Permanent Residency in United States
The routes to a long-term, renewable status
Permanent residence — the green card — is obtained mainly through employment sponsorship, a family relationship, investment, or the diversity lottery. Employment categories are capped annually and subject to a per-country limit, which has produced backlogs of decades for some nationalities, tracked through the priority date system published in the monthly Visa Bulletin.
| Employment categories | EB-1 through EB-5, each with its own annual allocation source |
| Queue tracker | Monthly Visa Bulletin, by category and country of chargeability source |
| Per-country limit | A published ceiling on the share of annual visas to any one country |
| Diversity lottery | Annual DV programme, excludes countries with high recent migration to the US source |
| Residence obligation | Extended absences can be treated as abandonment of residence source |
The employment-based ladder
- EB-1 — individuals of extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers. The extraordinary-ability subcategory does not require an employer, which makes it one of the few genuinely self-petitioned routes.
- EB-2 — advanced degree holders and those with exceptional ability. Generally requires an employer and a labour certification, but a national interest waiver can remove both where the applicant can evidence that the proposed work has substantial merit and national importance.
- EB-3 — skilled workers, professionals, and certain other workers. Requires an employer and a labour certification.
- EB-4 — certain special immigrants, including some religious workers.
- EB-5 — investors who invest a published minimum amount in a new commercial enterprise creating a specified number of full-time US jobs, with a lower threshold for targeted employment areas and rural projects. EB-5 residence is granted conditionally for about two years before conditions are removed.
Labour certification
Most EB-2 and EB-3 cases begin with PERM labour certification at the Department of Labor: the employer must test the US labour market according to prescribed recruitment steps and attest that no able, willing, and qualified US worker is available, and that the wage offered meets the prevailing wage determination.
This stage is procedural rather than discretionary, but it is slow and technically unforgiving, and it is filed by the employer. It also fixes the priority date, which is what determines the applicant's place in the queue.
Priority dates and the Visa Bulletin
Because annual visa numbers are limited overall and per country, approval of a petition does not by itself allow the final step. The applicant receives a priority date — broadly, the date the qualifying petition or labour certification was filed — and waits until the Visa Bulletin shows that date as current for their category and country of chargeability.
The per-country ceiling means demand from very populous countries is rationed against the same limit as everywhere else. In several employment categories this has produced backlogs for Indian nationals frequently described in terms of decades, with substantial though shorter waits for Chinese nationals. Applicants from most other countries often find their category current or close to it.
The bulletin publishes two charts, a final action date and a date for filing, and which one applies in a given month is announced separately. Reading the bulletin correctly is a recurring practical task rather than a one-off.
Adjustment of status or consular processing
Where a visa number is available and the applicant is lawfully inside the United States, the final step is usually adjustment of status on Form I-485, which can be accompanied by applications for work and travel authorisation while it is pending. Departing without advance parole while an adjustment is pending can be treated as abandoning it.
Where the applicant is abroad, the case is completed by consular processing through the National Visa Center and an interview at a US embassy or consulate. Consular processing is often faster but offers no interim work permission and no route to remain in the United States meanwhile.
The diversity visa lottery
Each year the Department of State runs a lottery allocating a limited number of immigrant visas to nationals of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Nationals of countries that have sent large numbers of immigrants in recent years are excluded, and the excluded list changes.
Entry is free and made only through the official State Department site during a published registration window. Paid intermediaries offering to submit entries are not part of the process, and selection is not an approval — selectees still face eligibility checks and a limited supply of numbers.
Keeping a green card
- Permanent residence carries a residence expectation. Long absences, particularly beyond about a year without a re-entry permit, can be treated as abandonment.
- Permanent residents may work for any employer and study, but cannot vote in federal elections and are ineligible for some federal posts.
- Certain criminal matters can render a permanent resident removable, and the categories are broader than many expect.
- Conditional residence, whether from a recent marriage or from EB-5, requires a separate and time-limited filing to become unconditional.
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Official sources
Checked against these pages in September 2026. Fees and processing times change without notice — confirm before you act.