How to Get Permanent Residence in the U.S.

Only an immigrant visa gives you the right to settle in the U.S. permanently: to live freely wherever you choose in the United States and to take any job. Permanent residents receive an identity document known as a green card. Getting an immigrant visa is not easy. You must have grounds to apply and be prepared for a long wait. Most often, two roads lead to a green card: sponsorship by a close relative or by an employer. There is also a visa lottery, open only to people from countries with the lowest rates of immigration to the U.S.

The key stages of applying for a green card

The petition

In most cases, if you want to live permanently in the United States, you need a sponsor: an immediate family member or a U.S. employer. The sponsor files a petition on your behalf, a formal request to recognize you as eligible for a green card. The person filing the petition is called the petitioner, and the sponsored foreign national is the beneficiary.

A family member sponsoring you completes Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and files it with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – by mail or online – along with documents proving the family relationship. An employer-sponsor completes, among other forms, Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers.

Labor Certification

If an employer is sponsoring you, you will probably need a Labor Certification from the U.S. Department of Labor. The employer files the application (Form ETA-9089) online through the PERM program. To obtain this document, your future employer must prove that it cannot find a qualified American or permanent resident to fill the vacant position. It will have to place advertisements, including in the press, and show that no able, willing and qualified U.S. worker is available to take the job.

Getting a Labor Certification is a difficult process, and you will probably need a lawyer’s help. Exempt from the Labor Certification requirement are priority workers in the employment first preference category, as well as people who obtain a waiver on the grounds of the U.S. national interest (National Interest Waiver, see below).

Waiting, waiting, waiting…

If you applied for an immigrant visa under one of the preference categories, the granting of your visa is subject to annual limits. A set number of immigrant visas is issued each year. You will have to wait your turn. Applications are processed in the order they are received. When petitions arrive at USCIS, they are stamped with the date of receipt, called the priority date. In employment cases that require a Labor Certification, the priority date is the date the Department of Labor accepted the application. That date determines your place in line.

You can follow how fast the line is moving by reading the Visa Bulletin, published monthly by the Department of State. Each issue contains tables showing, for each preference category and country, the priority date from which visas are being issued that month (Final Action Dates).

You can find the latest Visa Bulletin free of charge online, on the Department of State website: travel.state.gov (Visa Bulletin).

Filing a petition does not by itself give you the right to stay in the United States while you wait for your green card. If you decide to remain in the U.S. anyway and your temporary visa expires, you will become an “undocumented” alien.

The visa application

Once USCIS approves your sponsor’s petition, the next steps depend on where you live.

Consular processing

If you are waiting for your green card outside the U.S., USCIS forwards your case to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC sends you a welcome letter with access to an online system where you pay the visa fees, upload your sponsor’s Affidavit of Support and your documents, and fill out the application for a permanent residence visa for yourself and your immediate family (Form DS-260, Immigrant Visa Electronic Application). When your turn comes, that is, when a visa from the annual pool becomes available to you, the NVC schedules an interview at the consulate. Citizens and residents of Poland have it at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw. You go through a medical exam. Your criminal history will also be checked. Finally, you have a personal interview with a consular officer. If everything is in order and you are not found to be inadmissible (formerly called excludable), you will receive an immigrant visa. The visa is usually valid for up to six months, and you must cross the U.S. border within that time. Before you travel, you must also pay USCIS the so-called USCIS Immigrant Fee – until you pay it, USCIS will not issue your green card.

At the U.S. border (usually at the airport), an immigration officer stamps the immigrant visa in your passport, confirming that you entered as a lawful immigrant. The visa bears the words: “Upon endorsement serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residence for 1 year”. The stamped visa means you are a U.S. permanent resident, and for one year from the date of entry it serves as temporary proof of that status. Your green card will arrive by mail. In the meantime, however, you are free to travel and to take a job.

Adjustment of status in the U.S.

People who are in the U.S. legally and apply for a green card file an application for adjustment of status with USCIS on Form I-485 and receive their permanent residence document from USCIS. You can file the application once a visa is available to you (in the preference categories – when the Visa Bulletin allows it).

