"Immigrant" is a specific term of law, meaning a "lawful permanent resident" who is entitled to reside in the U.S. permanently. Immigrants are also popularly called holders of "green cards."

Immigrants are predominantly sponsored by a U.S. family member or business entity through a process that is further described below. Immigration law permits few "aliens" to become permanent residents independently of a U.S. sponsor.

Many people believe that individuals receive permanent residence simply upon marrying a U.S. citizen. This is not correct. The citizen spouse must file an immigrant visa petition for the noncitizen spouse, and demonstrate that the marriage is bona fide and that the foreign national spouse will have sufficient economic support. Furthermore, foreign-spouses may be denied green cards despite their marriage to a U.S. citizen if they previously have committed immigration violations or crimes.

Another common misperception is that any U.S. citizen can sponsor any foreign-born individual for a green card. In fact, only immediate family members, such as parents, step-parents, siblings, and adult children can sponsor a family member. Businesses may sponsor aliens only when strict wage, skills and other requirements are met.

Numerical limitations and waiting lists. Yearly immigration is numerically limited by statute. There is a uniform "per country" limit for annual immigration from each foreign country. In addition, a complicated statutory formula determines the annual category limits on family-sponsored and employment-based immigration.

Because yearly immigration is numerically limited both by category and by country, most immigrant categories have waiting periods (this is known as "waiting for the person’s ‘priority date’ to become current"). All immigrants wait at least several months for visa paperwork processing. In categories that are backlogged, the waiting list may be one year to as many as 20 years long. For example, the spouse or minor child of a lawful permanent resident currently faces a wait of approximately five years while an unmarried adult son or daughter of a permanent resident has a wait of more than eight years. The Department of State publishes a monthly update with visa processing information and times. http://travel.state.gov/visa_bulletin.html.

Although most immigrants come through the family-sponsored and employment-based categories described below, Congress has enacted laws allowing special populations to obtain legal permanent residence that eventually leads to U.S. citizenship. For example, a limited number of individuals are able to obtain lawful permanent residence each year through a diversity lottery program. In addition, individuals from a few designated countries, including Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, may qualify through unique programs. In 1986, a one-time legalization program was enacted, enabling more than 3 million formerly undocumented aliens to obtain green cards and permitting their immediate family members to live and work in the United States until they obtain immigrant status through the regular immigration system.

Family-sponsored immigration. Only certain close relatives may be sponsored by U.S. family members to become permanent residents. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents may serve as sponsors. About 70 percent of all immigrants admitted each year are family-sponsored. The table below describes the limitations on family-sponsored immigration.

FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRANTS

8 USC §1153(a)

U.S. Sponsor	Relationship	Category	Number of Visas Allocated
U.S. Citizen (USC)	Spouse, unmarried minor child, or parent (parents are eligible only if the sponsoring USC child is 21 or older)	Immediate Relative	No annual limit
USC	Unmarried adult son or daughter	1st Preference	23,400 visas/year
Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)	Spouse or minor child	2nd A Preference	87,900 visas/year
LPR	Unmarried adult son or daughter	2nd B Preference	26,300 visas/year
USC	Married adult son or daughter	3rd Preference	23,400 visas/year
USC	Brother and sister (if the sponsoring USC sibling is 21 or older)	4th Preference	65,000 visas/year

Employment-based immigration. U.S. immigration law very specifically limits the type of alien employees who may receive green cards based on employment skills. Almost all are highly educated or highly trained workers. Most categories require a sponsoring employer and a prior labor market test to ensure that no U.S. worker is available for the job.

EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS

8 USC §1153(b)

Preference Category	Description	Visas Allocated
1st Preference	Priority workers - executives, managers, outstanding professors and researchers, persons of extraordinary ability.	40,000
2nd Preference	Persons with an advanced degree or the equivalent, and persons with exceptional ability.	40,000
3rd Preference	Persons who are skilled workers, professionals and other workers. "Other workers" are workers who may perform low skilled labor and who are not temporary or seasonal. (The "other workers" subcategory is limited to 5,000 visas per year).	40,000
4th Preference	"Special immigrants": including special immigrant religious workers.	10,000
5th Preference	Employment creation (immigrant investors).	10,000

 

Obtaining Lawful Permanent Residence.

Basic procedures for obtaining an immigrant visa. The U.S. family member or employer files the visa petition on the intending immigrant’s behalf with Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) in the Department of Homeland Security. BCIS adjudicates the petition and, if it is approved, forwards it to the Department of State’s (DOS) visa processing center. The approved petition is held by DOS until the individual’s number comes up in the waiting line (a period that ranges from several months to more than 20 years, depending on the visa category). The individual obtains a passport from his or her home country. When the intending immigrant's turn in line arrives, he or she is contacted by DOS and directed to complete additional processing information. The individual submits this additional information, including fingerprints (for criminal background checks) and police clearance letters, a medical examination, and information relating to income and resources. The person receives a visa appointment, and is examined for admissibility by a U.S. consulate abroad, or, in certain situations, by BCIS in the United States. If the visa application is approved abroad, the individual is issued an immigrant visa by the consulate and presents this information upon arrival at the U.S. border, where he or she is admitted as an immigrant. If the application is approved in the United States, the alien is granted "adjustment of status" to permanent residence. Sometime thereafter the BCIS issues a permanent resident ("green") card.

Demonstrating admissibility. All aliens must show that they are not "inadmissible" under certain statutory grounds when they apply for a visa. 8 USC § 1182(a). Before obtaining immigrant status, foreign nationals must establish that: (1) they fit into an immigration category (for example, child of a U.S. citizen) and (2) they are admissible. They must also demonstrate admissibility when they arrive at a U.S. entry point for the first time, and generally must do so every subsequent time that they return to the United States after a trip abroad (even if they are long-time lawful permanent residents).

Examples of grounds of inadmissibility:

• Health grounds, including being a drug abuser or addict, and certain communicable diseases of public health significance;
• Many different criminal grounds, including being a known or suspected drug trafficker (no conviction is necessary), or having committed certain types of criminal acts;
• Security grounds, including Communist Party membership, being suspected of "terrorist activity," or being someone whose presence would have "serious adverse foreign policy consequences";
• Public charge grounds: the individual must show that he or she is not likely to become primarily dependent on the Government for subsistence;
• A wide range of immigration violations, including misrepresentation, alien smuggling, and previous illegal presence in the U.S.

Benefits and responsibilities of lawful permanent residence. Lawful permanent residence has a number of advantages over other immigration statuses, as well as many responsibilities. Immigrants may live in the U.S. permanently, and travel in and out of the country without further permission. They may work in most jobs, and may move from job to job without additional authorization. After a certain period of U.S. residence, they may apply to become U.S. citizens. They also have some limited eligibility for public benefits. Immigrants must pay U.S. taxes to the same extent as U.S. citizens, register for selective service, and obey all U.S. laws. Immigrants (as well as all other noncitizens) are always subject to removal from the U.S. for malfeasance.