How to Get a Green Card in 2026: Every Path to US Permanent Residency

A green card, formally known as Lawful Permanent Resident status, allows a foreign national to live and work permanently in the United States. There is no single path to getting one. The route that applies to you depends on your relationship to US citizens or permanent residents, your employment situation, your country of birth, and your current immigration status. Understanding which path applies to you and what the realistic timeline looks like is the starting point for any green card strategy.

Family-Based Green Cards: Immediate Relatives vs Preference Categories

Family-based immigration is divided into two groups with very different wait times. Immediate relatives of US citizens move to the front of the line and face no numerical cap on visas. This category includes the spouse of a US citizen, unmarried children under 21 of a US citizen, and parents of US citizens who are at least 21 years old. For immediate relatives, the only delay is processing time, which currently runs roughly 12 to 24 months for most adjustment of status cases inside the United States.

Everyone else in the family-based system falls into a preference category with a numerical annual cap. The F1 category covers unmarried adult children of US citizens. F2A covers spouses and unmarried minor children of permanent residents. F2B covers unmarried adult children of permanent residents. F3 covers married children of US citizens. F4 covers siblings of US citizens who are at least 21.

Wait times in the preference categories range from a few months for F2A to decades for F3 and F4 from high-demand countries like Mexico, the Philippines, India, and China. The State Department publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin showing the current priority date cutoffs for each category and country. Only applicants whose priority date is before the published cutoff can move forward with their green card application in a given month.

Adjustment of Status vs Consular Processing

Applicants who are already inside the United States in a valid immigration status generally apply for their green card through adjustment of status by filing Form I-485 with USCIS. This keeps them in the United States throughout the process and allows them to obtain work authorization and advance parole to travel internationally while the application is pending.

Applicants outside the United States, or those inside who are not eligible for adjustment of status for various legal reasons, must go through consular processing. In consular processing, the petition is approved by USCIS, the case is transferred to the National Visa Center for fee collection and document gathering, and then an immigrant visa interview is scheduled at a US embassy or consulate abroad. The applicant enters the United States on the immigrant visa and becomes a permanent resident upon entry.

Consular processing is often faster than adjustment of status for priority categories where visa numbers are immediately available. However, it requires the applicant to be outside the US or to travel abroad for the interview, which creates complications for people with pending status, jobs, or family in the United States.

Employment-Based Green Cards

Employment-based green cards are divided into five preference categories, EB-1 through EB-5. EB-1 covers priority workers including persons with extraordinary ability in their field, outstanding professors and researchers, and certain multinational executives and managers. EB-1 cases do not require labor certification and often have shorter backlogs than other employment categories.

EB-2 covers professionals with advanced degrees or persons with exceptional ability in business, science, or the arts. Most EB-2 cases require labor certification through the PERM process, though national interest waiver cases allow self-petitioning without employer sponsorship. EB-3 covers skilled workers, professionals, and unskilled workers. The EB-3 category generally requires labor certification and employer sponsorship.

Applicants from India and China face dramatically longer backlogs in EB-2 and EB-3 than applicants from most other countries due to per-country caps that limit how many green cards any one country can receive regardless of demand. Indian nationals in EB-2 and EB-3 face waits measured in years and sometimes decades. This is one of the most serious structural problems in the US employment-based immigration system and has not been resolved by legislation despite repeated congressional attempts.

The PERM Labor Certification Process

Most employment-based green card cases outside EB-1 and national interest waivers require the employer to complete PERM labor certification before sponsoring the immigrant petition. PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management and it is the process through which the Department of Labor certifies that no qualified US workers are available for the job being sponsored.

The PERM process requires the employer to conduct a genuine supervised recruitment effort including job postings, newspaper advertisements, and other required steps, document that all US applicants were considered and rejected only for lawful job-related reasons, and submit the application to the Department of Labor electronically. Processing times at DOL have ranged from a few months to well over a year depending on workload and whether the application is selected for audit.

The Diversity Visa Lottery

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, commonly called the green card lottery, makes approximately 55,000 immigrant visas available each year to persons from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States. Registration is free and open annually in the fall for visas to be issued in the following fiscal year.

Countries with high immigration to the US, including Mexico, India, China, the Philippines, El Salvador, Haiti, and several others, are not eligible. Applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent or two years of qualifying work experience in a job that requires at least two years of training. Selection is by random computer drawing. Being selected does not guarantee a visa, it only creates the opportunity to apply for one.

The Medical Examination

Every green card applicant must complete an immigration medical examination performed by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon. The exam covers vaccination history and administration of any required vaccines not already received, testing for certain communicable diseases including tuberculosis, and a general physical examination. The results are sealed and submitted directly to USCIS.

The exam is valid for two years from the date of the examination for applications filed through adjustment of status. If the I-485 is not adjudicated within two years of the exam date, a new examination may be required. Finding a designated civil surgeon and scheduling the exam early in the process is recommended because appointment availability varies by location.

What Happens at the Interview

Many adjustment of status cases are approved without an interview based on the written record. When an interview is scheduled, it takes place at a USCIS field office. The officer reviews your application, verifies your identity and documents, and may ask questions about your background, your relationship to the petitioner, your work history, and your eligibility for the green card.

Marriage-based cases are almost always interviewed and the officer typically interviews both spouses together and sometimes separately to verify the bona fides of the marriage. Bringing thorough documentation of the genuine marriage relationship, including joint financial records, lease or mortgage documents in both names, photos together over time, and evidence of shared daily life, is essential for marriage-based interviews.