Family-Based Adjustment of Status
Family – Based Adjustment of Status
Otherwise known as having a permanent resident card, green cards allow a foreign national to live and work in the United States. For people looking to relocate permanently after qualifying for asylum or for any other person of immigrant status wishing to stay in the United States long-term, applying for a green card may be the best option. At Miranda, Magden & Miranda, we have helped many clients apply for a green card and may be able to help you and your family, as well.
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Steps of
Family-Based Adjustment of Status
Green Card Eligibility
In order to apply for a green card, you must fall under one of a number of categories listed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). These categories break down into the specific reasons why you may qualify. In some cases, you may qualify under more than one reason for a green card, and an experienced immigration attorney will be able to help you figure out which is best for you.
- Green card through family: An Immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, another relative of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, fiancé of a U.S. citizen, widow(er) of a U.S. citizen, VAWA self-petitioner, etc.
- Green card through employment: Immigrant worker, physician national interest waiver, immigrant investor
- Green card as a special immigrant: Religious worker, special immigrant juvenile, Afghanistan or Iraq national, international broadcaster
- Green card refugee or asylee status
- Green card for human trafficking and crime victims
- Green card for victims of abuse: VAWA self-petitioner, U-visa, special immigrant juvenile, an abused spouse or child under the Cuban Adjustment Act or under the Haitian Refugee Immigrant Fairness Act
- Green card for other reasons: Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, Cuban Adjustment Act, dependent status under HRIFA, Lautenberg parolee, American Indian born in Canada, person born in the United States to a foreign diplomat
Green Card Application Process
Depending on the basis for the application for the green card, the application process may vary slightly. For example, those applying for a green card through family may need the qualifying family member to submit additional documentation, whereas someone applying as a special immigrant juvenile would not.
Generally, you or an immigration attorney will file the immigration petition with the USCIS. Once approved, and if there is a visa available in the category under which you are applying, you may submit an application for the green card. Next, you must submit to a biometrics appointment where an agent takes your fingerprints, photo, and gets a signature.
In many cases, you then go to an interview with an agent of the USCIS, where you review your application for the green card and answer any other questions the agent feels is relevant to your application. If you have inadmissibility that you need forgiveness for, you would submit your waiver/pardon for evaluation by the U.S. government. Your qualification for a waiver should be evaluated early in the immigration process by an experienced immigration attorney. Once all the steps are complete, you will receive a decision on your green card application which can take up to a year or more, depending on the basis of your application.
Our Immigration Attorneys can Help
If you would like to apply for a green card and live in Monterey County or a nearby county, our experienced immigration attorneys may be able to help. Call the office or contact us today to speak with one of our lawyers about the green card application process.
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