Aliens who broke the law by crossing the border illegally, overstaying their visa or working without authorization can also obtain a green card in the U.S. if they pay a $1,000 penalty fee, but only if a petition or Labor Certification application was filed on their behalf no later than April 30, 2001 (if it was filed after January 14, 1998, they also had to be physically present in the U.S. on December 21, 2000). The provision that allows a green card to be obtained in the U.S. is called section 245(i).

Regardless of section 245(i), immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (that is, spouses, minor children and parents) can obtain a green card in the U.S. even if they overstayed their visa or worked without authorization – provided they entered the U.S. legally, that is, were inspected and admitted or paroled at the border.

Other people who are in the U.S. illegally must go back to Poland and go through consular processing (see above). These people are automatically barred from re-entering the U.S. for:

• 3 years, if they stayed in the U.S. illegally for more than 180 days but less than one year,
• 10 years, if their unlawful stay lasted one year or longer.

A waiver of the bar can be obtained if denying the visa would cause extreme hardship to a spouse or parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Some people – including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens – can apply for such a waiver (Form I-601A) before leaving the U.S. for their consular interview.

Green card applicant categories

The law divides prospective immigrants into a number of groups called preference categories, or “preferences” for short. When applying for a green card, keep this division in mind, because the waiting time for your case depends on your preference category. For example, immediate family members of U.S. citizens have the highest priority. Among the employment categories, people of extraordinary ability are admitted ahead of unskilled workers.

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens

If you are an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, you are in a privileged position. You are not subject to visa limits and do not have to wait in line, although processing the application itself can take many months.

Immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen include:

• spouses of citizens;
• unmarried children of citizens under the age of 21;
• parents of U.S. citizens who are at least 21 years old;
• widows or widowers of deceased U.S. citizens. The foreign national must have been married to the citizen at the time of the citizen’s death, may not remarry, and should file the petition (Form I-360) within 2 years of the spouse’s death. The old requirement of at least 2 years of marriage was abolished in 2009.

To bring you to the U.S., your American relative files a petition for an immigrant visa with USCIS on Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. The procedure is simple, and you should generally be able to manage without a lawyer. If you live outside the U.S., the approved petition will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC), and you will have your visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw (see “Consular processing” above). If you live in the U.S., you can get your green card here (see “Adjustment of status in the U.S.” above).

Preference categories

Each year the United States issues at least 226,000 immigrant visas in the family categories and at least 140,000 in the employment categories. No more than 7% of the family and employment pools may go to any one country, which gives a limit of 25,620 a year regardless of the country’s size. This is why citizens of large countries or countries with high immigration to the U.S., such as China, India, Mexico or the Philippines, have to wait in line longer than citizens of smaller countries.

There are many visa categories, and all are subject to annual limits (only immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are exempt from the limits). Future immigrants are classified in various categories called preferences.

Family-based green cards

1. Family first preference: unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. This category covers people who are 21 or older and single (unmarried minor children count as immediate relatives of the citizen). 23,400 visas are issued in this category each year. The wait for a green card ranges from several years to well over a decade, depending on the country of origin.
2. Family second preference: spouses and unmarried children (of any age) of U.S. permanent residents. 114,200 visas are issued in this category each year. The second category is split into two subgroups:
   2A: spouses and minor children of permanent residents; they receive 77% of the pool, or 87,934 visas a year, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limits;
   2B: adult unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents over the age of 21; 23% of the pool, or 26,266 visas a year.
3. Family third preference: married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. The annual allocation in this category is 23,400 visas.
4. Family fourth preference: brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Only citizens who are at least 21 years old can file a petition for a sibling. Although 65,000 visas are issued in this category each year, for some countries the line is longer than 20 years.

Employment-based green cards

1. Employment first preference – priority workers; 28.6% of the worldwide employment pool, or about 40,000 visas a year:

• 1A: People of extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business or athletics can apply for permanent residence in the U.S. by sponsoring themselves. They need neither a sponsor nor Department of Labor approval. They must, however, prove their achievements internationally and in their home country by presenting documentation of their international and national awards and accomplishments. They must also document that their residence in the U.S. will bring the country tangible benefits;
• 1B: Outstanding professors and researchers must come to the U.S. intending to work at a university or to conduct research for a private company. The petition is filed for them by the U.S. employer offering them the job. They must present evidence of international recognition in their field;
• 1C: Managers and executives of multinational companies.

