Green Card and Permanent Residency

A green card — officially a Permanent Resident Card — grants its holder the legal right to live and work permanently in the United States. Approximately 1 million people receive green cards annually through four main pathways: family sponsorship, employment, the diversity visa lottery, and refugee/asylee adjustment. See Immigration Visa System for the broader visa framework. The Immigration and Nationality Act establishes the categories, numerical limits, per-country caps, and processing requirements that govern who receives permanent residency and when.

Current Law (2026)

Legal Authority

• 8 U.S.C. § 1151 — Worldwide level of immigration (establishes the annual limits: 480,000 family-sponsored, 140,000 employment-based, 55,000 diversity; immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are exempt from numerical limits)
• 8 U.S.C. § 1152 — Per-country limitations (no more than 7% of total immigration from any single country in a fiscal year; this creates the massive backlogs for high-demand countries)
• 8 U.S.C. § 1153 — Preference allocation (defines the family preference categories: F1 through F4, and employment preference categories: EB-1 through EB-5)
• 8 U.S.C. § 1154 — Procedure for granting status (petition process: U.S. citizen or permanent resident files I-130 for family; employer files I-140 for employment; labor certification required for most employment categories)
• 8 U.S.C. § 1255 — Adjustment of status (allows eligible persons already in the U.S. to adjust to permanent resident status without leaving the country)

How It Works

The green card system is organized around preference categories within two main streams: family-based and employment-based.

Family-based immigration has two tiers. Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents (if the citizen is 21+) — receive green cards without numerical limits and with minimal wait times. Preference categories for more distant family relationships are numerically limited and can involve multi-year waits: F1 (unmarried adult children of citizens), F2A (spouses and minor children of permanent residents), F2B (unmarried adult children of permanent residents), F3 (married adult children of citizens), and F4 (siblings of adult citizens).

Employment-based immigration has five preference categories. EB-1 (priority workers: extraordinary ability, outstanding professors, multinational executives) has no labor certification requirement. EB-2 (advanced degree professionals, exceptional ability) and EB-3 (skilled workers, professionals, other workers) generally require labor certification — a process where the employer proves no qualified U.S. workers are available. EB-4 covers special immigrants (religious workers, certain government employees). EB-5 is the investor visa: $1.05 million investment ($800,000 in targeted employment areas) creating 10+ jobs.

The per-country limit (7% of total for any single country) creates the system's most dramatic bottleneck. For nationals of India, China, the Philippines, and Mexico — countries with high demand relative to available visas — wait times in some categories extend to decades. An Indian national in the EB-2 category may wait 10+ years; a Filipino in the F4 category may wait 20+ years.

Processing happens through two pathways. Adjustment of status (Form I-485) allows eligible persons already in the U.S. on a valid status to become permanent residents without leaving. Consular processing requires the applicant to attend an interview at a U.S. consulate abroad. Both pathways require the same eligibility, but adjustment of status provides the advantage of remaining in the U.S. during processing.

The diversity visa lottery (DV program) allocates 55,000 green cards annually through a random selection from countries with historically low immigration to the United States. Applicants must have a high school education or two years of qualifying work experience.

How It Affects You

State Variations

Implementing Regulations

• 8 CFR Part 245 — Adjustment of status to permanent resident (§§ covering applications, eligibility, employment authorization during pending adjustment)

• 8 CFR Part 1245 — EOIR adjustment of status procedures (immigration court proceedings for adjustment)

• 8 CFR Part 216 — Conditional basis of lawful permanent residence (§§ covering removal of conditions for marriage-based and investor green cards)

• 8 CFR Part 209–211 — Refugee and asylee adjustment, special agricultural workers, documentary requirements for admission

• 8 CFR Part 212 — Inadmissibility grounds and waivers

• 8 CFR Part 235 — Inspection at ports of entry (admission procedures for returning permanent residents)

• 8 CFR Parts 246 and 1246 — Rescission of Adjustment of Status: the regulations governing the formal process by which USCIS (Part 246) or the Executive Office for Immigration Review (Part 1246) can revoke a previously granted green card when the agency determines the person was not actually eligible for adjustment at the time it was granted. Key provisions:

