The paths to your permanent residency.
Permanent residency can be obtained through different paths, and which one applies depends on how you entered the country, who can petition for you, and where you are now. This page brings together the four processes that make up that journey and what each one requires.
Each process has its own requirements, deadlines, and evidence, and filing them in the wrong order costs months. We review your situation and tell you in writing which of these paths applies to you before starting.
Permanent residency —what everyone calls the green card— is the status that allows you to live and work indefinitely in the United States. Holders can enter and leave the country, work for almost any employer and, after the time required by law, apply for citizenship.
It is not the same as being a citizen: permanent residents keep their nationality, cannot vote in federal elections, and can lose the status after long absences from the country. It is also not a single filing. It is the end of a journey that begins in different ways depending on who petitions for you and where you are when the process starts.
Most of the cases we prepare reach residency through one of these four processes. Each has its own form, evidence, and timeline.
This is the starting point of the family path. A U.S. citizen or permanent resident files the I-130 to prove to USCIS that a genuine relationship exists with the relative they want to bring over or regularize. What is proven here is not the eligibility of the beneficiary, but the relationship itself: birth certificates, marriage certificates, photographs, shared accounts, and everything that supports it.
This is the path for those already inside the United States who can complete the process without leaving. The I-485 requests residency from USCIS and, in the same package, the work permit (Form I-765) and the travel permit (Form I-131) are usually filed as well. As a general rule, adjustment requires having entered with inspection, although the law provides for exceptions: it is one of the first points we review before assembling the file.
When the beneficiary is outside the United States, the case moves to the National Visa Center and ends with an interview at the embassy or consulate in their country. There the DS-260 is filed, the corresponding fees are paid, civil documents are gathered, and the medical exam is done with a doctor authorized by the consulate.
This is not a parallel path but the next step: it is requested after having been a permanent resident for the time required by law. The N-400 includes the civics and English tests, with exceptions based on age and years of residency.
Within the family path there is one distinction that sets the pace of the whole process. Immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen —spouse, unmarried children under 21, and parents, if the citizen is already 21— have no annual visa limit: as soon as the petition moves forward, they can continue.
Everyone else falls into the preference categories: adult or married children, siblings of citizens, and the relatives of permanent residents. Those categories do have annual quotas, and the queue is tracked month by month in the Visa Bulletin published by the Department of State. The wait depends on the category and the country of birth, and can range from a few years to considerably longer.
The forms change, but the file rests on the same kind of paperwork: passport and identity documents, birth and marriage certificates with certified translations when they are in another language, divorce decrees if there were previous marriages, police records where applicable, passport-style photographs, and evidence of your entry into the United States.
To that, add two pieces that hold up many cases: the affidavit of support (Form I-864), where the petitioner proves sufficient income, and the medical exam (Form I-693 in adjustment of status), which only counts if it is performed by a designated civil surgeon and submitted while still valid.
Almost every case also includes a biometrics appointment —fingerprints and photograph— and, depending on the path, an interview.
If you had been married less than two years when the case is approved, residency is granted on a conditional basis for two years. Before it expires, Form I-751 must be filed to remove the condition, within the 90 days before the expiration date; missing that window is one of the most common causes of avoidable trouble.
The card is also renewed (Form I-90) and, once the residency time required by law is met, the door to naturalization opens.
We prepare the documentation: we transcribe the forms with the information you give us, organize the evidence in the order the agency expects to see it, check that nothing is missing, and submit the file at your direction. We have attorneys licensed in Colombia, and service is available in Spanish and English, online or in person.
The first thing is to know which of the four paths applies to you. In your initial appointment we review your situation —how you entered, who can petition for you, what documents you have— and give you in writing the process that applies and its cost, before starting.
Tell us about your case and we will tell you how to move forward. Message us on WhatsApp or book directly on our calendar.
