Green card

For other uses, see Green card (disambiguation).
United States Permanent Resident ID Card
Sample of a Permanent Resident Card (often called a "green card") of the United States (2023)
TypePersonal identification document
Issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
PurposeIdentification
Expiration10 years (standard)
2 years (conditional)
United States citizenship and immigration
Immigration
Citizenship
Agencies
Legislation
History
Relevant legislation
flag United States portal

A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States.[1][2] Green card holders are formally known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). As of 2023, there are an estimated 12.7 million green card holders, of whom 9 million are eligible to become United States citizens.[3] Approximately 18,700 of them serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.[4]

Green card holders are statutorily entitled to apply for U.S. citizenship after showing by a preponderance of the evidence that they, among other things, have continuously resided in the United States for one to five years and are persons of good moral character.[5][6] Those who are younger than 18 years old automatically derive U.S. citizenship if they have at least one U.S. citizen parent.[7][8]

The card is known as a "green card" because of its historical greenish color.[9][10] It was formerly called a "certificate of alien registration" or an "alien registration receipt card".[11] Absent exceptional circumstances, immigrants who are 18 years of age or older could spend up to 30 days in jail for not carrying their green cards.[12]

Green card applications are decided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), but in some cases an immigration judge or a member of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), acting on behalf of the U.S. Attorney General, may grant permanent residency in the course of removal proceedings. Any authorized federal judge may do the same by signing and issuing an injunction.[13] Immigrant workers who would like to obtain a green card can apply using form I-140.[14][verification needed]

An LPR could become "removable" from the United States after suffering a criminal conviction,[15] especially if it involved a particularly serious crime or an aggravated felony "for which the term of imprisonment was completed within the previous 15 years."[16][verification needed]

  1. ^ 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(20) ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant in accordance with the immigration laws, such status not having changed.").
  2. ^ "Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR)". U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS). April 24, 2018. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  3. ^ Miller, Sarah; Baker, Bryan (October 2023). "Estimates of the Lawful Permanent Resident Population in the United States and the Subpopulation Eligible to Naturalize: 2023" (PDF). United States Department of Homeland Security.
  4. ^ Dowd, Alan (April 2, 2018). "What a Country: Immigrants Serve US Military Well". providencemag.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference naturalization was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Al-Sharif v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, 734 F.3d 207 Archived September 25, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (3d Cir. 2013) (en banc) (holding that an LPR convicted of an aggravated felony cannot obtain U.S. citizenship); see also Mobin v. Taylor, 598 F.Supp.2d 777 Archived December 9, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (E.D. Va. 2009) (same).
  7. ^ Khalid v. Sessions, 904 F.3d 129 Archived 2018-12-23 at the Wayback Machine, 131 (2d Cir. 2018) (case involving a U.S. citizen in removal proceedings)
  8. ^ "Khalid v. Sessions". Short Circuit. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  9. ^ "USCIS Announces Redesigned Green Card: Fact Sheet and FAQ". AILA. May 11, 2010. Archived from the original on March 6, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  10. ^ "New Design: The Green Card Goes Green". USCIS. May 11, 2010. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  11. ^ Campos v. United States, 888 F.3d 724 Archived October 10, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 732 (5th Cir. 2018).
  12. ^ INA § 264(e) Archived September 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 8 U.S.C. § 1304(e) ("Personal possession of registration or receipt card; penalties")
  13. ^ See generally Agor v. Sessions, No. 17‐3231 (2d Cir. September 26, 2018) ("Although federal courts are barred from reviewing a discretionary denial of an adjustment application, we retain jurisdiction to review an applicantʹs eligibility to adjust.") (summary order); Alimbaev v. Att'y, 872 F.3d 188 Archived November 29, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 194 (3d Cir. 2017) (same); Bonilla v. Lynch, 840 F.3d 575 Archived October 6, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 581-82 (9th Cir. 2016) (same).
  14. ^ "Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers | USCIS". May 4, 2021.
  15. ^ 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(e)(2) ("The term 'removable' means—(A) in the case of an alien not admitted to the United States, that the alien is inadmissible under section 1182 of this title, or (B) in the case of an alien admitted to the United States, that the alien is deportable under section 1227 of this title."); see also Galindo v. Sessions, 897 F.3d 894 Archived December 24, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 897 (7th Cir. 2018); Tima v. Att'y Gen., 903 F.3d 272 Archived December 23, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 277 (3d Cir. 2018) ("Section 1227 defines '[d]eportable aliens,' a synonym for removable aliens.... So § 1227(a)(1) piggybacks on § 1182(a) by treating grounds of inadmissibility as grounds for removal as well.").
  16. ^ 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) ("The term [aggravated felony] applies to an offense described in this paragraph ... and applies to such an offense ... for which the term of imprisonment was completed within the previous 15 years."); Matter of Vasquez-Muniz, 23 I&N Dec. 207 Archived April 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, 211 (BIA 2002) (en banc) ("This penultimate sentence, governing the enumeration of crimes in section 101(a)(43) of the Act, refers the reader to all of the crimes 'described in' the aggravated felony provision."); Luna Torres v. Lynch, 578 U.S. 452, ___, 136 S.Ct. 1623 Archived December 2, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, 1627 (2016) ("The whole point of § 1101(a)(43)'s penultimate sentence is to make clear that a listed offense should lead to swift removal, no matter whether it violates federal, state, or foreign law."); see also 8 CFR 1001.1(t) ("The term aggravated felony means a crime (or a conspiracy or attempt to commit a crime) described in section 101(a)(43) of the Act. This definition is applicable to any proceeding, application, custody determination, or adjudication pending on or after September 30, 1996, but shall apply under section 276(b) of the Act only to violations of section 276(a) of the Act occurring on or after that date.") (emphasis added).