  • § 246.1 — Notice of intent to rescind: if a district director determines that a person residing in their district was not eligible for the adjustment of status granted, the district director initiates rescission by personally serving a notice on the person informing them of the allegations and giving them 30 days to file an answer and request a hearing; if an asylum office director granted the adjustment, the asylum office director may also initiate rescission; the notice must specify the factual basis for rescission (e.g., fraudulent marriage, misrepresented criminal history, ineligible category at time of adjustment)
  • § 246.2 — Default rescission: if the person admits the allegations, files no answer within 30 days, or fails to request a hearing, the district director rescinds the adjustment without appeal — the default is loss of status; this underscores the urgency of responding to any rescission notice
  • § 246.3 — Contested hearing: if the person files an answer contesting or denying any allegation, or requests a hearing, the case goes before an immigration judge who conducts a full hearing applying the procedures of 8 CFR Part 240 (removal proceedings); the government bears the burden of proving the person was ineligible; the immigration judge may terminate the proceedings (leaving status intact) or issue a rescission order
  • § 246.4 — Immigration judge authority: in rescission proceedings, the immigration judge has full authority to interrogate, examine, cross-examine the respondent and witnesses, receive evidence, and determine whether to rescind; the judge may also grant continuances and issue subpoenas
  • § 246.7 — Appeal to BIA: either party may appeal the immigration judge's decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals within 30 days of the decision; reasons for appeal must be specifically stated on Form EOIR-26; failure to state specific reasons is grounds for dismissal; the BIA decision is the final administrative determination
  • § 246.9 — Surrender of Form I-551: a person whose permanent resident status is rescinded must surrender their green card (Form I-551) to the district director upon demand; the card must be physically returned; failure to surrender is a separate violation

  Rescission under 8 CFR Part 246 is distinct from removal/deportation (which can be pursued even for persons who were lawfully admitted) — rescission specifically undoes the adjustment-of-status grant retroactively. The rescission authority has received increased attention under the Trump administration's expanded immigration enforcement posture, including executive actions in 2025 directing USCIS to increase scrutiny of previously granted adjustments and naturalization applications. Part 1246 is the EOIR mirror of Part 246 — providing the same rescission procedures for cases before immigration courts, with the BIA serving as the appellate body for both tracks.

• 20 CFR Part 656 — Labor Certification Process for Permanent Employment of Aliens (DOL/ETA): the Department of Labor's implementing regulations for the PERM (Program Electronic Review Management) labor certification process — the mandatory prerequisite for most employment-based green cards in EB-2 and EB-3 categories. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(5)(A), the Secretary of Labor must certify that no qualified U.S. workers are available for the position before a foreign worker may receive an employment-based immigrant visa:

