Donald Trump immigration ban: What is a green card and who can get one?
Updated
Donald Trump's new immigration ban has come into effect.
It bans people from seven Muslim-majoirty nations from entering the United States.
The ban extends beyond refugees and tourists and includes those who hold United States green cards.
An official told a news briefing green card holders from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen who are traveling outside America need to check with a US consulate to see whether they can return.
Here's the basics of what it means to have one.
TL;DR: If you've got a green card, you can live, work and pay taxes in the US. But you can't vote in elections like a US citizen.
So, what is a green card?
If you've been granted a green card, you have permission to live and work in the US on a permanent basis.
It lasts for 10 years before it needs to be renewed.
Notably, it isn't a visa, which you're given if your permanent residence is still outside the US.
If you've got a green card, the US is your home, but you aren't a citizen. Yet.
You need to have held a green card for at least five years to begin the process of becoming a US citizen.
Who can get one?
There are a bunch of different ways to get a green card but these are the most common ways to get one:
- One of your immediate relatives is a US citizen or has their own green card
- Get a permanent job in the US and be sponsored by your employer
- Be admitted to the US as a refugee or be been granted asylum
- Win one in the annual Diversity Visa lottery. Each year 50,000 green cards are made available to people born in a country with low rates of immigration to the US
What can I do once I get a green card?
You can now live in the US full-time.
You can also start working in the US, which also means you're required to pay taxes.
You can also own a gun.
If you're a male aged between 18 and 25, you also have to register with the Selective Service, which is a list of anybody who could potentially be subject to military conscription.
What can't I do?
You're not given the same rights as a US citizen when you get a green card.
So you can't vote in elections or serve on a jury and you can't apply for distant relatives to be granted asylum.
You can also be deported to your country of birth if you commit certain crimes.
Topics: immigration, us-elections, world-politics, government-and-politics, united-states
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