I don’t really understand the specific processes for obtaining a green card, but here’s my question :
I want to apply to med-school as a student with a PR, so can you get a greencard after getting a bachelor’s degree?
Do you mean applying to med school while an undergrad while simultaneously applying for a green card? Absent a civil war in your country, then, no.
@Sirfox13 Your current immigration status is not clear from your above question. Are you a Permanent US Resident (PR) now, or are you asking how to obtain permanent residency in the US? If it is the latter, no you won’t receive a Greencard simply due to the fact that you graduated from college. Depending on personal circumstances and possible other eligibility routes, you may want to consult with an experienced immigration attorney.
You won’t be able to apply for a GC while on a student visa, if that is your questions. I don’t know if you follow the news at all, but the US is having a bit of an anti immigration period. If you are an unskilled uneducated person, outside of lottery, you haven’t got the requirements.
Talk to a reputable immigration lawyer (find reference from your fellow country folks in the US).
https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/eligibility-categories
The normal channel of getting the green card mainly is through work place, your employer has to agree to hire you with the understanding of sponsoring you to get the green card, it is a long process and is getting harder.
If you have enough money, you could try the investment route.
You will also be able to get the green card by marriage to a US citizen. Of course, it has to be a love-marriage not a scheme to get the PR status.
The PR status has no relationship with education level, but for lots of people who get the green card through employment, higher education in needed field has been critical.
Are you currently a Permanent Resident, or is your family in line for permanent residency? (e.g. through a parent’s job)
Of course it’s possible to apply for a green card while on a student visa - I did that myself! The problem is qualifying for the green card. There’s 4 main eligibility pathways:
(1) Family-based. You need an immediate family member (parent, spouse, sibling, or adult child) who is a US citizen or permanent resident. The spouse of a US citizen can get their green card in about 1 year.
(2) Employment-based. Unless you are exceptionally highly qualified, you need a sponsoring employer who documents that they were unable to find an American worker to fill the position. The most common path to an employment-based green card after graduating from a US university would be working on F-1 OPT, then an H-1B visa, then the green card. You would get your green card about 5-10 years after graduation (unless you are from India).
(3) Through asylum. You’d have to face persecution in your home country due to your religion, political opinion, race or social class.
(4) Through the Diversity Visa Lottery. Up to 50,000 green cards are handed out randomly each year. You can check if you’re eligible to enter here: https://www.dvlottery.state.gov
There’s an additional hurdle if you were born in India, China, Mexico or the Philippines - per-country quotas that cause very long wait times (up to several decades) in some eligibility classes. In addition, if you are from a Muslim-majority country named in Executive Order 13780 (“the travel ban”), you may find it difficult to enter the US at all.
Unless you are about to obtain a green card through your parents, your next-best chance of getting a green card soon is by marrying a US citizen. I am not suggesting that you commit immigration fraud with a scam marriage. But you might consider making your partner search a high priority in college, up there with your academics.
Also, green card by marriage is currently taking well over a year- & they are seriously scrutinizing them, even where the marriage is long standing
Thanks for keeping me honest. Yes, the green card by marriage might also take 2 years instead of 1 depending on the draw of service center and field office. It’s still one of the quickest and most accessible paths to a green card.
I would postpone med school for 1-2 years after college while waiting for a marriage-based green card. I would not be postponing medical school for 20-30 years while waiting for a green card via sibling or for an employment-based green card as a national of India.
As I mentioned on one of the poster’s other threads, the whole discussion, particularly the marriage route to PR, is way too premature as the OP is in HS.
I don’t believe the OP is from India.
Then we’ll have to agree to disagree. Maybe you are the type of person who picks a country to immigrate to, moves there, and only then starts thinking about how to obtain legal status.
Some of us prefer to explore and evaluate our options before we pack our bags.