  • § 656.5 — Schedule A (pre-certified occupations): DOL has permanently certified that there are not sufficient U.S. workers for two occupational categories — nurses and physical therapists — plus workers of "exceptional ability" in the arts or sciences; Schedule A employers do not file with DOL but instead submit their labor certification application directly to the USCIS with the I-140 petition, bypassing the PERM process; Schedule A saves typically 12-18 months
  • § 656.16 — Sheepherder special process: an alien who has worked legally as a sheepherder in the U.S. for at least 33 of the prior 36 months may be sponsored through a streamlined sheepherder certification process; the unusual provision reflects longstanding western ranching industry reliance on foreign labor for herding
  • § 656.17 — Basic PERM process (ETA Form 9089): the standard employer certification path for all non-Schedule A occupations; the employer must (1) determine the prevailing wage for the position in the area of employment; (2) conduct mandatory recruitment steps — at minimum, a Sunday newspaper ad in the newspaper of largest general circulation in the area, a job order with the State Workforce Agency, and two additional recruitment steps from a required list (job fairs, employer website, campus recruiting, professional journals, etc.); (3) document that any U.S. workers who applied were not qualified, available, or willing — the employer must have a lawful job-related reason to reject each U.S. applicant; and (4) file ETA Form 9089 electronically through the FLAG portal at flag.dol.gov; the labor certification is considered filed on the filing date, which becomes the alien's priority date — critically important in oversubscribed per-country queues (Indian and Chinese nationals in EB-2/EB-3 face backlogs of decades)
  • § 656.18 — Optional process for college/university teachers: academic institutions hiring foreign faculty may use a special recruitment process (competitive open recruitment) that predates PERM; institutions conducting a bona fide open competitive search under normal academic hiring procedures and selecting the foreign national from a pool of qualified U.S. and foreign applicants can certify under § 656.18 without the standard § 656.17 advertising requirements
  • § 656.19 — Live-in household domestic service workers: applications for live-in household workers (butlers, au pairs, private cooks) follow the basic § 656.17 process but require additional documentation — written statements from former employers about the alien's experience, evidence of the employer's prior use of live-in domestic workers, and documentation of the household's specific need
  • § 656.20 — Audit procedures: DOL may audit any PERM application at any time — either for cause (suspicious patterns in the application) or through random quality control audits; an audit letter specifies the additional documentation the employer must provide (copies of all résumés received, rejection reasons for U.S. workers, proof of recruitment steps, signed job descriptions); the employer has 30 days to respond to an audit letter; failure to respond results in denial
  • § 656.21 — Supervised recruitment: DOL may require "supervised recruitment" for an employer's pending or future applications when prior applications showed irregularities; under supervised recruitment, DOL designs the recruitment process and directly receives résumés — the employer cannot screen applicants without DOL involvement; supervised recruitment is a significant enforcement tool for employers with a history of deficient recruitment
  • § 656.24 — OFLC certification or denial: the Certifying Officer (CO) reviews the application and grants or denies certification; common denial grounds are: the position's requirements appear designed to exclude U.S. workers (job requirements that don't match industry norms without business necessity justification); failure to properly recruit; the alien lacks the stated qualifications; or the employer improperly rejected U.S. workers who applied; certification is effective for 180 days — the employer must file the I-140 petition within 180 days or the certification expires
  • § 656.26 — BALCA appeals: denied applications may be appealed to the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA); the employer must request review within 30 days of denial; BALCA is an administrative appellate body within DOL; BALCA decisions are the final DOL administrative action; judicial review of BALCA decisions is available in federal district court
  • § 656.30 — Priority date: the PERM filing date becomes the alien's priority date for visa number purposes; if the alien's country of birth has per-country retrogression (India, China), this date may be decades in the future; the certified labor certification retains its priority date even after the 180-day filing window expires if the I-140 is filed in time; priority date portability allows workers to switch employers and preserve an earlier priority date after 180 days of I-140 approval under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21)
  • § 656.40 — Prevailing wage determination (PWD): before recruiting, the employer requests a prevailing wage determination from the DOL National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC); the NPWC determines the wage level (I–IV) for the position based on O*NET occupational codes; the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage throughout employment; the PWD is valid for 90 days and must be used before it expires; the employer may request review of the NPWC's PWD within 30 days if it believes the wage level is set too high

  The PERM process is notorious for its complexity, strict documentation requirements, and the severe consequences of errors: a minor procedural mistake (a typo in the job description, wrong recruitment dates) can result in denial and require the employer to restart the entire process — losing the original priority date. Immigration attorneys handle virtually all PERM filings. The FLAG portal (flag.dol.gov) processes PERM filings electronically; as of 2026, PERM processing times range from 8-18 months for regular processing, though audit cases can take much longer. DOL publishes aggregate PERM filing statistics and audit rates; in recent years, audit rates have been approximately 30% of filed applications.

• 8 CFR Part 1216 — Conditional Basis of Lawful Permanent Residence Status (EOIR/USCIS): the immigration court regulation governing conditional permanent residents — aliens whose green card is subject to a 2-year probationary period designed to prevent immigration fraud. Two categories receive conditional status: (1) marriage-based immigrants who have been married less than 2 years at the time the green card is granted (8 U.S.C. § 1186a); and (2) EB-5 investor immigrants during their initial 2-year conditional residence period (8 U.S.C. § 1186b). Conditional permanent residents have the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as unconditional LPRs — they can work, travel, sponsor relatives, and apply for naturalization — but their status terminates automatically if they fail to remove the conditions on time:

