Green Cards

Adjustment of Status is the process in which you ask the immigration department to allow you to live permanently in the United States by granting you a legal residency card, also known as the green card.

In general, application for US residency through the process of adjustment of status has two steps. 

First step is to obtain an immigrant visa. The immigrant visa can be obtained through a family member (family petition), a job (a work immigrant visa), an investor’s visa, or a special type of immigrant visa (VAWA, U visa, T visa, etc). Once you have an immigrant visa, you can apply for the green card. In certain cases, you can apply for the visa and the residency at the same time.

There are specific circumstances under which you can apply for residency within the United States. If you do not qualify for the residency application but do have a US citizen family member, that family member can file a visa petition for you.