{"id":1763,"date":"2013-04-16T17:42:43","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T17:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/?p=1763"},"modified":"2013-04-16T17:42:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-16T17:42:43","slug":"us-visa-versus-green-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/green-card\/us-visa-versus-green-card\/","title":{"rendered":"US Visa Versus Green Card"},"content":{"rendered":"

While one cannot pit a US Visa against a Green Card<\/a> (they\u2019re effectively just different steps in a process which ultimately terminates at citizenship) for the purpose of this blog we will examine the salient differences between a Green Card and a US non-immigrant visa.<\/p>\n

For the sake of a visual comparison here is a compare and contrast table between the two immigration statuses. As you can see below, the Green Card is a far more stable status than just a United States Visa and is hence why it is so preferred.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Benefits:<\/strong><\/td>\nGreen Card<\/strong><\/td>\nUS Visa<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Basic human rights while in the United States?<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Temporary?<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Permanent?<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Employment Authorization? 1<\/sub><\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nDepends<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Travel throughout the US? 2<\/sub><\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nDepends<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Study at an American university? 3<\/sub><\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nDepends<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Path to citizenship? 4<\/sub><\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Access to American social benefits?<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Can be revoked at any time? 5<\/sub><\/td>\nYes<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Some non-immigrant visas allow for employment authorization, but they are few and are limited to a specific time limit. Green Card holders can work freely in the United States indefinitely.<\/li>\n
  2. While non-immigrant visas do not explicitly limit a person from travelling in the United States, their visa may have been granted based on some program (such as school or work) which may hinder a person\u2019s travelling aspirations.<\/li>\n
  3. Foreign students must apply for a student visa to study at a university in the US. Permanent Residents, or Green Card holders, need only apply for acceptance to the learning program.<\/li>\n
  4. Most visitors with non-immigrant visas must leave the country before they can re-enter. However, Green Card holders can apply for citizenship after about five years.<\/li>\n
  5. Any immigration status whether a visa or a Green Card can be revoked at any time, however, it is far more unusual and difficult for the government to take away the benefits of a Green Card.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    While one cannot pit a US Visa against a Green Card (they\u2019re effectively just different steps in a process which ultimately terminates at citizenship) for the purpose of this blog we will examine the salient differences between a Green Card and a US non-immigrant visa. For the sake of a visual comparison here is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-green-card","category-us-visas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1763"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1767,"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1763\/revisions\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usagreencardlottery.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}