to live and work in the USA, applying for a Green Card is essential. Find possible ways to get the desired US immigrant visa, including the Green Card Lottery.

Where do I apply for a Green Card?

The Green Card application process is in charge of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). However, application procedures differ depending on the Green Card category.

You can choose between the following ways to obtain a Green Card:

• Winning the US government's Green Card Lottery (also called the Diversity Visa Program or DV Program)
• The Green Card through employment
• The Green Card through investment
• The Green Card for family reunion
• The Green Card through marriage to a US citizen

The easiest of these ways is to enter the annual Green Card Lottery because the requirements for winning here are few, and the chances are enormous.

In all other Green Card categories, there are different access requirements, application ways, waiting periods, official jurisdictions, and costs. Therefore, the first thing to do is to check which path to the Green Card is suitable for you.

Green Card through the Green Card Lottery

The US government draws 55,000 Green Cards annually through the Diversity Visa Program. Due to the high requirements in other Green Card categories such as employment-based, family, marriage, and investment Green Cards, the path through the Green Card Lottery is, for most people, not only the easiest but often the only way to a life in the USA.

All you have to do to get the coveted residence permit for the USA is to register for the annual lottery. The USA experts of The American Dream accompany your application and immigration process as the world's largest Green Card agency with comprehensive services, especially for the Green Card Lottery.

Green Card DoubleChance for married couples

Our tip for your Green Card application: Take advantage of the DoubleChance for married couples! Spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 will automatically receive a Green Card if they are included in your application - without having to wait! This also applies to same-sex spouses.

Green Card through the job or investment

There are several US work visas available to you for taking up employment in the United States. Factors such as qualification, citizenship, duration of the planned stay, company affiliation, or company constellation are decisive.

However, most of the available US visas are non-immigrant visas and thus entitle you to work in the USA only for a limited period of time. You can only get a Green Card through employment under the following conditions:

• You are offered a very specific job that no US citizen can do, your prospective employer obtains Labor Certification from the Department of Labor, files the immigration application for you, and acts as a sponsor.
• You file your Green Card application as an investor and create jobs for US citizens by implementing your business plan.
• You have extraordinary abilities of national interest to the USA and are eligible for a Green Card for "Aliens of Extraordinary Ability."

Green Card through the family or marriage

Family reunification is one of the most common reasons for immigrating to the United States. In addition to close relatives of US citizens and Green Card holders, spouses of US citizens are also entitled to a Green Card. The respective procedures are subject to severe restrictions and differ in terms of widely varying waiting periods until the Green Card can be obtained.

Relatives/spouses of US Green Card holders

Close family members of Green Card holders are eligible to immigrate to the United States. The law allows the following individuals to apply for a Green Card:

• Spouses of Green Card holders
• Children of Green Card holders

You can look up the waiting periods for different dependents in the Visa Bulletin, which explains and abbreviates the different immigrant categories, for example:

• F2A: Spouse and unmarried children (under age 21) of Green Card holders
• F2B: Unmarried children (age 21 or older) of Green Card holders

"Family-Sponsored" waiting periods in the Visa Bulletin

A visa is immediately available to applicants if a "C" for "current" is listed in the applicable "Preference Category." Nevertheless, the waiting time for approval may be about 1 year or more, depending on the workload of the authorities after that.

The US immigration process for family reunion or the Green Card through marriage proceeds in several stages:

• Submission of the Green Card application by the relative residing in the US for sponsorship
• Evidence of the sponsor's relationship and economic qualification or the legality of the marriage
• Consular processing with an interview at the US embassy or consulate or adjustment of status within the US if the Green Card applicant is already in the United States
• Receiving the Green Card

The easiest way to get a Green Card

Given the high requirements and difficult application process for Green Cards by family, job, or investment, the straightforward Green Card Lottery proves to be the easiest path to a permanent life in the United States.

Take your chance today and enroll in the US government's annual Green Card Lottery! Applying only takes a few minutes, and the chances of winning are tremendous.