  • § 1216.2 — Notification requirements: when an alien is granted conditional permanent resident status (through an immigrant visa or adjustment of status), USCIS notifies the alien of (a) the conditional basis of the status, (b) the requirement to file a petition to remove conditions within the 90-day window immediately preceding the second anniversary of obtaining status, and (c) the automatic termination consequence of missing the window; USCIS should send a second reminder notice approximately 90 days before the deadline (mailed to the alien's address of record — the alien's responsibility to maintain current address)
  • § 1216.3 — Termination of conditional status: during the 2-year period, the director may terminate an alien's conditional resident status by formal written notice if the marriage was fraudulent, if the status was procured through misrepresentation, or (for investors) if the investment capital was obtained illegally; the alien continues as a lawful conditional resident with full rights while contesting termination; removal proceedings follow if termination is upheld
  • § 1216.4 — Joint petition to remove conditions (marriage-based, Form I-751): the alien and the petitioning U.S. citizen or LPR spouse must jointly file Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence within the 90-day window; the petition must document that the marriage was entered into in good faith and that the marriage is still legally valid and continues to exist; required evidence includes documentation of shared finances (joint tax returns, bank accounts), shared residence (lease agreements, utility bills), and other indicia of a bona fide marriage; the I-751 must be signed by both spouses; if approved, the conditional status is replaced by unconditional permanent residence
  • § 1216.5 — Waivers of the joint petition requirement (Form I-751 filed by alien alone): if the alien cannot file jointly because the marriage was terminated (divorce, annulment, or death of the spouse) or the spouse refuses to file, the alien may still petition alone and request a waiver of the joint filing requirement; waivers are available on three grounds: (a) extreme hardship — deportation would cause extreme hardship to the alien; (b) good-faith marriage with termination — the marriage was genuine but has ended and the alien was not at fault in failing to file timely; or (c) battery or extreme cruelty — the conditional resident or child was battered by or subject to extreme cruelty committed by the citizen or LPR spouse (VAWA-based waiver); survivors of battery may file I-751 without the abuser's signature or cooperation
  • § 1216.6 — Entrepreneur petition to remove conditions (EB-5, Form I-829): investor immigrants must file Form I-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions within the 90-day window before the 2nd anniversary; the petition must demonstrate that the required capital investment was made and maintained, that the investment was in a qualifying commercial enterprise, and that the investment created (or will create within a reasonable time) the required number of full-time qualifying jobs for U.S. workers; the spouse and children should be included in the I-829 petition

  The conditional green card framework was enacted in the Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986 after Congress found that sham marriages were a significant pathway to fraudulent permanent residence — the 2-year waiting period with required evidence of a continuing genuine marriage adds a check that was not present in earlier law. The practical impact is significant: missing the I-751 filing window — even by a day — results in automatic status termination, potentially requiring the alien to leave the United States and re-apply. USCIS has discretion to accept late-filed petitions, but this discretion is not guaranteed. Most recent rulemaking: 85 FR 82794 (December 2020) — amended procedures for filing and adjudicating I-751 waivers, improving protections for abuse survivors.

8 CFR Part 1246 — Rescission of Adjustment of Status

The procedures for undoing a grant of permanent residence appear at 8 CFR Part 1246 — Rescission of Adjustment of Status. Rescission is the administrative mechanism USCIS uses when it concludes that an alien was not actually eligible for the green card at the time it was granted — for example, if the adjustment was based on fraud, a legally deficient petition, or a status the alien did not actually hold.

• § 1246.1 — Notice of intent to rescind: the USCIS district director (or, for asylum-based adjustments, the asylum office director) initiates rescission by serving the alien with a formal notice of intent to rescind, which must be served personally; the alien has 30 calendar days from service to either (a) submit a written answer contesting the rescission or (b) request a hearing before an immigration judge; the notice must identify the specific grounds for rescission
• § 1246.2 — Default rescission (no response): if the alien does not file a written answer and does not request a hearing within 30 days, the district or asylum director rescinds the adjustment without further process and without a right of appeal; the green card is cancelled and the alien's status reverts to whatever it was before adjustment — often resulting in removability
• § 1246.3 — Contested hearing: if the alien contests the rescission, the case is transferred to the immigration court and a hearing is scheduled before an immigration judge; the full procedural protections of INA § 240 (removal proceedings) apply, including the right to counsel, the right to present evidence, and the right to cross-examine witnesses; the hearing is conducted in the same manner as removal proceedings
• § 1246.4 — Immigration judge authority: the IJ may interrogate the alien under oath, receive evidence from both sides, and make a factual determination about whether the original adjustment was properly granted; if a judge who began the hearing is unavailable, a substitute judge may complete the proceeding on the record without prejudice
• § 1246.5 — Hearing procedure: at the hearing, DHS counsel represents the government; the IJ advises the alien of their rights including the right to be represented by counsel; the alien testifies under oath; both sides may offer documentary evidence and call witnesses
• § 1246.6 — IJ decision: the IJ may either (a) terminate the rescission proceeding if the alien was eligible for adjustment, or (b) order rescission if the alien was not eligible; an order of rescission cancels the grant of permanent residence but is not itself a removal order — a separate removal proceeding may follow
• § 1246.7 — Appeal to BIA: either party may appeal the IJ's decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals by filing Form EOIR-26 within 30 calendar days of the oral or written decision; the BIA's decision is the final administrative decision; further review may be sought by petition for review in a federal circuit court
• § 1246.9 — Surrender of green card: after a final rescission order, the alien must surrender their Form I-551 (Permanent Resident Card / green card) on demand to any DHS officer; retaining the card after a final rescission order is unlawful