2. Employment second preference: professionals holding advanced degrees or people of exceptional ability. This category receives 28.6% of the worldwide employment pool each year, plus any unused visas from the first category:

• 2-A: To qualify as a professional with an advanced degree, you must hold a doctorate or master’s degree from an accredited university. A holder of a bachelor’s degree (awarded on completion of college) may also fall into this category if he or she can prove at least 5 years of progressively responsible work in the specialty (progressive experience) after earning the degree;
• 2-B: Professionals of exceptional ability must prove their achievements, just like people of extraordinary ability. The term “exceptional ability” means somewhat less than “extraordinary ability”, and it is enough to prove your achievements at the national rather than the international level. You can act as your own sponsor and be exempted from Department of Labor certification if you prove that your coming would be in the interest of the United States (National Interest Waiver).

3. Employment third preference: professionals, skilled workers and unskilled workers. People in this group must present a job offer from a U.S. employer that matches their experience and qualifications. The annual allocation in this category is 28.6% of visas plus any unused visas from the first and second categories.

• 3-A: Professionals who do not belong to the “advanced degree” group must hold at least a bachelor’s degree;
• 3-B: Skilled workers are those who work in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience;
• 3-C: Unskilled workers are those whose work requires less than two years of training (the job may not be temporary or seasonal). Of the roughly 40,000 visas, no more than 10,000 a year go to this group, which makes the wait for a green card long. Category 3C appears in the Visa Bulletin as “Other Workers”.

4. Employment fourth preference: certain special immigrants, including religious workers; 7.1% of the worldwide employment pool, or about 10,000 visas. This category includes, among others:

• ministers, professionals working in a religious vocation and other employees of religious organizations;
• certain foreign employees of the U.S. government;
• Panama Canal employees.

5. Employment fifth preference: investors. If you have a spare million dollars (more precisely, $1,050,000), this is the category for you. Uncle Sam will gladly hand you a green card if you agree to invest that sum to create a business that will employ 10 Americans (citizens or permanent residents) full time. This category receives 7.1% of the worldwide employment pool, of which 32% is set aside for investments in rural areas (20%), in high-unemployment areas (10%) and in infrastructure projects (2%). In so-called targeted employment areas, that is, rural or high-unemployment areas, as well as in infrastructure projects, the investment amount is reduced to $800,000. These amounts apply to petitions filed since March 15, 2022, and on January 1, 2027, they will be raised automatically.

Refugees and asylees

Refugees and asylees are people who leave their country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, nationality, religion, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. The United States has traditionally taken in persecuted people.

Refugees must apply for that status before entering the U.S.; people seeking asylum (asylees) are already on U.S. soil and do not need a sponsor. There is no numerical limit on grants of asylum, but asylum applications must be very well substantiated. Economic need is not a ground for granting asylum or a refugee visa. Since the fall of communism in Poland, asylum visas are no longer granted to Poles.

The Diversity Visa program, or the visa lottery

How the lottery works

The diversity visa program, also known as the visa lottery, was passed by Congress in 1990 to add to the flow of immigrants citizens of “underrepresented” countries, from which the fewest people come to the U.S. The program is called DV followed by the fiscal year in which the visas will be issued, e.g., DV-2027. Up to 55,000 visas are drawn each year. Natives of any one country may not receive more than 7% of the total pool. Countries that sent more than 50,000 legal immigrants through employment and family sponsorship over the past 5 years (not counting asylees and previous lottery winners) are excluded from the diversity program.

People born in Poland were able to take part in the most recent lottery held – Poland was not on the list of countries excluded from DV-2026 (registration took place in the fall of 2024). Registration for the next round, DV-2027, did not open at the usual time: in November 2025 the Department of State postponed it, and in October 2026 a federal court ordered the program resumed. The Department of State announces the list of countries, deadlines and rules for each round (DV-2027, and then DV-2028) in its official instructions on travel.state.gov – before you enter, check whether Poland still qualifies.

