🇺🇸 United States

Family-based immigration

A child adopted abroad who does not qualify under the orphan or Hague processes may still immigrate through a family petition after two years of legal custody and joint residence.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Employment-based immigration

Second-preference Green Card for jobs requiring an advanced degree (or a bachelor’s plus five years of progressive experience). Usually requires employer sponsorship and PERM labor certification.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Humanitarian and protection

People physically in the United States who fear persecution at home can apply for asylum with USCIS, generally within one year of arrival. A grant allows eventual application for a Green Card.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Humanitarian and protection

Special immigrant visas for certain Afghan nationals who worked with or on behalf of the U.S. government or allied forces and face serious threats because of that work.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: no

Humanitarian and protection

Granted asylees may apply for a Green Card with Form I-485. USCIS requires one year of physical presence in asylee status when deciding the application; filing earlier may be possible under current instructions.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Green Card to citizenship

A child under 18 who is a lawful permanent resident automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when a parent is a U.S. citizen and the child lives in that parent’s legal and physical custody. No N-400 is needed — the citizenship already exists; Form N-600 merely documents it.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

Visitors can become the beneficiary of a family or employment petition, but entering as a visitor while intending to stay permanently can be treated as misrepresentation. This route carries serious risk and needs legal advice.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

Cancellation of removal can grant a Green Card in immigration court to people with ten years of presence, good moral character, and a qualifying relative facing exceptional and extremely unusual hardship — but it exists only as a defense in proceedings.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

A defense available only in immigration court: a judge may grant a Green Card to a person with ten years of continuous physical presence, good moral character, and a qualifying U.S. citizen or resident relative who would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

Long-term employees of international organizations (and certain family members), plus certain former diplomats, can adjust status under narrow statutory rules after meeting residence and employment requirements.

Restricted eligibility · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness allowed certain Liberian nationals and their families who had lived in the U.S. since 2014 to apply for Green Cards. The application deadline was December 20, 2021.

Historical / closed · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

Unmarried children under 21 of a K-1 fiancé(e) can accompany the parent and adjust status after the parent’s marriage to the U.S. citizen petitioner.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Family-based immigration

Immigrant visa for an unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen. Immediate relatives have no quota wait.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Green Card to citizenship

A child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent (or parents) may have been a U.S. citizen from birth, depending on the parents’ citizenship, marriage, and the citizen parent’s prior physical presence in the U.S. This is determined by the law in effect on the date of birth.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Green Card to citizenship

A child under 18 who lives abroad and does not qualify for automatic acquisition may still naturalize through a U.S. citizen parent (or, in some cases, grandparent) who meets physical-presence requirements, using Form N-600K.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Green Card to citizenship

Children adopted by U.S. citizens can acquire citizenship automatically if the adoption and custody requirements are met and the child is a permanent resident under 18 in the citizen parent’s custody. Hague and orphan-process adoptees often receive citizenship automatically on admission.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Family-based immigration

The child counterpart to CR1: when a spouse receives conditional residence, a qualifying child included in the case also receives conditional residence.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Family-based immigration

The same spousal route as IR1, but when the marriage is under two years old at approval the Green Card is conditional for two years and conditions must later be removed.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Options without lawful status

When adjustment inside the U.S. is not possible, the case finishes at a U.S. consulate abroad — but departing after unlawful presence can trigger three- or ten-year bars. The decision to depart must be planned, not assumed.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

A 1966 law allowing Cuban natives and citizens who have been inspected, admitted or paroled to apply for a Green Card after one year of physical presence in the United States.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals provides temporary protection and work authorization but no status and no direct path to a Green Card. Options depend on a separate qualifying petition and the person’s entry history.

