Green Cards (Lawful Permanent Residence)

A green card, formally a Permanent Resident Card, shows that a person is a lawful permanent resident who may live and work anywhere in the United States, travel abroad and return, and usually apply for citizenship after five years, or three if married to a citizen. The government granted about 1.2 million green cards in fiscal 2023. About half go to people already in the country who adjust their status through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and about half to people abroad who receive immigrant visas at U.S. consulates.

Most green cards come through family. Spouses, unmarried minor children, and parents of adult U.S. citizens are unlimited, while other relatives fall under capped family preference categories of at least 226,000 a year. Employment categories are capped at about 140,000 a year, including family members, and about 55,000 diversity visas go to lottery winners from countries with low immigration. Refugees and people granted asylum can apply after one year. No country may receive more than 7 percent of the capped visas, which creates long waits for applicants from India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Permanent residents can lose their status by committing certain crimes, abandoning their U.S. residence, or fraud, and they cannot vote in federal elections. In 2025 and 2026 the government increased vetting of green card applicants and holders, reinterpreted the public charge rule on reliance on government benefits, and paused or restricted processing for nationals of dozens of countries, steps supporters called necessary for security and opponents said penalized lawful immigrants. Proposals in Congress range from cutting family categories to raising employment caps and ending per-country limits.