How long does it take to get a green card after studying in the United States?

Two years.

People who study in the United States hope to stay and develop in the United States after graduation. So how long does it take for American students to get a green card? The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill with a high vote to cancel country-specific quota restrictions for employment-based immigrants. . This is good news for Chinese students who want to develop their careers in the United States, because after the quota restrictions are lifted, the waiting time for foreign students to obtain a green card is expected to be shortened from the current six or seven years to two years.

According to current policy, the United States issues 140,000 green cards to employment-based immigrants every year. The number of green cards obtained by citizens of any country through employment-based immigration cannot exceed 7% of the total, which means that it cannot exceed 9,800 green cards. The number of applications for employment-based immigration by citizens of China, India and other countries every year far exceeds this number. This makes it difficult for many Chinese students who have obtained master's and doctoral degrees in the United States to apply for a green card sponsored by their employer even if they find a job in the United States. There is a long waiting period.

After the removal of country restrictions for high-skilled immigrants, immigration approval and green card issuance will be based on the first-come, first-served principle, and the waiting time for obtaining a green card is expected to be shortened to two to three years. The first pass of this bill shows the U.S. government’s continued relaxed attitude towards study abroad policies and the many changes it has made to obtain more high-end talents. If the bill is finally passed, it will be a direct benefit to Chinese students currently studying in the United States or working after graduation, and they will have the shortest green card waiting time in history. In the past, after many Chinese students completed higher education in the United States, their six-year work visas had been exhausted, but they had not yet received their green cards, and they had no choice but to leave the United States. If the "first come, first served" principle in the bill is followed, Chinese students are expected to get their green cards and permanent residence in the United States in two years.