Under litigation · Sponsor: varies

Humanitarian and protection

Asylum raised as a defense in immigration court removal proceedings, decided by an immigration judge rather than USCIS.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Employment-based immigration

Green Card for investors who put the required capital at risk in a new U.S. commercial enterprise that creates at least ten full-time jobs for U.S. workers.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Special and historical programs

An annual lottery making a limited number of immigrant visas available to people from countries with historically low U.S. immigration. Entry is free and only through the official Department of State site during the entry period.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: no

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

E-2 lets treaty-country nationals run a U.S. business, but it has no built-in Green Card route. Permanent residence requires a completely separate category — often EB-5, EB-1C, or a family petition.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

People who entered without being inspected generally cannot adjust status inside the U.S., even with an approved petition. Options may include consular processing with a waiver, 245(i) grandfathering, parole in place for military families, or humanitarian routes.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Employment-based immigration

Second-preference Green Card for people with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business — a degree of expertise significantly above the ordinary.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Options without lawful status

Falling out of status — even without unlawful presence accruing — limits options. Reinstatement exists for some categories (like students), and some people can still adjust through an immediate-relative petition.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Employment-based immigration

First-preference Green Card for people at the very top of their field — sciences, arts, education, business or athletics. No job offer or labor certification required; you can self-petition.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

International students can work through OPT (and a STEM extension for qualifying degrees), during which an employer may sponsor an H-1B or an employment-based Green Card. The Green Card always requires its own petition.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

A U.S. citizen petitions for a fiancé(e) abroad to enter the U.S., marry within 90 days, and then apply for a Green Card through adjustment of status.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Options without lawful status

A person with a final removal order can be removed at any time. Options are narrow: motions to reopen or reconsider, stays of removal, or in some cases permission to reapply — all with strict deadlines.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Green Card to citizenship

The standard route: most permanent residents can apply for citizenship after five years as a Green Card holder, with continuous residence, physical presence, good moral character, and English and civics tests.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

H-1B is a “dual intent” visa, so holders can pursue an employer-sponsored Green Card (usually EB-2 or EB-3 with PERM) without contradicting their status.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

H-2A is seasonal agricultural work with no immigrant counterpart. A Green Card requires a separate petition — most realistically an employer willing to sponsor a permanent role through PERM, or a family petition.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

H-2B covers temporary non-agricultural work and has no direct Green Card route. A permanent job offer from a sponsoring employer (PERM, then EB-3) or a family petition is required.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

A 1998 law that allowed certain Haitian nationals in the U.S. before December 31, 1995 to adjust status. The main filing deadline passed in 2000.

Historical / closed · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

People grandfathered by a petition filed on or before April 30, 2001 may adjust status inside the U.S. despite unlawful entry or status violations. Screening means finding the old petition and proving the connection.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

A grandfathering provision that lets people who were the beneficiary of a petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001 adjust status inside the U.S. despite unlawful entry or status violations, on payment of a penalty fee.

Restricted eligibility · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

For adoptions from Hague Convention countries, U.S. citizens use the Hague process (Forms I-800/I-800A), which adds protections for the child and birth family.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Family-based immigration

U.S. citizens can petition to adopt a child from a country that is not part of the Hague Adoption Convention using the orphan process (Forms I-600/I-600A).

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Humanitarian and protection

Special immigrant visas for certain Iraqi nationals who worked with or on behalf of the U.S. government and face serious threats because of that work. The main Iraqi SIV program stopped accepting new applications in 2014; limited related programs may remain.

Historical / closed · Sponsor: no

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

Many J-1 exchange visitors are subject to the two-year home-residence requirement, which blocks a Green Card or H/L/K visa until it is completed or waived. Other J-1 holders can pursue standard family or employment routes.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

Managers and executives on L-1A often qualify for the EB-1C multinational manager Green Card, which skips PERM labor certification.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

L-1B specialized-knowledge workers can pursue a Green Card, but unlike L-1A there is no matching EB-1C shortcut — the employer usually runs PERM and files under EB-2 or EB-3.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

Family third preference for married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Spouses and children can be included as derivatives. Quota-limited.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Green Card to citizenship

Current and former members of the U.S. armed forces can naturalize under special provisions — during peacetime after one year of service, and during designated periods of hostility with no minimum service or residence requirement.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Employment-based immigration

First-preference Green Card for managers and executives transferring from a related company abroad to a U.S. parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Special and historical programs

The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 provided adjustment and suspension-of-deportation relief for certain nationals of Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala and former Soviet-bloc countries who applied by the statutory deadlines.

