How long does it take for USCIS to apply for c 18 card?

It generally takes 1~3 weeks from application to issuance of work cards in the United States.

American permanent resident card (American permanent resident card)

Card), also known as the American green card (Green)

Card) is an identity card used to prove that foreigners have the status of permanent residents in the United States of America. "Getting a green card" refers to the immigration process of becoming a permanent resident. Legal permanent residence of green card holders

The right of abode is an official immigration benefit, including conditional permission to stay in the United States and get a job. The holder must maintain his permanent resident status, and if a certain condition required for this status is no longer met, he will hold this status.

It is possible to lose this identity.

American green card application

1. The applicant must be in the United States.

Applicants must be in the United States to apply for a green card. Although the application

There is no need to provide evidence of the person in the United States, but relevant evidence, such as I-94 form, passport and visa copy, should be kept for immigration verification. Because people can only apply for a green card in the United States, the two places are separate.

Generally, 90% of couples cannot apply at the same time. For example, the husband works in the United States and applies for a green card through professional immigration, while the wife still lives outside the United States. A wife cannot apply at the same time as her husband. under the circumstances

In this case, the husband should apply for the so-called I-824 immediately after obtaining the green card, that is, please ask the relevant immigration department that approved his green card to inform the American overseas consulate to allow his wife to reunite with her husband as a green card. Ruoruozhang

My husband applied for a green card from the regional center of the US Immigration Bureau, and the regional center directly approved his green card. My husband should immediately send it to I-824 to apply. If the center transfers its green card application to the local immigration office, the husband should be present.

I-824 application should be submitted immediately, which can save a lot of time. It should be noted that the husband and wife get married first, and the husband gets a green card later. In this case, the wife does not need to apply for a green card according to the so-called timetable.

A long wait. In legal procedure, if the husband gets married after getting a green card, he will apply for the so-called second priority of relative immigration, which takes a long time to schedule, and he will get a green card and apply after getting married.

Follow the reunion of husband and wife

Join), so you don't have to wait for the schedule. Therefore, after getting a green card in the United States, if you apply for a green card for your spouse, you must not apply for I- 130, but I-824.

The above provisions also apply to unmarried children under the age of 2 1 who are overseas.

2. Applicants must enter the country legally and maintain their legal status.

Generally speaking, to apply for a green card in the United States, the applicant must enter the country with a legal visa and maintain his legal non-immigrant status during his stay.

The situations that affect legal non-immigrant status are usually overstaying and illegal work. F- 1 students who fail to attend full-time courses are deemed to have lost their school status. If H- 1 work visa holders are unemployed,

Working, or failing to get enough * *, will also be regarded as overstaying. In this case, it is impossible to apply for a green card in the form of professional immigrants or relatives immigrants. You can only leave the United States and apply for an immigrant visa at an overseas consulate. But it should be

It should be noted that applicants who overstay for more than 180 days may not re-enter the United States within three years after leaving the United States; Those who overstay for more than one year are not allowed to enter the country within ten years.

The above provisions do not apply to the United States.

Immediate family members of China citizens, that is, parents, spouses and unmarried children under 2 1 year of age of American citizens. For these people, as long as they enter the country legally, even if they fail to maintain their legal status or have worked illegally, they can still do so.

Apply for a green card in America. Just don't leave the United States while waiting for a green card, even if you apply for a so-called "departure card" (advance payment

Parole), and don't rush out of the country. Because once you leave the country, you may be restricted from entering the country for three or ten years. In addition, if the protection of the so-called 245I law is met, even illegal entry will be overdue.

Living and working illegally can still apply for a green card in the United States. The legal provisions of 245I are very complicated. I wrote a detailed introduction article and published it in the World Journal. be interested in

Readers can write to ask for it. In short, anyone who applied for a relative immigration or professional immigration or even a work permit before the end of April 200 1 year can pay a fine of 1000 USD as long as they meet the immigration conditions.

China applied for a green card.

3. Other restrictions on applying for a green card in the United States

First of all, immigrants can only apply for a green card if they have a quota. In terms of professional immigration, there are quotas for various priorities at present. Applicants can apply for a green card immediately after the work permit is approved. However, the arrangement of relatives' immigration is progressing slowly, and they can only apply after the arrangement expires. Please pay attention to the announcement of the the State Council Visa Office about the scheduling progress.

Secondly, the following people cannot apply for a US green card:

1, illegal immigrants (but see 245I);

2. Crew members and flight attendants;

3. Transit visa;

4. visa-free;

5.J- 1 visa is subject to a two-year return restriction;

6. K- 1 visa but failed to marry the applicant citizen;

7. In the process of expulsion.

Of course, the above seven kinds of people may use the legal provisions on immunity, and the parties should discuss it carefully with their lawyers.

4. Procedures for professional immigrants to apply for green cards

Generally speaking, professional immigrants need to apply for a green card from the service center of the US Immigration Service. Although after March 2003, the Immigration Bureau was placed under the jurisdiction of the newly established Department of Homeland Security and renamed the Citizenship and Immigration Service Bureau, the work of handling various immigration applications was still handled by the original four sub-regional centers.

According to American immigration law, the professional immigration application (form 1- 140) can be submitted at the same time as the green card application (form I-485), or it can be applied separately. This provides different options for applicants.

Professional immigrants are divided into five categories. The first priority includes special talents, outstanding researchers and professors, and managers of multinational companies. These three types of applicants can directly apply for I- 140 and I-485 without applying for a work permit.

The second priority of professional immigrants includes national interests. Like the first priority three types of applications, such applications can also be submitted directly to I- 140 and I-485. The second priority also includes master's degree or above.

