Green Card Definition: A Complete Test of Your Eligibility

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Green Card Definition Test Your Eligibility

• www.DoItYourselfGreenCard.com
• March 2016

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Green Card Definition From USCIS

• A Green Card holder (permanent resident) is
  someone who has been granted authorization to
  live and work in the United States on a permanent
  basis. As proof of that status, a person is
  granted a permanent resident card, commonly
  called a "Green Card."

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Common Knowledge Folk Name

• Green Cars is
• Informal name for a document that identifies
• Legal Permanent Resident

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Green Card Benefits

• Right to live in the United States
• Right to work
• Right to travel (enter and leave, with some
  limitations)
• Right to enjoy certain privileges available to
  general public (like services of police, social
  security, health care, public transportation,
  etc.)

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Responsibilities of Green Card Holders

• Pay taxes
• Obey laws
• Follow certain residency requirements and address
  regulations as defined by immigration authorities

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Green Card Path to Citizenship

• Available but not automatic
• One has to apply
• Pay fees
• Pass medical and civic test
• Take oath
• Generally, green card holders are eligible for
  citizenship after being a permanent resident for
  five years
• Green card through marriage allows for a fast
  track to citizenship three years

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How to Get A Green Card

• Green card is NOT available to all who wants it
• You can get legal is not available for all
  immigrants, legal or illegal

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How to Get a Green Card (continued)

• One must be eligible
• One must apply and prove their eligibility
• One must pay fees
• One must submit ones biometrics (photograph and
  figure prints, etc.)
• One must participate in an interview
• One has to receive a green card number (may take
  years!)
• Once the number is available, one can have his or
  her green card finally!

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Green Card Categories

• Family
• Employment
• Diversity visa/lottery
• Refugee
• Asylee (aka asylum seeker)
• Other
• Approximately 1 million green cards are issued
  every year

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Green Card Categories Family (Immediate Family)

• Green card through marriage
• Sponsor US citizen or
• Sponsor green card holder
• Green card through marriage to US citizen is the
  largest green card category
• 25 of all green cards issued
• Green card through marriage to a green card
  holder (together with green card holder children)
  account for 10 of green card issued annually

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Green Card Categories Other Family

• Available to people sponsored by US citizens
• Adult unmarried children of U.S. citizen and
  their children
• Married children of U.S. citizens, their spouses
  and their children and
• Adult brothers/sisters of U.S. citizens, their
  spouses and their children
• These categories combined account for 11 of the
  green cards issued annually
• Note green card holders can only sponsor their
  spouses and unmarried/minor children they
  cannot sponsor other family members

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Green Card Categories Employment

• Require employer/corporate sponsorship
• Foreign executives of domestic or international
  businesses operating in the United States
• Skilled employees

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Green Card Categories Employment (continued)

• No sponsorship required
• Advanced degrees (designated by the government,
  such as medical doctors)
• Aliens with exceptional abilities (example Noble
  Prize winners, Olympic medalists)
• Alien US government employees abroad (example
  Afghani translator to US military)
• Religious workers

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Green Card Categories Employment (continued)

• No sponsorship required but must qualify
• EB-5 program
• Investors spending between 500,000 and
  1,000,000 in direct contribution to the United
  States economy
• Must demonstrate the investment creates job

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Green Card Categories Diversity Visa or Lottery

• As the name implies distributed through lottery
• 50,000 green cards annually
• Favor given to countries, from which immigration
  to the US was low over the past five years
• Certain countries are ineligible because of too
  high of immigration rates
• For 2013 lottery, 12.5 million people applied
• Chance of winning this lottery is 0.4, or 4 out
  of 1,000

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Green Card Categories Refugees

• Applicants
• Must demonstrate that they were persecuted or
  fear persecution based on race, religion,
  nationality, political opinion, or membership in
  a particular social group
• Must be outside of the United States
• Must secure referral to the U.S. Refugee
  Admissions Program (USRAP)
• Must enter the United States as refugee
• Must wait one year to apply for green card

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Green Card Categories Asylum

• Applicants
• Must demonstrate that they were persecuted or
  fear persecution based on race, religion,
  nationality, political opinion, or membership in
  a particular social group
• Note this condition is the same as for refugees
• Must be at the port of entry to, or inside of,
  the United States

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Green Card Categories Other

• Very small bucket of green cards less than 2
  annually
• Typically not considered an immigration path
• Includes previously scheduled to be deported
  illegal immigrants, who petitioned their case in
  front of the immigration judge and received
  authorization to stay
• Also includes continuous residents since 1972
• Direct order of certain government agencies like
  CIA

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What About Your Eligibility Test?

• In short, it is tough to qualify
• Unless you are married to a US citizen easiest
  and most certain green card path
• Other categories require sponsorships, may
  involve spending a lot of money, time or both
• When politicians argue get legal to illegal
  immigrants, or illegal is illegal is illegal,
  perhaps they should try going through the green
  card application themselves

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Link to the Detailed Article

• http//www.doityourselfgreencard.com/blog/green-ca
  rd-definition-complete-test-of-your-eligibility

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Thank you!

• www.DoItYourselfGreenCard.com
• 8?00-756-9706
• support_at_doityourselfgreencard.com
• www.plus.google.com/Doityourselfgreencard_Now
• www.facebook.com/doityourselfgreencard
• www.twitter.com/DIY_GreenCard

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Disclaimer

• The statements expressed in this presentation are
  opinion of the author.
• The opinions are based on research of public
  information, and may not be complete nor 100
  applicable to ones specific situation.
• One should seek qualified legal advice regarding
  his or her specific circumstances.

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Thank you!

• www.DoItYourselfGreenCard.com
• 8?00-756-9706
• support_at_doityourselfgreencard.com
• www.plus.google.com/Doityourselfgreencard_Now
• www.facebook.com/doityourselfgreencard
• www.twitter.com/DIY_GreenCard