What possibilities do you have if you want to live in the USA permanently?

There are a lot of people who would like to live in the United States. Doing it on a temporary basis is not all that hard. Moving permanently is a much more involved process. There are ways to do it but there is a lot of competition for a relatively small number of green cards. Knowing all of the ways that you can qualify will give you a better chance of success.

If you want to live in the United States permanently you are going to have to get a green card. That means that you are going to have to become a permanent resident. There are several programs that will allow you to live and work in the US for a specified period, in some cases for up to ten years. However if you want to live in the country permanently you are going to have to get the green card. There are basically three ways that you can do this.

The first way to qualify for a green card is if you have a close family member who lives in the US. This is the best way to get a green card since there are far more of these issued than through any other method. The definition of a close relative differs depending on how many people are going to be allowed to immigrate in this way. In most cases you need to have a parent or a sibling who is already a citizen. Your family member will have to act as your sponsor so you will need their help to be able to get a green card.

The second way that you can get into the United States permanently is to get a green card through employment. This is far harder than it used to be with only a very small number of people being approved. There are several different categories that these green cards will be issued in, the difference between them being the job skills that are required. In general the more skilled you are the better your chances. In most, but not all, cases you will have to be able to show that an employer has offered you a job. The employer in turn has to be able to show that no American was available to do the job; this can be hard to do.

The last option that you have for a green card will be through the diversity lottery. This is a program to encourage immigration from countries that don't send a lot of immigrants to the US. Every year a certain number of green cards will be made available to people from these countries. All of the qualified applicants will be entered into a lottery and the winners will receive green cards that allow them to move to the US.