Historical / closed · Sponsor: varies

Employment-based immigration

A self-petition EB-2 route that waives the job offer and labor certification when the work has substantial merit and national importance and the worker is well positioned to advance it.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Green Card to citizenship

A permanent resident whose U.S. citizen spouse works abroad for the U.S. government, the military, a qualifying American company, or certain other employers may naturalize without meeting the normal residence and physical-presence requirements.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

O-1 holders often have the evidence record to self-petition for EB-1A or EB-2 NIW, both of which skip employer sponsorship and PERM.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

Congress has enacted various country-specific adjustment laws over the decades (for example, certain Chinese, Indochinese and Polish/Hungarian parolee programs). Nearly all have closed; each must be verified individually.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

Many other temporary visas — P athletes and artists, E-1 traders, E-3 Australians, H-1B1, O-2/O-3, and others — can coexist with a separate immigrant petition. The same rule always applies: the Green Card needs its own qualifying petition.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Green Card to citizenship

The statute contains additional special provisions — for example, for certain employees of international organizations, certain U.S. government contractors’ families preserving residence, and people who served on certain U.S. vessels. Each has narrow requirements.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: no

Options without lawful status

Immigration law contains scattered exceptions — for example, battered-spouse provisions, military parole in place, special rules for certain nationals, and hardship-based relief — that can change an entire case.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Employment-based immigration

Third-preference Green Card for permanent, full-time jobs requiring less than two years of training or experience. The “Other Workers” subcategory has its own, often longer, Visa Bulletin line.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Employment-based immigration

First-preference Green Card for internationally recognized professors and researchers with at least three years of experience and a qualifying job offer.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Family-based immigration

Immigrant visa for the parent of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old. No quota wait for immediate relatives.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Options without lawful status

A pending asylum application is not a status and does not lead anywhere by itself. It provides protection from removal while pending, possible work authorization, and — if granted — a path to a Green Card after one year.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

Waivers can forgive certain inadmissibility grounds — unlawful presence, some misrepresentation, some criminal issues — usually by proving extreme hardship to a qualifying U.S. citizen or resident relative.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

A prior deportation or removal creates a re-entry bar (five, ten, or twenty years, or permanent) and reinstates automatically if the person returns without permission. Returning without authorization after removal can also be a federal crime.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Employment-based immigration

Third-preference Green Card for jobs requiring at least a U.S. bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent, with employer sponsorship and PERM.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Special and historical programs

Under the Jay Treaty and INA §289, American Indians born in Canada with at least 50% American Indian blood have the right to enter and live in the U.S. and can obtain a Green Card without a petition.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Options without lawful status

A family petition can exist even for someone without status — but the petition alone gives no right to stay or work, and whether it can ever become a Green Card depends on entry history, bars and waivers.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Humanitarian and protection

Spouses and children can often be included in, or follow to join, a principal applicant’s humanitarian case — asylum, refugee, U, T, VAWA and others each have their own derivative rules.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Humanitarian and protection

Parole allows temporary entry for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Parole is not a visa, confers no permanent status, and does not by itself lead to a Green Card.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: no

Special and historical programs

Beyond cancellation of removal, immigration judges can grant asylum, withholding of removal, Convention Against Torture protection, adjustment of status, waivers and voluntary departure, depending on the case.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

Step-relationships created by a marriage before the child turned 18 count as parent-child relationships for immigration, in both directions.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

R-1 religious workers are the natural candidates for the EB-4 religious worker Green Card, since both require two years of denominational membership and a qualifying religious job.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

Re-entering without permission after a removal order triggers reinstatement of the old order and can create a permanent bar to a Green Card. This is one of the most serious situations in immigration law.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Humanitarian and protection

Refugees admitted to the U.S. are required to apply for a Green Card after one year of physical presence, using Form I-485.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Humanitarian and protection

Refugees are screened and admitted from abroad through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program — a person cannot apply directly to USCIS. After one year in the U.S., refugees must apply for a Green Card.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: no

Employment-based immigration

EB-5 investment through a USCIS-designated regional center, which may count indirect and induced jobs toward the ten-job requirement.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Special and historical programs

A long-standing provision allowing people who have lived continuously in the U.S. since a very early statutory date (currently January 1, 1972) to apply for a Green Card, regardless of how they entered.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Employment-based immigration

