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Getting a Green Card

DOUG JOHNSON: Our question this week comes from two listeners. One in Mongolia and another in Nigeria want to know how to get a “green card” from the United States government.

A green card is an official document identifying a person as a permanent resident of the United States. It does not give citizenship to the card holder but permits him or her to live and work legally in the country.

There are many ways to get a green card and the process can take several years. One common way is through family members who have American citizenship. The United States gives special consideration to husbands, wives, children and parents of American citizens.

Example of a green card

Green card holders can also nominate their husbands, wives and children for green cards.

A foreign citizen who has been offered a job in the United States can request a green card. The employer would serve as sponsor in that case.

There are also green card qualifiers for some non-citizens who invest in America, for refugees and asylum seekers.

Still all these paths leave out many people who want a green card. So, each year the United States carries out a lottery that provides about fifty thousand green cards to lucky winners. The official name of the lottery is the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. It is meant to welcome more people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.