Are you moving to USA

This would all depend on your current citizenship, and your family heritage. Contact your current home country's US Embassy for up-to-date advice.

If you are in the UK, have a look at: http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/index.html

There are several different ways: You usually begin by getting a visa by the USCIS in the USA, or at a USA embassy or consulate in your home country. There are many different kind of visas: employment, fiance/ee, tourist, among others (although tourist visas usually will never lead to a green card). The fastest way to a Permanent Resident alien visa (green card) is through marriage to a US citizen or through a relative, more specifically: a parent, spouse, or sibling over 21 years old who is US citizen or permanent resident alien (has a green card).

Basically, there are 2 large categories, one is the employement-based immigration, which include EB1, Eb2, and EB3 categories. The other is the family-based or marriage-based immigration.

For detailed of the employement-based immigration, please look at www.greencardapply.com

For detailed of the family-based or marriage-based immigration, please look at www.greencardfamily.com
Green Card
A registration card (once green in color) carried by immigrants with permanent residence status. This is an intermediate step toward becoming a naturalized U.S. Citizen.
Alien registration receipt cards, colloquially called "green cards," are issued to aliens who qualify as lawful permanent residents as proof of their status. The 2002 version of the card was actually light pink in color. Cards issued before 1976, however, were green. All older versions of the green card expired in 1996. The I-551 cards expire after ten years and need to be renewed before expiration. Permanent resident children must apply for a new card when they reach their fourteenth birthday. Expiration of the card does not affect an individual's status as a lawful permanent resident, but an expired card cannot be used to establish employment eligibility or as a visa for travel.

The current card is machine readable and contains the alien's photograph, fingerprints, and signature as well as optical patterns to frustrate counterfeiting. If a resident's card is lost, mutilated, or destroyed, a replacement card may be issued. If the permanent resident is naturalized, permanently leaves the country, is deported, or dies, the card must be surrendered.

To qualify for permanent resident status and receive a card, an alien must fit into one of several categories. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, established a set of preferred immigrant categories, each limited by a numerical quota. An alien may be sponsored by certain family members in the United States. An employment-based status is granted to workers with extraordinary ability, people with advanced degrees, people whose labor is needed in the United States, religious workers, foreign employees of the government, and entrepreneurs who create employment opportunities for Americans. The so-called diversity category includes immigrants from underrepresented countries. Refugees and people granted asylum may also apply for permanent residence after one year.

The card serves as a permit for employment in the United States and a visa. Permanent residents may use the card to return to the United States after a temporary absence not exceeding one year. If more than a year passes before the resident returns to the United States, the card is no longer valid as a reentry permit. If the permanent resident has been abroad for more than one year but less than two, he or she must obtain a reentry permit from the INS. If the resident is absent from the United States for longer than two years, he or she must obtain a special immigrant visa from a U.S. consulate, usually after establishing that he or she has not abandoned his or her permanent resident status.

The potential use of the card to reenter the United States should not be confused with the maintenance of lawful permanent residence status. To maintain lawful permanent resident status while abroad, an alien must demonstrate the intent to remain in the United States as a permanent resident. The INS generally examines the length of and purpose for the resident's absence; whether or not the resident continues to file U.S. tax returns, maintains a U.S. address, bank account, and driver's license; the location of the resident's close family members; and the location and nature of the resident's employment.

For the holder of a green card to be eligible for naturalization, he or she generally must reside in the United States continuously for five years following establishment of permanent residence. The required period is reduced to three years if the resident is the spouse of a U.S. citizen. If the resident is absent from the country for more than six months but for less than a year, the continuity of residence is broken unless the resident can supply a reasonable explanation for the absence. An absence of one year or more destroys the continuity of residence unless the resident takes appropriate steps prior to the expiration of a year.

Happy days to all of you.
Thanks.