Green Card for ministers and certain religious workers coming to work for a bona fide nonprofit religious organization. The non-minister portion of this program has historically been subject to expiration and renewal by Congress.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: yes

Options without lawful status

People with a case before an immigration judge must pursue relief through the court — asylum, cancellation of removal, adjustment, waivers or voluntary departure. Missing a hearing produces a removal order.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

Family fourth preference for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens aged 21+. The longest family quota wait of all categories.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Employment-based immigration

Third-preference Green Card for jobs requiring at least two years of training or experience, with employer sponsorship and PERM labor certification.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Humanitarian and protection

Children in the U.S. who have been abused, abandoned or neglected — and for whom a state juvenile court has made specific findings — can petition for a Green Card. A state court order is required before the federal petition.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Employment-based immigration

A fourth-preference category covering specific groups: certain religious workers, special immigrant juveniles, certain broadcasters, employees of international organizations, members of the armed forces, and others defined by statute.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Special and historical programs

In rare cases, Congress passes a private law granting immigration relief to a specific named individual or family. This is a last resort, not an application category.

Restricted eligibility · Sponsor: varies

Green Card to citizenship

Spouses of U.S. citizen service members stationed abroad may naturalize overseas without meeting the normal residence requirements, and certain children of service members can derive citizenship more easily.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Family-based immigration

Designed to let the spouse of a U.S. citizen (K-3) and their children (K-4) wait inside the U.S. while an I-130 is pending. In practice rarely issued today.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: yes

Family-based immigration

Immigrant visa for the spouse of a U.S. citizen when the marriage is at least two years old at approval. Immediate relatives always have a visa available — no quota wait.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Family-based immigration

Family second preference for spouses and unmarried children under 21 of lawful permanent residents. Subject to the Visa Bulletin.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Humanitarian and protection

Victims of severe human trafficking who are in the U.S. because of trafficking and comply with reasonable law-enforcement requests can receive T status, which can lead to a Green Card.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Humanitarian and protection

T status holders may apply for a Green Card after three years of continuous presence, or earlier if the investigation or prosecution is complete.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Green Card to citizenship

Permanent residents married to and living with a U.S. citizen for three years can naturalize after three years instead of five.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Temporary visa to Green Card routes

Canadian and Mexican professionals on TN status can be sponsored for a Green Card (usually EB-2 or EB-3 with PERM), but TN is not dual intent, so timing and travel need careful planning.

Currently available · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

Temporary Protected Status protects people from designated countries from removal and allows work authorization, but it is temporary and does not itself lead to a Green Card. A separate qualifying petition is required.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Humanitarian and protection

Victims of qualifying crimes who suffered substantial harm and helped law enforcement can receive U status — temporary status with work authorization that can lead to a Green Card after three years.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Humanitarian and protection

U status holders may apply for a Green Card after three years of continuous physical presence, if they have not unreasonably refused to help law enforcement.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Options without lawful status

Working without authorization violates status and blocks adjustment of status for most categories — but not for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and certain others. It can also affect good moral character findings.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

Family second preference for unmarried sons and daughters 21+ of permanent residents. Quota-limited with long waits.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Family-based immigration

Family first preference for unmarried sons and daughters aged 21 or older of U.S. citizens. Subject to annual quotas, so a Visa Bulletin wait applies.

Currently available · Sponsor: yes

Humanitarian and protection

Survivors of battery or extreme cruelty by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, parent, or child can self-petition for a Green Card without the abuser’s knowledge or involvement. The process is confidential by law.

Currently available · Sponsor: no

Options without lawful status

People without status who have survived abuse by a U.S. citizen or resident relative, qualifying crimes, or trafficking may qualify for VAWA, U or T relief — each confidential and each able to lead to a Green Card.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Options without lawful status

Staying past the authorized date on an I-94 creates unlawful presence and can trigger three- or ten-year re-entry bars on departure. Some people — especially immediate relatives of U.S. citizens — can still adjust status inside the U.S.; most cannot.

Requires current verification · Sponsor: varies

Family-based immigration

A widow or widower of a U.S. citizen may self-petition for a Green Card, generally within two years of the citizen’s death, if the marriage was genuine.

Currently available · Sponsor: no