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There are four different ways of obtaining a green card or lawful permanent residency in the United States, these include: Employment based immigrants, Family sponsored immigrants (including Persons not subject to annual Green Card quota), Green Card Lottery/Diversity Immigrants and Refugees/Asylees.

1. Information about Different Immigration visas:
   1. Employment based Immigrants : The three types of priority workers include:
2. Aliens of” Extraordinary Ability” in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics (no labor certification required) (no offer of employment required);
3. Outstanding Researchers and Professors (no labor certification required); and
4. Multinational Executives and Managers (L-1 visa holders) (no labor certification required).
5. Aliens of “exceptional ability” in the sciences, arts, or business.
   1. Advanced Degree Professionals.
   2. Foreign professionals who have at least a Master’s degree or can prove exceptional ability in certain fields will qualify under this category. A person can qualify for a National Interest Waiver from Labor Certification if he/she can submit evidence of prospective contribution to improve U.S. economy, healthcare, environment, education, housing and culture. A person can obtain a permanent residency fairly quickly under this status, however the supporting documents have to be very well prepared.
6. Professionals having a bachelor’s degree not qualifying in the second preference.
7. Skilled workers who have at least two years of training and experience.
   1. To qualify under this category, the person requires to get a Labor Certification from the U.S. Department of Labor certifying that the employer was unsuccessful in recruiting qualified U.S. workers, and that the foreign workers skills are pertinent to the U.S. employer.
8. Religious workers: Priests, religious professionals, and workers can qualify for a permanent status if they meet certain requirements.
9. Investors: Persons who can invest one million dollars or $500,000 in certain high unemployment areas in a business venture in the U.S. and create ten new jobs for U.S. workers will qualify fore a legal permanent status.
10. Family based Immigration: The U.S. immigration law speaks about family unification. The law is designed to help families stay together. A permanent resident of the U.S. or an U.S. citizen can apply for certain relatives come to the U.S. with green cards. This is called Family Sponsorship. A person may qualify for a Family Based green card if he/she is the Immediate Relative of an U.S. citizen. Under this category there is no limit to the number of immigrant visas issued each year. A person may also qualify in a Family Based Preference group for which there is a limit, or quota, of 226,000 per year divided among the four preferences. The immediate relatives of U.S. citizen category include the following:
11. Spouses of a U.S. Citizen.
    1. Unmarried child (under 21) of a U.S. citizen.
    2. Parent of a U.S. citizen where the citizen is 21 years or older.
    3. Spouse of a deceased U.S. citizen, where at the time of the citizen’s death, the spouses have been married at least two years and were not legally, separated.

1. The family-based preferences are:
   1. First Family Based Preference: Adult unmarried sons and daughters (age 21 or older) of U.S. citizens
   2. Second Family Based Preference A: Spouse and unmarried sons and daughters under age 21 of permanent residents.
   3. Second Family Based Preference B: Unmarried children of any age of permanent residents.
   4. Third Family Based Preference: Married children of U.S. citizens.
   5. Fourth Relative Preference: Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens where the U.S. citizen is 21 years of age or older.

In the United States, every employer must complete the I-9 employment verification forms required by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  These documents help the U.S. Government to monitor the workforce and detect undocumented workers.  The increasingly strict oversight by these government agencies has brought immigration compliance issues to the attention of many businesses.

An individual seeking to be a student in the United States typically files for an F-1 visa (F-1 Nonimmigrant Student). A student in F-1 nonimmigrant status (Academic Student) is an individual who has been admitted to the United States as a full-time student at an accredited college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program.The student must be enrolled in a program or course of study that results in obtaining a degree, diploma, or certificate and the school must be authorized by the U.S. government to accept international students.

Adjustment of Status is an application filed by an individual already in the United States who wants to get a green card without returning to his or her home country. This process helps the individual to become a lawful permanent resident if the individual meets certain qualifications.

The first step in the process is to determine into what immigrant eligibility category the individual most appropriately fits. Typically, an individual becomes eligible for a Green Card through a petition filed on their behalf by either an employer or a family member. In addition to family-based and employment-based categories, there are also special classes of immigrants and humanitarian programs that render an individual eligible to adjust their status in the United States. It takes a skilled and seasoned immigration lawyer to uncover all of the possible ways an individual may legalize his or her status.