United States citizen may use an immigrant visa to enter the United States as a lawful permanent resident. Upon entry into the United States with an immigrants US work visa, a lawful permanent resident is entitled to receive a green card. There are many different ways to obtain an immigrant visa or green card. A non- United States citizen can obtain a green card through:

· Employer sponsorship.

· Investments in the United States.

· Family sponsorship.

· Self-sponsorship as a person of extraordinary ability in business, athletics, arts, education or scientific research.

· Visa lottery.

· Political asylum.

· Amnesty programs (most amnesty programs are now completed and if you have not yet filed for it, you are ineligible to do so now);

· Registry (proving continuous residence in the United States since 1972)

· Applications for Cancellation of Removal in Deportation.

Each of the above paths to obtain a green card requires the filing of different and complex applications and visa petitions with the United States Department of Homeland Security.

There is also no reason not to file more than one "green card application" or visa petition at the same time to obtain your lawful permanent residence. For example, a non- United States citizen can be sponsored simultaneously by an Employer, a permanent resident parent and can simultaneously submit an application for the us work visa lottery. This same non-United States citizen can obtain his or her green card from which ever case is completed first.

The reason different cases take different time periods to complete is because the number of people allowed to enter the United States each year with an Immigrant Visa is limited under a quota system. Some cases have a long waiting list under the quota system, such as sponsorships of brothers and sisters of United States citizens and other cases have very little wait at all, such as self sponsorship based on extraordinary ability. A person who is being sponsored for a green card is called a “beneficiary". A beneficiary’s place in line under the quota system is determined by priority dates. A priority date is the date in which a beneficiary’s application is first received by the immigration service or labor department.