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Top 10 Green Card Articles
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Top 10 Green Card Articles

The immigration process is complicated, stressful, and time-consuming. In order to minimize the time that you spend running around in circles or filling out the wrong documents, get to know the process with these article and then find out if an immigration attorney can help you.

1. Introduction to Green Cards

Do you know the immigration visa categories or which agency grants green cards? This article will give you the basics of Green Cards, answering any who, what, when, and how-type questions you may have. You may also wish to review the LegalMatch Green Card FAQ article.

2. Green Card Application

There are several administrative tasks necessary to receive a Green Card. Read this article to find out where to find your immigration form, costs associated with the application, and what steps are necessary before submitting the application.

3. Green Card Photo Requirements

Within six months of submitting your immigration application, you need to take an official picture to be used for your Green Card. Similar to passport photos, these photos have specific rules about photos include the size, background, and position.

4. Green Card Lottery

50,000 people each year are admitted as Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) through the Green Card Lottery, which goes by several names including Diversity Lottery, DV Lottery, Visa Lottery, US Visa Lottery, and USA Visa Lottery. Eligibility requirements to enter the lottery include receiving a high school diploma or completing at least two years job experience that would require training in the U.S., not being convicted of certain crimes, and being from an eligible country (eligible countries rotate each year).

5. Family Green Card Lawyers

There are a number of different family categories that you may fall into. Depending on which category you fall into, you may be able to bypass certain requirements. There are also special categories that encompass nontraditional family situations such as widow or widower status, battered spouse, or child of diplomat.

6. Child Status Protection Act

The Child Status Protection Act protects people who have "aged out" of the children’s immigration application process. Someone ages out by turning 21, and thus becoming an adult, during the process. By filling out specific forms, the child can be protected from losing child status, which may help him or her gain LPR status.

7. Marriage Green Cards

Gaining LPR status because of marriage is a separate process than the Green Card lottery discussed above and you may try both routes. Because of the concern of fraudulent marriage for the purpose of obtaining a Green Card, there are a lot more requirements for people getting LPR status based on marriage. This article outlines the extra requirements for receiving LPR status based on marriage including affidavits, medical examinations, and biographical information.

8. Green Card Renewal

Although the your LPR doesn’t expire, the physical Green Card does. Using an expired Green Card may cause confusion as to your LPR status and the hassles that go along with that confusion. This article will walk you through the steps to renewing your Green Card.

9. Green Card Replacement

Even if your Green Card has not expired, it may need to be replaced to reflect certain changes. These changes include changes in status, change of address, or erroneous data.

10. Traveling Outside the U.S. Without a Green Card

There are serious consequences for traveling outside the U.S. without your Green Card or appropriate alternative documentation including not being admitted back into the U.S. or having your immigration application be considered "abandoned." This article outlines what you can do in order to travel with the appropriate documentation.

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Law Library Staff

  • Rachel Wenzel

    LegalMatch Law Library Managing Editor

    Attorney at Law