Applications, such applications and the third priority applications, including college graduates, applications with two years' work experience and applications without two years' work experience, must apply for work permits first. I- Only after the work permit application is approved.

140 and I-485 applications. In addition, the fourth priority (special immigrants) and the fifth priority (investment immigrants) must be approved before they can apply for I-486.

The advantages of applying for I- 140 and I-485 at the same time are:

First, speed up the application process and reduce the waiting time for green cards (at least in theory);

Second, you can apply for travel documents and freely enter and leave the United States;

Third, you can apply for a work permit and the whole family can work;

Fourth, you can keep your legal identity, which is very important for people whose identity is about to expire, such as H- 1, B- 1. As for the proposal that I- 140 and I-

The disadvantage of the 485 application is that if I- 140 is not approved, the application of I-485 and its related travel documents and work cards will also be rejected. Except that the identity will be affected, there is no application fee alone.

Small loss. Secondly, if I- 140 is refused a visa after leaving the United States with a travel document, whether I can return to the United States and what impact it will have on the applicant's non-immigrant status are all unresolved issues. In addition, the Immigration Bureau

Since I- 140 and I-485 were allowed to declare together in August 2002, the approval time of I-485 has not been shortened, but has become longer. The same is true when I- 140 and I-485 applications are submitted.

Need to consider, at least for now.

5, professional immigrants to apply for green card documents

1, I-485 form and application fee;

2. Form I-485A (if a 245(I) application is submitted at the same time);

3. Form G-325a (not required for children under14);

4. Two photos;

5.I-693 form, that is, physical examination form;

6.I- 134/I-864, that is, economic guarantee;

7, I- 140 (or I-360, I-526) ratification;

8. Form I-94 (Proof of legal non-immigrant status);

9. Birth certificate;

10, marriage certificate;

1 1, employment certificate;

12, passport copy;

13, I- 13 1 are travel document application forms;

14, I-765 Work Card Application Form.

All I-485 applications processed by the Immigration Sub-regional Center must be mailed.

6. Procedures for relative immigrants to apply for green cards

In the application for relative immigration, parents, spouses and minor children of citizens are immediate family members, and I- 130 (application form for relative immigration) and I-485 can be submitted directly. Other application categories include citizens.

Adult unmarried children, spouses of permanent residents and adult unmarried children, married children of citizens and brothers and sisters of citizens, all of these types of applications need to be approved by I- 130 before they can apply for I-485.

An application for a relative's immigration green card must be made at the local office of the Immigration Bureau in the city where he lives. It can be delivered by mail or by a lawyer in person, which can save a lot of processing time. In San Diego, it was run by a lawyer and

You can get the work card on the same day. The time for applying for a US Re-entry Permit can also be shortened a lot. The green card of relative immigrants is generally approved after an interview with the immigration staff. How to prepare for the interview, for the relative immigrant applicants,

Especially for those who apply for a green card after marrying an American citizen, it is particularly important. I will introduce it in detail in another article.

The documents required for relatives to apply for a green card are generally consistent with the list listed above, but

I- 130 form or I- 130 approval notice is required. In addition, different immigration offices have different requirements for medical examination forms. Some need to be provided at the time of application, and some need to be provided at the interview. In addition, relatives

Immigration application needs more detailed financial guarantee (I-864 form) and supporting documents, and applicants should also pay serious attention to it.

Recently, the Immigration Bureau plans to set up a Missouri regional center for all parents.

Documents belonging to immigration applications must be sent to this immigration sub-center and sent back to the local office of the Immigration Bureau for processing after preliminary examination. We don't know how this change will affect immigrant relatives' application for green cards.

In particular, whether the processing time will cause longer delay. According to past experience, the most troublesome thing for immigrants is the communication between departments. In the past, applicants migrated because of moving or changing their residence.

The immigration office lost the documents or the handover between the two immigration offices was unclear.

7. The immigration court applied for a green card.

If the applicant is sent to court because of overstaying, illegal employment or failure to apply for political asylum, he can still apply for a green card in the immigration court if he meets the immigration conditions, but the application procedures are different from the above two types of applications.

Take marrying a citizen and applying for a green card as an example. If the applicant is transferred to the immigration court for judicial proceedings and applies for immigration on the grounds of marrying a citizen, he should first apply to the local immigration office for I- 130 relative immigration. After the interview passes I- 130, submit the I-485 application to the immigration court for review.

It should be noted that since the applicant has entered the expulsion procedure, the Immigration Bureau has a strict review of such marriage green card applications. Candidates should not only be fully psychologically prepared, but also be carefully prepared in terms of documents and questions to ensure entry into the customs.

Matters needing attention

Apply for a green card through work

Recently, many applicants were refused visas when they changed from official visas to green cards. Let's analyze, when you submitted the I-485 form earlier, it was the last stage of green card processing, that is, some people had to wait more than 1 year at this stage. F 1 symbol

After getting the certificate, I will usually work with OPT for one year. Not many companies are willing to provide responsibility for outsiders as before, so it is not easy to apply for H 1.

Some conscientious applicants will spend extra money to find a company that provides H 1, which is quite clever. Of course, the rush fee is about 1000 dollars, but the time can be shortened to 2-3 months. From H 1

It may take 2-3 years to finally get a green card, so you should pay attention to it during this period. First, you should get along well with your company. Second, don't violate any American laws in the meantime. Have a good record.

Quite important.

If the green card holder cannot return to the United States within one year for special reasons, that is to say, if he wants to leave the United States for more than one year, he needs to apply to the local consulate in advance, otherwise he will be in danger of being cancelled by the US Immigration Service.