Rescission differs from removal: it specifically targets the adjustment of status grant itself, arguing that the green card should never have been issued. Removal is the broader process that follows, determining whether the alien should actually be deported. Rescission cases are relatively rare but tend to concentrate around benefits fraud (fake marriages, misrepresented employment), nationality fraud, and cases where eligibility categories were misunderstood at the time of adjudication. Most recent rulemaking: 86 FR 70725 (December 2021) — technical amendment updating cross-references following regulatory reorganization.

Pending Legislation

• HR 6670 — Create 90-day family-purpose visa for relatives of citizens and green card holders. Status: Introduced.
• HR 6071 — Restrict CDLs to citizens, green card holders, or USCIS-authorized workers. Status: Introduced.
• S 3197 — Presume non-citizens are flight risks, require high rebuttal standard. Status: Introduced.

Recent Developments

Per-country cap reform has been a perennial legislative effort, with proposals to eliminate or raise the 7% cap to reduce backlogs for Indian and Chinese nationals. Employment-based green card backlogs have grown as demand outstrips the 140,000 annual limit. USCIS processing times have fluctuated significantly, with pandemic-era backlogs gradually being addressed. The EB-5 program was reformed and reauthorized in 2022, updating investment thresholds and adding integrity measures. Executive actions on immigration enforcement and processing priorities continue to affect green card processing timelines. See also DACA & Deferred Action for related immigration status issues and Deportation & Removal Proceedings for how permanent residents can lose status.

• Trump immigration enforcement targeting LPRs (2025-2026): The Trump administration's enforcement surge has extended beyond undocumented immigrants to affect lawful permanent residents (green card holders). Green card holders have been arrested at airports and ports of entry based on past contacts with law enforcement, political activities, or social media posts. The administration has argued that green card status can be revoked for national security, terrorist activity, or criminal grounds. Cases involving Palestinian-American and other LPRs detained for lawful protest activity have been litigated; courts have issued habeas corpus orders in some cases while the government appealed.
• Birthright citizenship and LPR parents: Trump's EO challenging birthright citizenship (January 2025) specifically targeted children of undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders — not children of LPRs, who are U.S. citizens under any reading of the Fourteenth Amendment. Courts blocked the birthright citizenship EO; the Supreme Court's review will not affect LPR parents' ability to have U.S.-citizen children. However, the broader immigration enforcement climate has affected LPRs' willingness to travel internationally, seek public benefits, and engage with government.
• Employment-based green card backlog crisis: The EB-2 and EB-3 backlogs for Indian nationals now stretch 50-80+ years for new applicants under current usage rates — meaning someone who begins the process today may wait their entire working life for a green card. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act (eliminating per-country caps) has passed the House multiple times but stalled in the Senate. During this wait, Indian workers are trapped in their employer's H-1B sponsorship — changing employers can reset or jeopardize their priority dates.
• Biden humanitarian parole termination: The Biden administration's mass humanitarian parole programs (CHNV — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela) admitted approximately 530,000 people on 2-year parole. Trump terminated these programs in January 2025, initiating removal proceedings for parolees whose status was revoked. None of the CHNV parolees had green card status; the termination affects their ability to remain and work legally. Courts issued preliminary injunctions staying removals of some CHNV parolees while litigation proceeded.

Secretary of State Rubio revoked the green cards of two relatives of slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in April 2026, amid escalating U.S.-Iran military tensions, demonstrating the executive's power to revoke permanent resident status on national security grounds.