<p>I've been living in the US for almost six years now,
since my senior year of high school. I was at
SDSU for a few years but did not finish,
my parents left Singapore, where I was born
and raised, to Orange County after getting
their greencard from being sponsored through
my sister (who was born in the US a couple
decades ago) so I moved with them to OC
where I'm currently studying at a CC
planning to transfer.</p>
<p>Anyways.. knowing that my parents now have
green cards over here in California,
I was wondering what the chance was for
me to acquire a greencard and ultimately
California residency, or if you guys have
heard of anyone in a similar situation.
I know someone applied for me in my family
years ago but I haven't heard anything from
the process (a whole mess of links and
information haven't helped) the process
seems strange in itself as I received
a message from the American embassy
in London regarding my status a year ago</p>
<p>Any help is appreciated!</p>
<p>If you currently have an active Green Card application in progress, I would find out what your status is before doing anything else. </p>
<p>You probably know this already, but the following is important information and I would like to repeat it just to be sure you have heard it: The relationship that was used to establish your eligibility for a Green Card will affect how quickly your application is processed. The classification goes something like this:</p>
<p>Immediate processing: child under 21 of US citizen
1st category preference: unmarried child over 21 of US citizen
2nd category preference: (unmarried if over 21) child of US permanent resident
3rd category: married child over 21 of US citizen
4th category: sibling of US citizen</p>
<p>Since there’s a yearly quota on the number of permanent resident visas, visas are distributed based on preference category. Currently US embassies are processing green card applications from the following dates:</p>
<p>1st category: May 2005
2nd category: Nov 2009 (child under 21) or Feb 2004 (unmarried child over 21)
3rd category: March 2002
4th category: Dec 2000</p>
<p>If you know your priority date and your preference category, you can look up when you can expect your visa to be processed here: [Visa</a> Bulletin](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>404 - Page Not Found)</p>
<p>Meanwhile, make sure that UCSIS has your current mailing address on file so that you are up-to-date on everything visa-related. If you are not sure about details of your application (e.g. your priority date or your preference category), call and find out.</p>
<p>In any event, you’ll probably have a bit longer before your Green Card will be processed. Unfortunately that means that federal financial aid for college is off limits for the time being. However, you might be able to apply for a work authorization while you are waiting for your green card. See here: [USCIS</a> - I-765, Application for Employment Authorization](<a href=“http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=73ddd59cb7a5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD]USCIS”>http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=73ddd59cb7a5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD)</p>