Green Cards & Permanent Residence
How to get and keep a green card: the paths to permanent residence, adjustment of status vs. consular processing, conditional residence, renewals, and keeping your status while you travel.
All Green Cards & Permanent Residence guides
- Consular Processing Explained
How consular processing works: NVC, DS-260, the medical exam and interview abroad, and how it differs from adjustment of status.
- Adjustment of Status Explained (Form I-485)
How adjustment of status (Form I-485) works: eligibility, the filing package, work/travel permission while pending, and the interview.
- How to Get a Green Card: The Main Paths to Permanent Residence
The four main roads to a U.S. green card - family, employment, humanitarian, and the diversity lottery - plus registry, explained in plain terms.
- Keeping Your Green Card: Travel and Abandonment Risks
How long trips abroad can put a green card at risk, the 6-month and 1-year lines, reentry permits, and how to protect your status.
- Green Card Renewal and Replacement (Form I-90)
Your green card can expire, but your permanent resident status does not. Here's how Form I-90 renewal/replacement works and why it still matters.
- Conditional Green Cards and Removing Conditions (Form I-751)
If your green card is conditional (2 years, marriage under 2 years old), you must file Form I-751 in a strict 90-day window or lose status.
- Employment-Based Green Cards Explained
A plain-English overview of EB-1 through EB-5 green cards, PERM labor certification, employer sponsorship, and priority dates.