Learn about US green card eligibility requirements, employment-based pathways, and how to get a US green card through employment in 2025.
Getting permanent residence in the United States is a life-changing goal. The good news is this. Multiple pathways exist for US green card eligibility. You don't need to fit into just one box. Family connections work. Employment works. Even winning a lottery works. Think of a green card as your golden ticket to permanently live and work in America. It's not citizenship yet. But it's close. You can stay as long as you want. Work anywhere you choose. And eventually apply to become a citizen.
Green cards grant lawful permanent residence, allowing individuals to live and work in the country indefinitely, with most cardholders eligible to apply for citizenship after 3 to 5 years. Right now, approximately 12.8 million green card holders live in the United States. That number keeps growing each year.
Want to know if you qualify for a green card? Book a free consultation with Beyond Border today and our experts will review your specific situation.
Several main pathways to US green cards exist including family sponsorship, employment opportunities, refugee or asylee status, and the Diversity Visa Lottery. Each path has different rules. Family based green cards work when you have close relatives who are US citizens or permanent residents. This includes spouses, parents, children, and siblings. The relationship matters. So does whether your sponsor is a citizen or just a green card holder.
Employment based green cards let you get permanent residence through your job. Your employer sponsors you. Or in some cases, you sponsor yourself if you're exceptional at what you do. Humanitarian programs help refugees and asylum seekers. If you fled persecution or danger in your home country, you might qualify through these special programs.
The Diversity Visa Lottery randomly selects people from countries with low immigration rates to the US. It's literally a lottery. Pure chance. Special programs exist too. Military service. Abuse victims. Long-term residents who've been here since before 1972. Each category has its own eligibility rules.
Contact Beyond Border for a personalized assessment of your green card options.
Employment is one of the strongest ways to get permanent residence. The United States makes about 140,000 employment-based green cards available each fiscal year, though this number can increase when unused family-based visas from the previous year are added.
These US green card employment based visas are split into five preference categories.
Unsure which employment category fits your background? Contact Beyond Border for a personalized assessment of your green card options.
For most categories, how to get a US green card through employment starts with PERM labor certification. PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management and is the first step employers use to sponsor an employee for permanent residence, requiring them to test the labor market to show no US workers are able, willing, qualified or available. The employer begins by drafting the job description and submitting a prevailing wage application to the Department of Labor, with current processing times running 6 to 7 months. The prevailing wage sets the minimum salary the employer must pay.
Next comes recruitment. The initial recruitment period must last for a minimum of 30 days, after which the employer must wait an additional 30 days to allow candidates to apply and then conduct interviews with qualified candidates. If no qualified US workers apply, the employer submits the PERM application. Currently the Department of Labor takes 8 to 9 months to process PERM applications after submission, and the day the PERM application is filed establishes the beneficiary's priority date.
After PERM approval, your employer files Form I-140 with USCIS. As of early 2025, USCIS reports processing times ranging from 5 months to 13 months for I-140 decisions, though premium processing allows decisions within 15 to 45 business days for an extra fee. The final step is Form I-485 adjustment of status. But you can't file this until your priority date becomes current according to the monthly Visa Bulletin. According to USCIS, typical processing time for employment-based I-485 applications across all service centers runs between 16 and 25 months in early 2025.
Some categories skip PERM entirely. EB-1A extraordinary ability and EB-2 National Interest Waiver applicants can self-petition without employer sponsorship or labor certification.
Need help navigating the complex PERM process? Beyond Border's immigration team can guide you through every step and avoid costly delays.
The technology sector continues to dominate EB-2 sponsorship due to the need for professionals with advanced degrees in software development, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting 25% growth in software development jobs through 2032.
In 2024, 42,486 permanent labor certifications filed under PERM for green cards were in IT and Math occupations, with an average salary of $143,846. Tech dominates the US green card job list.
Remember that your specific job duties matter more than your job title. Immigration officers look at what you actually do day to day, not just what your business card says.
Contact Beyond Border for a personalized assessment of your green card options.
The total timeline for US green cards through employment varies wildly. Getting a green card through PERM generally takes about 2 to 3 years, but can be much longer for people born in China or India. Breaking it down by stage helps set expectations. PERM labor certification currently takes 8 to 12 months not counting recruitment time. Add another 6 to 7 months for the prevailing wage determination before that.
Total costs vary too. The cost ranges anywhere from $2,500 for just form fees, advertising and background checks to $20,000 including premium processing and paying a private attorney for the entire process.
What are the main ways to qualify for US green card eligibility? Main pathways include family sponsorship through relatives who are citizens or permanent residents, employment-based categories requiring job offers or exceptional ability, refugee or asylum status for humanitarian protection, and the Diversity Visa Lottery for countries with low immigration rates.
How long does it take to get a US green card through employment? Employment-based green cards through PERM generally take about 2 to 3 years for rest of world applicants, but can be much longer for people born in China or India due to per-country caps, with total processing including PERM certification, I-140 petition, and I-485 adjustment of status.
What jobs are on the US green card job list? Top occupations include IT and Math positions with 42,486 certifications at an average salary of $143,846, Architecture and Engineering with 7,636 certifications at $122,662, and Business and Finance roles with 7,536 certifications, with software engineers, healthcare professionals, and specialized business roles seeing the highest sponsorship rates.
How many green card holders currently live in the USA? Approximately 12.8 million green card holders live in the United States according to the latest estimates from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics, with over 1.17 million new green cards issued in fiscal year 2023.
Can green card holders work any job in America? Generally yes, permanent residents can apply to work in any occupation for which they are qualified, though limitations exist for certain federal government positions that require US citizenship, with millions of jobs available across all business sectors including healthcare, technology, engineering, finance, and manufacturing.
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