How To Get A Green Card To Live And Work In The US06 Apr
Globally it is the dream of many people to live and work in America, the land of equal opportunity. But it is not possible to do so legally without the much coveted Green Card)
The Green Card is the passport to the American dream. It entitles the holder to live and work permanently anywhere in the U.S., without fear of deportation. Many countries fall under the ‘quota’ system and the U.S. does not accept more than the designated annual quota from those countries as immigrant, eligible for the green card. Once you are the green card holder you can, after fulfilling the residency and other requirements, apply for U.S. citizenship as well.
What Are The Categories To Apply For A Green Card
It is much easier to apply for a Green Card if you are under any of the following categories:
- Marriage to a green card holder – spouses get the first priority as long as the consulate or immigration office is convinced that you are in a genuine marriage.
- Immigration through relatives – relatives are another way to apply for a green card. Children, parents, brothers, sisters are the next bet to get through, though all relatives have to be immediate blood relatives.
- Green card through employment – here the employer has to certify that he cannot get somebody with similar qualifications in the U.S., get a Labor Certification, file a Green Card Employment Petition and you will also have to apply for the Green Card with all these documents in place.
- If you are willing to invest a certain amount of money in the U.S and can prove that you can generate income for people living in the U.S. and fulfill other criteria such as age, education, background and experience in the business you propose to set up, you may be eligible for an Investor Green Card.
- And then there is the Green Card Lottery – about 55,000 Green Cards are issued through lottery to citizens of particular countries (all countries do not come under this category).
Other Ways Of Getting Immigration
The U.S. has very strict laws governing tourist visas to the country primarily because many people go to the country and conveniently ‘get lost’ or ‘go underground”. They are illegal immigrants and work at low paying menial jobs. Since they cannot apply for social security and other benefits, they fall under the net. If they are caught, they can and usually are deported.
Occasionally they may find somebody who will sponsor them for an employment visa and then they may be legally able to stay on. Once in way people may ask for political asylum, under which they will have to prove that they would be liable for persecution if they return to their home country. This may usually be due to political or war-like conditions. If a person falls under this category and he is not in the U.S. he can apply for refugee status and this, after some time, can be converted into a green card.
Do You Need Professional Help In Getting A Green Card?
In many countries there are professionals willing to help you in your process of getting a green card – for a hefty fee, course. While the U.S. government and the Department of Immigration holds that you do not need professional help and can download and fill in the application form yourself and submit it, there is no doubt that if you seek the help of a qualified professional or a firm, you may understand the workings better, specially if English in not your first language. However, you have to beware of scams here, because some people just take your money and run!
If you are already in the U.S. it is better to get hold of lawyers to help you justify your claims to immigration. These services are expensive, so you need to have the funds available to go in for this.
True Life Examples Of Green Card Lottery Winners
Haryanto Tjiptade, Indonesia, DV-2006 Winner said, “I am so surprised and very happy that I could win the lottery among thousands of applicants, thanks to National Visa Service I know I will have better future in the USA.”
Sergei Karaev (Tajikistan) wrote: “Following the advice of friends, we have registered for the American “green card lottery”. We had thought this would be very complicated, but it has not turned out to be that way. Happily, it seems we have won the card and our dream has come true to be able to live and work in America legally. Thanks to all. PS. Thank you so much for your help, empathy, and understanding.
Here are some useful links:
http://www.americagreencard.org/green-card-what-is-it.html
http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/
http://www.h1base.com/
http://www.usafis.org/Testimonials.asp
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