Get US Green Card faster, explore the best options for US immigration

The American dream attracts millions from all over the world who are professionally adept and qualified to work to build a promising career. The Green Card is the visa that enables you and those millions to realize their US immigration plans.

There are ways to go about obtaining a Green Card. It’s even known to be hard to get a Green Card, but the effort and patience are worth it. After all, once you get a Green Card your US immigration efforts find success and make you a lawful permanent resident of the country.

While many of the methods to obtain a Green Card are difficult, there are easier options too that you should be interested in if you are getting more interested in this article. We are here to cheer you up and introduce you to some of the fastest ways to obtain a Green Card in the US.

What’s a Green Card really?

A Green Card or the Permanent Resident Card, the way it’s officially known, is your permit to live and work in the USA permanently, which practically makes you a permanent resident. If you are applying for a Green Card, you will have to take different steps depending on your individual situation.

The following are the major categories, one of which you may be eligible for when applying for a Green Card.

• Green Card through family
• Green Card as a special immigrant
• Green Card through employment
• Green Card for victims of crime and human trafficking
• Green Card through the status of refugee or asylee
• Green Card for victims of abuse
• Green Card through the registry
• Green Card through other categories

Some of these are faster ways to procure a Green Card. Let’s see which ones are those and how.

Green Card through sponsorship by a family member in the US

It’s possible for permanent residents and citizens of the USA to sponsor certain types of relatives so that they can get Green Cards. They will sponsor their relatives who are identified as a family preference relative or an immediate relative.

Who are immediate relatives?

Parent, spouse, or child (unmarried and aged less than 21 years) of a US citizen is considered immediate relatives. In this option, only US citizens can sponsor such a relative. If they are sponsoring children aged above 21 years, married children, and siblings, such relatives are known as family preference relatives.

In cases where lawful permanent residents of the US sponsor their spouses and children (unmarried and aged less than 21 years), they will also be treated as family preference relatives.

The number of Green Cards granted and issued to family preference relatives is limited for each year. But for immediate family members, there's an unlimited number of visas made available every year.

As family preference relatives have a limited number of Green Cards made available, they are required to wait until the visas become available. The wait time will depend on factors like their country of origin, relationship to the sponsor, and the volume of backlogs of applications.

So, the bottom line is that if you are the immediate relative of a US citizen you get one of the most reliable, fastest, and straightforward means of getting a Green Card.

Green Card through EB-1A visa

Do you have a skill set in your field of work that can be considered an “extraordinary ability”? If yes, then your pathway to a Green Card can be easier. The visa applicable to you is an EB-1A visa. To get this visa, you have to demonstrate that you have achieved such distinction and acclaim. Also, you have to prove that your achievements have obtained recognition from other professionals in your field.

Applicants for EB-1A visas don’t require permanent job offers and hence they don’t need labor certifications. Another fact is that USCIS places EB-1A visa applications top priority. Along with this, the lesser number of applications for this category of visas makes it take much less time to process and get approved.

Applications are processed in a time period of 8 months in many cases. Paying for premium processing can expedite the processing even more.

Green Card through EB-2A visa

If you qualify for the EB-2 preference category you are eligible to apply for a national interest waiver. If the waiver is granted to you, you will be allowed to obtain a visa without an offer of employment.

You can qualify for the EB-2 green card category by doing one of the following:

• demonstrating “exceptional” ability in your field of choice
• possess an advanced degree (viz. a Master’s degree or foreign equivalent)
• possess a bachelor’s degree with a minimum relevant work experience of 5 years

If you want to qualify for a national interest waiver, you are required to prove that the work you are going to do in the US is of “national importance” and “substantial merit”. You also have to establish that you have the qualifications to do the work you propose to undertake.

Green Card through EB-5 visa

Are you an investor trying for US immigration? If you can make a minimum investment of $900,000 (as of Dec 2021) and put your resources into a TEA (Targeted Employment Area) by USCIS. In any other case, your investment has to be at least $1,800,000.

Often EB-5 visa applications are processed in under 24 months. Upon getting approval, you will get a conditional Green Card after your consular processing is done. The expiry of this Green Card happens in 2 years. However, if you show that your investment has resulted in the creation of at least 10 jobs in the USA, you can get a “remove conditions” applied on the Green Card.

This visa is processed and granted relatively faster than other visa options.

Green Card through Diversity Visa Lottery

Every year, the USA randomly chooses 50,000 immigrants and those immigrants’ immediate families to award them Green Cards via the Diversity Visa Lottery.

How can I enter the lottery?

The following conditions must be met to qualify for:

• you must originate from a country that doesn’t send a lot of immigrants to the US
• you must also possess at least one of the following:
  • a high school degree
  • 2 years of skilled work experience

It’s required for the lottery winners to apply for visas. Petitions filed are generally processed in a period under 14 months.

If you are willing to migrate to USA, talk to Y-Axis, the leading immigration and career consultant in the UAE.

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