Chapter 14 Introduction to Lawful Permanent Residence (the ‘Green Card’)

• Jurisdiction: United States

Physicians seeking to come to the United States to train generally enter with a nonimmigrant visa and usually stay in nonimmigrant status for several years. Physicians choosing to remain in the United States indefinitely typically need to convert at some point to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. This is the so-called “green card.” The term “immigrant visa” refers to the visa used to enter the country as an LPR. The various terms: “lawful permanent residence,” “permanent resident,” “LPR,” “permanent residence,” “green card,” and “immigrant visa” are used throughout this book and all refer to the same concept.

There are a number of avenues to obtaining a green card in the United States. Some are based on a physician’s work. Others are based on family sponsorship. There are less common avenues to obtaining a green card, including investing a significant sum of money in a business that creates jobs for U.S. workers, entering an annual green-card lottery, and filing for permanent residence after obtaining asylum status. But because the majority of foreign physicians obtain permanent residence based on their work or family sponsorship, those are the areas that this book examines.

What is lawful permanent residence?

As its name implies, lawful permanent residence allows individuals to remain indefinitely in the United States. Nonimmigrant status, on the other hand, requires the visa holder to meet requirements particular to the visa category and is limited in duration. As noted above, the majority of permanent residents in the United States gain their status via family sponsorship or in an employment category.

What is the difference between having a green card and having citizenship?

While green-card holders can remain in the United States and work in almost any kind of job without the need for employer sponsorship, there are several important differences between permanent residence (having a green card) and citizenship. Three of the most important are the following:

1. Citizens can vote and serve on juries.

2. Citizenship is truly permanent; lawful permanent residence can be lost if a person goes abroad for an extended period and is deemed to have abandoned U.S. residence or commits a criminal offense that makes one removable.

3. Citizens are given priority in terms of sponsoring family members for permanent residence.

What are the categories of permanent residence?

• Family sponsorship—U.S. citizens and LPRs can sponsor relatives in various categories; there are quotas for certain categories that can cause backlogs for many years.

• Employment-based—Individuals engaged in certain types of employment or investments can seek green cards in five employment-based preference categories.

• Asylees and refugees—Those admitted as refugees or granted asylum in the United States are eligible for permanent residence one year after receiving refugee or asylee status.

• Registry—Individuals in the United States continuously since 1972, and who can show good moral character, are eligible for permanent residence; note that those subject to the J-1 home residence requirement are not eligible for the registry without a waiver.

• Cancellation of removal—Individuals in the United States for 10 or more years, who have good moral character and whose removal would cause an extreme hardship to a spouse, parent, or child, may seek permanent residence while in removal proceedings.

• Diversity immigrant visas—People from certain countries are eligible to participate each year in an annual green-card lottery.

• Legalization—In 1986, a law was passed allowing certain individuals to apply for permanent residence if they had been in the United States for several years and were out of status. For the past 10 years, the U.S. Congress has debated creating a new legalization program.

What are the family green-card categories?

The family green-card program is divided between “immediate relatives” and various preference categories. Immediate relatives include spouses of U.S. citizens, parents of adult U.S. citizens, and minor children of U.S. citizens. The following are the family preference categories:

• First preference (F1)—unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.

• Second preference (F-2A)—spouses and minor children of LPRs.

• Second preference (F-2B)—unmarried adult sons and daughters of LPRs.

• Third preference (F3)—married sons or daughters of U.S. citizens.

• Fourth preference (F4)—siblings of U.S. citizens.

How does immigration law define “spouse,” “parent,” and “child”?

A spousal relationship can serve as the basis for an immigrant petition if it involves a marriage that is legally valid; is recognized in the place where it was created; and the marriage is not one entered into solely for immigration reasons. Same-sex marriages may be recognized for immigration purposes if the marriage was legal in the place where the marriage occurred.

Those who receive a green card based on a marriage to a U.S. citizen where the marriage is less than two years old at the time of being granted permanent residence will receive a two-year conditional green card. An unconditional green card can be sought after two years if the marriage is intact or, if the couple is no longer together, the green-card holder can demonstrate that the marriage was not solely immigration-based.

A parent includes biological parents, stepparents when the stepparent relationship with the child was created before the child turned 18, and certain adoptive parents. Out-of-wedlock children can petition for their parents if they can document the parent-child relationship (such as by a DNA test or evidence the parent has supported the child).

For sibling petitions, the U.S...