Best Immigration Lawyers in Brookhaven, GA

No. A green card allows an immigrant to live and work in the United States indefinitely. A visa allows an immigrant to travel to and lawfully enter the United States. There are both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. An immigrant visa is issued to a person wishing to live permanently in the U.S. while a nonimmigrant visa is issued to a person with permanent residence outside the U.S., but wishes to stay in the country on a temporary basis.

Green cards are valid for 10 years for permanent residents. However, conditional permanent resident green cards (based on marriages of less than two years or for entrepreneurs/investors) are valid for 2 years. After those 2 years, a conditional permanent resident must file a petition to remove the condition during the 90 days before his or her card expires.

If you remain outside of the U.S. for more than 1 year without obtaining a re-entry permit or returning resident visa, you may be found to have abandoned your permanent residency status and have your green card revoked. When determining if you have abandoned your status, any absence from the U.S. may be considered. That means lengthy stays outside the U.S. (even less than a year) can threaten your permanent residency status.

Once you have been a permanent resident for 5 years, you may apply to become a naturalized U.S. citizen as long as you meet all of the other requirements. If you are married to a U.S. citizen, you may apply once you have been a permanent resident for 3 years so long as you were married to your U.S. citizen spouse during that period.

As of 2018, it costs $725 to apply for naturalization. This includes the filing fee for Form N-400, Application for Naturalization and the $85 biometric fee. If you are 75 years of age or older, you do not need to pay the biometric fee. Fee waivers are available to certain individuals or families who cannot afford the naturalization application fees. To request a fee waiver, you must file Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver along with your application.