How to Get a Green Card

by Ilona Bray J.D.

Overview

The ultimate green card guide

The U.S. immigration system is an enormous bureaucracy, so it’s vital that you understand it before attempting to apply for a green card. Making a mistake can lead to delays and hassles or even ruin your chances for success.

How to Get a Green Card provides everything you need to know about qualifying for permanent U.S. residence if you don’t have an employer sponsoring you.

Find out how to work with U.S. officials and prepare and present the right documents at the right time to get a green card through:

•    parents, siblings, or adult children

•    a U.S. spouse or fiancé

•    green card lotteries (diversity visa)

•    political asylum or refugee status

•    a U visa for crime victims, or

•    another category you might qualify for.

The 15th edition covers the latest income requirements for family-based green card applicants; the lifting of country-based travel bans; lower procedural hurdles for U visa applicants; the addition of a COVID vaccination requirement; an increase in the number of refugees accepted to the United States; additions to the list of countries whose citizens may obtain Temporary Protected Status; and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781413331875
Publisher:	NOLO
Publication date:	05/28/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Ilona Bray, J.D. is an award-winning author and legal editor at Nolo, specializing in immigration law, real estate, and nonprofit fundraising. Many of her books are consistent Nolo bestsellers, among them Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits, U.S. Immigration Made Easy, and Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home. She particularly enjoys interviewing people and weaving their stories into her books.







Bray's working background includes solo practice, nonprofit, and corporate stints, as well as long periods of volunteering, including an internship at Amnesty International's main legal office in London. She received her law degree and a Master's degree in East Asian (Chinese) Studies from the University of Washington. In her spare time she enjoys writing children’s books, going to open houses, and gardening.

Table of Contents

Your Immigration Companion 1. Immigration Then and Now 2. All the Ways to Get a Green Card 3. Short-Term Alternatives to a Green Card 4. Will Inadmissibility Bar You From Getting a Green Card? 5. How Long You’ll Have to Wait 6. Fiancé and Fiancée Visas 7. Green Cards Through Marriage 8. Your Parents as Immigrants 9. Child Immigrants 10. Orphan Immigrants in Non-Hague-Convention Countries 11. The Diversity Visa Lottery 12. Your Brothers and Sisters as Immigrants 13. Refugees and Political Asylees 14. Military Veterans and Enlistees 15. Cancellation of Removal: Do Ten Illegal Years Equal One Green Card? 16. Adjustment of Status 17. Consular Processing 18. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals 19. U Visas for Crime Victims Assisting Law Enforcement 20. Acquiring Citizenship Through U.S. Citizen Parents 21. Filling Out and Submitting Immigration Applications 22. Tracking Your Application Through the System 23. Keeping, Renewing, and Replacing Your Green Card 24. How to Find and Work With a Lawyer Index

Interviews

While practicing immigration law, I helped hundreds of people obtain immigrant visas and green cards. Like other attorneys, I couldn’t believe how complex both the laws and the bureaucratic procedures were. There are simply too many ways for green-card applicants to make mistakes, and U.S. immigration officials sometimes further complicate matters by making mistakes of their own! Having switched from active law practice to writing, I am committed, with the help of a team of updaters, to making sure the average person, who lacks an employee sponsor, can understand the most likely ways to gain U.S. residence—as well as when and why it might be worth consulting with or hiring an attorney for assistance.

This book has been popular with readers for many years, and we make sure that every edition is completely reviewed, updated, and improved.

Editorial Reviews

"Provides a nuts-and-bolts guide on obtaining a green card to work and live in the United States..." Orange County Register

"Green card seekers: Look no further ... Asian Week.

"A definitive book that is also easy to read." Fort Worth Star Telegram

"Highly recommended." Library Journal

"Now in an updated 13th edition, How to Get a Green Card a user-friendly, step-by-step guide to determining whether one is eligible for permanent residence in the United States, and successfully applying for a "green card" document that grants that permission. Chapters offer in- depth assistance for filling out application forms, including plenty of sample forms. Since American law is constantly changing, How to Get a Green Card comes with free legal updates on immigration rules, accessible via the publisher's Nolo.com website. "Nonattorney practitioners, visa consults, [etc.] litter the immigration marketplace... be wary - especially if they promise you a green card without any hassle for a certain amount of money. Aside from the fact that it is unlawful to practice immigration law without being admitted by a state bar association, there is no way you can check on these individuals' expertise, and nowhere to complain if their services are poor." An index rounds out this absolute "must-have" for anyone considering earning their own green card." The Midwest Book Review

Author comments: While practicing immigration law, I helped hundreds of people obtain immigrant visas and green cards. Like other attorneys, I couldn’t believe how complex both the laws and the bureaucratic procedures were. There are simply too many ways for green-card applicants to make mistakes, and U.S. immigration officials sometimes further complicate matters by making mistakes of their own! Having switched from active law practice to writing, I am committed, with the help of a team of updaters, to making sure the average person, who lacks an employee sponsor, can understand the most likely ways to gain U.S. residence—as well as when and why it might be worth consulting with or hiring an attorney for assistance. This book has been popular with readers for many years, and we make sure that every edition is completely reviewed, updated, and improved.

From the Publisher