Immigrant Visas & “Green Cards”
Who is eligible to immigrate?
Who can be denied a visa?
People who are not U.S. citizens but come to the United States to stay here permanently are called “immigrants.” There are two ways to apply for legal immigrant status—1) by applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate outside of the United States, or 2) by applying for “adjustment of status” through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, if you are already in the United States. If you adjust status or get an immigrant visa and use it to enter the United States, you become a lawful permanent resident.
Lawful permanent residents are not citizens of the United States, but they are allowed to live and work in the United States as long as they keep living here and do not break our laws. Lawful permanent residents can apply for U.S. citizenship after a number of years—the exact number depends on how the person immigrated in the first place.
But not everyone can become a lawful permanent resident. There are just a few categories of people who are eligible to immigrate; and there are a lot of reasons that even those people could be turned down for immigrant status. It is helpful to think of the immigration process in two parts—first, showing that you are a member of a group that is eligible to get a visa and, second, proving that there is no reason for the U.S. government to deny the visa to you.
The first group is made up of family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. U.S. citizens can petition to immigrate their spouses, children (minors or adults, married or unmarried), parents, brothers and sisters. Lawful permanent residents can only petition to immigrate their spouses and unmarried children (minors or adults).
The second group of people who are eligible to immigrate is made up of people who have employers in the United States who will petition for them, and certain other very highly skilled workers. Most employment-based immigrants have to show that there are no qualified workers who are already in the United States legally and who are able to take the job that the employer is offering. They do that through a process called “labor certification,” which requires the employer to advertise for other qualified workers under very specific conditions to show that there are no U.S. workers to fill the job.
There is also an annual visa “lottery.” The lottery is just what it sounds like. People who want to immigrate submit some basic information about themselves and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services randomly selects a certain number of applicants who may then apply to immigrate. The lottery is called the Diversity Visa Program; it is meant to help enrich our country by giving people who come from parts of the world that are underrepresented in our society a chance to immigrate even though they might not have a relative or employer to petition for them.
People who have been given refuge/asylum in the United States because they face persecution in their home countries can also apply for lawful permanent resident status after living here for a year or more.
Over the years there have also been special laws passed to make it easier for people from certain countries that have experienced civil war or suffer under the rule of dictators—mostly Cubans, Haitians, and Central Americans—to immigrate.
There are many reasons that people who would be eligible to get visas as members of the groups discussed above could still be denied visas. These reasons are called “grounds of inadmissibility.” They include health problems, criminal convictions, terrorist activity, reliance on public assistance, and past immigration violations, among others.
There are two times in the process of getting a visa and coming to the United States when U.S. immigration officials will ask questions to decide whether any of the grounds of inadmissibility apply to the person trying to come to the country. The first time is when someone is applying for a visa or adjustment of status. The second time is when the person uses the visa to enter or re-enter the country. Even people who already have visas can be denied permission to enter the country when they try to use their visas at an airport, seaport, or border crossing if one of the grounds of inadmissibility applies in them. Under certain circumstances, even lawful permanent residents who are returning from a trip outside the country can be barred from entering if the border inspection officer decides that a ground of inadmissibility applies.
Some grounds of inadmissibility can be excused—or “waived”—by the government. Others cannot be waived. There are different types of waivers depending on which ground of inadmissibility applies to a particular case. Many of those waivers are only available if the person who wants to enter the country can show that their family members will suffer hardship if they are denied entry. The legal requirements for showing hardship and other factors that are necessary to get a waiver of inadmissibility are very technical. It is always best to have a lawyer help prepare the waiver application.
