The Green Card (permanent residence)

Paths to a Green Card

There is no single application; the route decides everything that follows.

• Family-based: immediate relatives of US citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of adult citizens) have no annual cap, while family-preference categories (F1–F4) are capped and subject to the Visa Bulletin.
• Employment-based (EB-1 through EB-5): from workers with extraordinary ability or advanced degrees through to skilled workers, and the EB-5 investor category ($800,000 in a targeted employment area or $1,050,000 standard under the 2022 Reform and Integrity Act).
• Diversity Visa (DV) lottery: a limited annual allocation for nationals of countries with historically low immigration to the US, with strict education or work-experience eligibility.
• Humanitarian: refugees and asylees, and other protected categories, can apply for a Green Card, usually one year after being granted their underlying status.

Conditional vs permanent residence

Not every Green Card is granted for the standard ten-year term. If your residence is based on a marriage that was less than two years old on the day you became a permanent resident (and in certain investor cases), you first receive a two-year conditional Green Card.

To keep your status you must file to remove the conditions before the card expires. Marriage-based conditional residents use Form I-751, and investor conditional residents use Form I-829, each filed in the 90-day window before the two-year card expires. Missing this deadline can end your status and expose you to removal, so the timing matters as much as the paperwork.

Rights and responsibilities

Permanent residents gain broad rights but also take on obligations that come with the status.

• You may live and work permanently anywhere in the US and are protected by federal, state, and local law.
• You must obey all laws, file US income tax returns and report worldwide income, and (for men aged 18–25) register with the Selective Service.
• You should carry evidence of your status and report any change of address to USCIS.
• Permanent residents cannot vote in federal elections and can, in serious cases, lose status through certain criminal convictions or by abandoning US residence.

Maintaining your status

A Green Card is durable but not unconditional — it can be treated as abandoned if you live outside the US or make the US no longer your primary home.

• Extended trips abroad can raise abandonment questions; a re-entry permit (Form I-131) helps preserve status for longer absences, and a returning resident visa may be needed after very long ones.
• Keep your card valid and renew it before it expires (the ten-year card is renewed with Form I-90; a conditional card is not renewed but has its conditions removed instead).
• Maintain US ties — tax filing, a home, employment, and family — that show you intend to remain a resident.

The path to citizenship

Permanent residence is often a step toward naturalization rather than the end point. Most LPRs can apply for US citizenship after five years of permanent residence (with at least 30 months of physical presence), or after three years if married to and living with a US citizen (18 months of physical presence). You must also have lived at least three months in the state or USCIS district where you file, and you may submit Form N-400 up to 90 days before meeting the residence requirement. Fees and eligibility should be checked on the official USCIS page before filing.