10 ways to get a Green Card

Every year, millions of people around the world apply for a Green Card to live and work in the USA indefinitely. However, not every path to the desirable US immigrant visa is suitable for every applicant. We explain 10 Green Card processes and help you with your application.

#1. Green Card Lottery

The Green Card Lottery (also known as the DV Lottery) enables 55,000 people from all over the world to live and work in the USA without restrictions every year. Due to the random drawing principle of the lottery, people from participating countries have a fair chance of winning a Green Card - provided they manage the application process flawlessly.

Insider tip: increase your Green Card chances

As a participant in the Green Card Lottery, you can double or even triple your chances of getting a Green Card! Here's how it works:

DoubleChance for married couples

If you win the Green Card, your spouse will also automatically receive the right to a Permanent Resident Card. This doubles your chances of winning if you participate in the Green Card Lottery simultaneously.

Even unmarried couples can still get married after receiving the winning notification and then apply for the Green Card together. Another advantage of the DoubleChance for married couples: with The American Dream, your partner automatically receives a discount on participation.

Triple chance for participants under 21

If you are under 21 and unmarried, you can triple your chance to win a Green Card by asking your parents to enter the Green Card Lottery as well.

If one of your parents wins the Green Card, then - just like when a spouse wins - you automatically become eligible for a Green Card as well.

Triple chance for families with adult children

If your offspring wins the Green Card Lottery, you as parents do not immediately get the right to a Green Card. However, you can follow your child to the USA a few years after emigrating to the USA.

To do this, your child must apply for US citizenship after five years as a Green Card holder. As a naturalized citizen of the United States, your descendant can then apply to bring you to the US as an immediate relative.

#2. Green Card through the workplace

Getting a Green Card through a job in the United States is a huge challenge, but it is possible. Be prepared for a lot of red tape and long wait times.

The employment-based Green Card is available for the following groups - unless a US citizen could also occupy the job they want to fill in the USA:

• Individuals with an advanced degree (e.g., master's or doctorate) and an additional five years of work experience in their field
• Qualified workers and professionals with at least two years of education or work experience

As proof of the need for staffing with a non-American, your future employer in the USA must first obtain a Labor Certification¹ from the U.S. Department of Labor.

#3. Green Card for extraordinary ability

If you have exceptional skills in a particular area of art, science, academic work, or management that can greatly benefit the USA, you may apply for what is known as an EB-1A Green Card.

In this fast-track immigration process, the immigration authorities waive the time-consuming Labor Certification, and you may file your Green Card application yourself.

There are several prerequisites for the three EB-1A Green Card categories of "Extraordinary Ability," "Outstanding professors and researchers," and "Certain Multinational manager or executive." Still, you do not have to meet all of them simultaneously.

Examples of EB-1A requirements:

• You have a record of outstanding achievement in a particular field (e.g., an Olympic medal, a Pulitzer Prize, or an Academy Award).
• Articles have been published about you in professional journals or other major media.
• You have had a leadership or decision-making role in prestigious organizations.
• You have a high salary or significantly higher compensation than others in your industry.

You must also prove that you will work in your field of expertise after immigrating to the United States.

#4. Green Card through family members

If you are an unmarried child under the age of 21 or a parent of a US citizen over the age of 21, you have the immediate right to a family-based Green Card! To apply for this, all you have to do is prove your family relationship.

The application process is somewhat more lengthy if you are a descendant of a US citizen who is already over 21 years of age or a brother or sister of a US citizen over 21 years of age.

Even as a US citizen's widow(er), you can get a Green Card under certain conditions if you apply within two years of being widowed.

#5. Green Card through adoption

Are you under 21, unmarried, and have been adopted by a US citizen? Then you can get a Green Card. There are different processes depending on whether you are already in the United States or still abroad.

For full information on the Green Card by adoption, please visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

#6. Green Card through an investment in the USA

If you have enough financial means, you might qualify for a Green Card through investment. There are two categories:

• $ 1,050,000 investment capital for a US business of your choice
• $ 800,000 investment capital for a company located in a more rural region of the USA with high unemployment

The investment can also be in gear, products, or certificates of deposit and must create at least ten full-time jobs for US citizens within two years.

#7. Religious Worker Green Card

If you perform religious work in a full-time paid position in the USA on an R-1 visa, you may apply for a Green Card based on your employment. For this, you file the application as a "Special Immigrant."

This requires that you work for a religious organization that exists in the United States or is at least affiliated with a religious denomination in the US.

Note: The opportunity for a religion-based Green Card has an expiration date. Most recently, US President Joe Biden extended it until September 30th, 2024. Further extensions are possible but not guaranteed.

#8. Green Card through marriage

By marrying a US citizen, you acquire the right to a Green Card through marriage. However, you and your spouse will need to invest a lot of time and nerves in this process, as US immigration authorities are particularly vigilant for fear of sham marriages.

Be prepared for the following hurdles in the Green Card process:

• unreasonably short deadlines for submitting evidence
• denials of applications without prior requests for evidence
• precise questions about your life together

If your wedding is still pending, you can first apply for the K-1 fiancé visa to enter the US and marry within 90 days.

#9. Green Card for refugees

Dear reader, there is hope. If you are a refugee or asylum seeker and have been in the United States for at least one year, you are eligible to apply for the Green Card. To be precise, the application is even mandatory if you want to remain in the US.

You must meet the following criteria:

• You have been admitted as a refugee or asylum seeker under the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act).
• You are in the United States at the time of application.

The Green Card application process for refugees and asylum seekers is similar to the “Adjustment of Status” process that helps many other individuals with temporary resident status in the USA obtain a Green Card.

#10. Green Card through Adjustment of Status

If you are already in the United States on a non-immigrant visa, you may be able to obtain a Green Card through status adjustment.

Requirements:

• You are present in the USA.
• You entered the US lawfully on a US visa.
• Your right of residence has not expired.
• You have never worked in the USA illegally.

You must also fall into one category of people eligible for a Green Card - such as having outstanding qualifications or talents, a paying job in the US, American family members, or refugee status.

The easiest way to get a Green Card

Looking at the 10 ways to get a Green Card, it becomes clear that for most people, the only chance to live and work in the US indefinitely is to participate in the annual Green Card Lottery.

But also, for all other US immigrant visa aspirants, it is strongly advisable to have a parallel ticket in the lottery pot, given the long waiting times and enormous hurdles along other Green Card routes.

Submit your application for the current Green Card Lottery DV-2026 today - it's just a few clicks, and your chances of getting a Green Card are tremendously high!

Footnote index

¹ Document issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) showing that there are no qualified US workers available for a particular position offered to a foreign national
² U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, federal Immigration and Nationality Service of the United States.
³ Checking the home and life of the adoptive parents