First of all, understand the fact that green card processing steps vary for all individuals and so does the time which is required to get the actual green card. Some people may get a green card within 3 to 6 months of starting the green card application process, while some people might have to wait for years to become a lawful permanent resident of the US. You must keep in mind that along with correct petitions of sponsorship, the results of biometric submissions and your personal interviews hold a lot of importance in the process of getting a green card. It also depends on the birth country of the applicant, the method chosen for application, case load that the immigration office has, and the time when the process of green card application began. There are various types of immigration sponsorships like family sponsored immigration, employment sponsored immigration, special immigrations, political asylum, and various other types of exceptional immigration considerations.
Family Sponsored Green Card Processing Time
While finding how long does it take to get a green card, one needs to understand that there are two steps involved in family based immigration, first the preference petition filing with Form I-130 and second the immigration status of the application. Understand that the filing date for Form I-130 is the Priority Date of the immigrant applicant. When the priority date is marked as current, only then the applicant may think of filing for immigrant status. There are two ways through which he can file for immigration status, namely overseas counselor processing and adjustment of immigration status. It is important to understand that family based immigration for the immediate relatives, like opposite sex spouse, minor children, and parents of a US citizen who is above 21 years of age; can get a green card within just 6 to 9 months, while approval of all the other types of family based immigration cases depends on clearance of document backlogs and the country of charge. If you look at the current status, there is waiting period of about 2 to 14 years.
Employment Sponsored Green Card Processing Time
Similar to the immediate relatives of a US citizen or green card holder, employees who apply for green card under employment first preference may get a green card within 6 months. Processing of this type of green card involves three steps, which are Foreign Labor Certification Application (PERM), Immigrant Preference Petition (Form I-140) and Adjustment of Status. The PERM approval takes about 20 days to 14 months, Form I-140 may take around 15 days to 6 months. You can reduce this time span, if you are willing to pay an extra USD 1000 for premium processing. These two steps bring the green card application form to the ‘current’ status. From there, the application date for the immigration benefits is counted as the priority date of the immigrant applicant. From then on, adjustment of status may take about 6 months. This process has even taken 5 years in some extreme cases! Apart form the employment first preference, all the other types of employment based immigration takes a lot of time to get approved. Current immigration visa backlog in this category is between 5 to 9 years!
Green Card Processing Time for Other Immigration Types READ MORE