On getting a green card...?

Question

I've been told many things about getting a green card which I'm not sure are true and whatnot. I was just wondering how long does it roughly take to get one, is it quite hard to get one, has anyone moved from England to the U.S. that could tell me about the experience and what the process of getting the green card is.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The difficulty of getting a green card relates directly to what your basis is for applying for one.

The two most common ways of getting a green card are through family or employment sponsorship.

For family, US citizens or existing green card holders are allowed to petition for some of their relatives; US citizens may apply for their spouses, children of any age, parents, or siblings. Green card holders may apply for their spouses or unmarried children under 21. There are waiting lists for most of those immigrant types, except for spouses and parents of US citizens which have no wait on top of normal processing times.

Marrying a US citizen is by far the simplest, fastest method of getting a green card. Getting the appropriate visa, moving to America and applying for and getting a green card can all be done within a year (that whole process took about 11 months for me).

For employment-based sponsorship, usually you do not get sponsored for a green card by a US employer unless you've already been with them for a while on a temporary work visa, such as an H-1B which does not allow you to stay for more than 6 years.

There is also the diversity lottery, a.k.a. green card lottery, a yearly lottery organized by the US Department of State, which awards immigrant visas and green cards to up to 50,000 or 55,000 (I can't recall) applicants picked at random from millions of people who applied worldwide. However since you're a British citizen it's unlikely you are eligible to apply for the DV lottery because the UK has been sending too many people to the US and the whole point of the diversity lottery is... you guessed it... diversity.

You can check http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ on that topic.

There are other ways to get a green card but they're even more unlikely, or more complex, or more time-consuming.

You can read the following web site on the various ways that you can get a green card: http://www.uscis.gov/greencard

As the name indicates it's a US government web site; USCIS stands for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Answer 2

It will probably take a few years, at least

Answer 3

It will take approx. five years if you first get a work permit (H-1B).  It is quicker if you are transferred to the US by your company.  In spite of the economic woes in the US, the applications for work visas far exceeds the number available so get a visa even after getting a job offer is difficult.

Answer 4

I moved from the UK to the US in 2001. I was on a B1/B2 visa and was employed by our HQ in Sheffield. After 3 months, they sent me out to the US, I stayed for 6 months and then returned to the UK for 2 months, then came back to the US again and stayed for 8 months.  At first we tried for an L1 visa, but I didn't qualify. I came back to the US again on my B1/B2, and after 6 months the US side of the company sponsored me for an H1B visa, which I was approved for. I stayed here for 4 years on that and in that time met and fell in love with my husband.  We married in Nov last year and filed for my greencard in Dec 2007. I received my green card in Apr of this year.   Dealing with immigration requires a lot of patience and money.  You need to be REALLY organized and if you are using a lawyer, which I would recommend get a good one! I got stuck with a REALLY bad lawyer at first and it was awful. It is hard to get a green card, lots of paperwork, fees, interviews and a lot of heartache, but worth it in the end! Good luck.