Factors Impacting Your Eligibility for a Green Card

To apply for a green card, one must go through a legal process that can be cumbersome and sometimes very frustrating, especially in how long the process takes. While some of the time it takes to process a green card application is due to processing backlogs created by caps in the number of visas available each year, other delays are due to shoddy filing by the applicant with incomplete or missing information. Kriezelman Burton & Associates, LLC, can help those seeking to apply for green cards in the Chicago area to do so successfully. We also take immigration cases for clients in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Eligibility for Green Card Application

Obtaining a Green Card is something many non-US citizens aspire to accomplish, whether they are here in the United States or outside the country. A Green Card is desirable for many because it allows the holder of that status the ability to live permanently in the United States and to work. The status also puts one on a pathway to U.S. citizenship, which can be obtained after 3 or 5 years of being a Green Card holder, depending on how one obtains their Green Card. 

The following are the common ways one obtains a Green Card in the United States:

• Through family;
• Through employment;
• As a Special Immigrant;
• Through refugee or asylee status;
• As human trafficking or crime victim;
• As a victim of abuse;

However, obtaining a green card is not always as easy as some people can attest. To begin with, to apply for a green card, one must demonstrate that they are eligible to apply. Several factors are considered to determine whether one is eligible to apply, and these are:

• Having a qualifying family member through which the green card is sought, and these are typically a U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident spouse or child.
• Having a job or job offer in the U.S. and the prospective employer has done the necessary to have their petition for your employment visa application considered.
• If you are self-petitioning as an entrepreneur, demonstrating that you have enough money to create a company in the U.S.; or,
• If you are a refugee or seeking asylum, you meet the definition of a refugee.

Although this is not an exhaustive list of all the factors considered in determining eligibility to apply for a green card, these are some of the most common factors considered, and failure to satisfy any that applies to your case could render your application rejected and not considered at all.

Moreover, just because one satisfies the eligibility criteria to apply for a green card does not mean that they will therefore have their green card application automatically approved. Rather, meeting the eligibility criteria only moves the application to the next step in the process, and this is where the application will be subject to thorough examination and interrogation to render a final decision on whether to approve or not.

Discuss Your Situation With an Illinois Green Card Attorney

If you are contemplating applying for a Green Card, contact our office and speak to one of our experienced immigration attorneys about your situation. Although we are based in Chicago, we also take cases in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.