To take part in the visa lottery, you will have to meet the following conditions:

• You must have been born in an “ethnically underrepresented” country admitted to the DV program (but you do not have to be its citizen!). Note: the Department of State treats as your country of birth the country within whose current borders the place where you were born now lies. This is an important condition for people from Central and Eastern Europe, where borders have often shifted.
• You must have at least a high school education or, within the past five years, have worked for at least two years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training.
• The rules for taking part in the visa lottery change somewhat from year to year. Entries are accepted only online, at dvprogram.state.gov. The Department of State has introduced a $1 registration fee and a requirement to provide valid passport information with the entry. For details, see the book “Jak zdobyć zieloną kartę” (“How to Get a Green Card”), tel. 718-224-3492, at www.PoradnikSukces.com.

A trap for the undocumented

For people in the U.S. illegally, the lottery does not solve their problems, because they will not be able to get a green card here. Apart from the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who entered legally, described above, the only people who can apply for adjustment of status (“Status Adjustment”) in the U.S. are those on whose behalf a petition or Labor Certification application was filed no later than April 30, 2001 (section 245(i)). Other undocumented immigrants must leave the U.S. to pick up their green card, but the way back is closed to them for 3 years if they were here illegally for more than 6 months, or for 10 years if they were here illegally for a year or longer – unless they obtain a waiver of the bar (see “Adjustment of status in the U.S.”). The section 245(i) deadline has not been extended.

More information is available online at www.uscis.gov and travel.state.gov, or by calling the USCIS Contact Center: 1-800-375-5283. Free help with immigration matters is offered by the Immigration and Legal Services Program of the Polish & Slavic Center in Greenpoint, tel. 718-594-0894.

How not to legalize your status

Here are ways in which you cannot legalize your stay:

1. Sponsorship by more distant relatives, such as aunts, uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers. Parents and siblings can be sponsored only by adult U.S. citizens. It makes no difference that Grandma is lonely and in poor health, or that an aunt wants to bring over her only nephew to look after her house.
2. Sponsorship of a housekeeper by an employer. Housekeepers do qualify as other workers in the employment third preference category, but that group has such low priority that the line in it stretches on for years.
3. Sponsoring household help as a cook is very problematic. Since getting a green card for a housekeeper is almost impossible, many employers want to use a loophole in the rules and sponsor their help as a cook, ideally a kosher cook or one who prepares special diets. The cook’s occupation requires training and experience and therefore falls into a higher category, where the wait is much shorter. Unfortunately, the Department of Labor knows that the supposed cooks are in reality nannies and caregivers, and it therefore sets very high requirements. Among other things, it demands proof that other people working in the residence take care of the children and the cleaning.
4. Sponsorship of a worker by a casual employer. There is a mistaken belief that any employer can sponsor any worker. This is wrong, because the position offered must precisely match the worker’s experience as well as education.
5. The belief that a good lawyer will “somehow get it done”. Honest attorneys tell the client frankly that there is no chance of a green card and ask him to come back only when he has a suitable sponsor. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of “experts” who promise fairy tales and gladly collect money no matter what.
6. Asylum for newcomers from Poland is a thing of the past. And I advise you not to let some charlatans talk you into filing an asylum application in order to get a work permit. A groundless asylum application ends in certain deportation for a Pole, and you do not get a work permit right after filing the application – the law provides for a wait of at least 180 days.
7. “Squatter’s rights” – this is another scam used on clients who have been in the U.S. for a long time. It refers to so-called cancellation of removal (formerly suspension of deportation), which can be sought only before an immigration court, in the course of deportation proceedings. If the court grants it, the alien receives a green card. To qualify, you must meet extremely difficult conditions, including having lived in the U.S. continuously for at least 10 years and proving that deportation would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a spouse, parent or child who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

Immigration law is complex and changes often, so in immigration matters it is worth getting help from an experienced immigration attorney.

Elżbieta Baumgartner

Elżbieta Baumgartner is the author of many financial and consumer advice books, including “Otwieram biznes” (“Starting a Business”) and “Praca w Ameryce” (“Working in America”) (Poradnik Sukces, 255 Park Lane, Douglaston, NY 11363, tel. 1-718-224-3492, www.PoradnikSukces.com).

Updated October 2026.