US Reveals Green Card Requirements for Refugees Who Want to Get Permanent Residence Status
- The US government outlined specific eligibility conditions that refugees must satisfy before they can apply for a Green Card
- Refugees in the US are legally required to apply for permanent resident status once they meet a key residency threshold
- The application process involves a formal form submission, and certain grounds of inadmissibility can be waived for qualifying refugees
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has outlined the steps and conditions that refugees living in the United States must meet in order to apply for a Green Card and become lawful permanent residents.
According to USCIS, US immigration law does not make the process optional. Once a refugee has spent a qualifying amount of time on American soil, they are legally required to pursue adjustment of status, the official term for transitioning from refugee to permanent resident.
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US Green Card: Who Qualifies to Apply
To be eligible, a refugee must have been admitted into the US specifically under Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
They must also be physically present in the country both at the time of filing and for at least one year following their original admission as a refugee.
Additional conditions include having an active refugee status that has not been terminated, not already holding permanent resident status, and being considered admissible to the United States under immigration law. The application itself is submitted through Form I-485, the Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
US Green Card: Grounds of Inadmissibility and Waivers
Not everyone who meets the basic requirements will automatically qualify. USCIS assesses each applicant against a list of grounds of inadmissibility outlined in Section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. However, the agency notes that some of those grounds do not apply specifically to refugees seeking adjustment of status.
For situations where a ground of inadmissibility does apply, refugees may be able to seek a waiver through Form I-602, the Application by Refugee for Waiver of Grounds of Excludability. If that waiver is granted, and the applicant is otherwise eligible, USCIS may still approve the Green Card application.
The eligibility requirements for waivers vary depending on the specific ground of inadmissibility involved. Full details are available in Volume 7, Part L of the USCIS Policy Manual, which covers refugee adjustment comprehensively, including admissibility and waiver requirements.
Refugees who have already been in the US for at least a year and meet all the stated conditions are encouraged to file Form I-485 and review the accompanying instructions carefully before submitting their application.
US publishes employment pathways for Green Card
In a related story on Legit.ng, the United States government outlined three main employment-based pathways through which foreign nationals could apply for a Green Card.
Eligible categories ranged from workers with extraordinary ability and advanced degrees to physicians serving underserved communities.
The US government explained how one could qualify under any of the three categories to apply for a Green Card via employment.
Source: Legit.ng
