How to convert visit visa into Green Card ?

 Can you apply for a green card while you're inside the United States on a tourist visa?

This is a question that comes up very often,often, and I wanted to explain in this Article  it even possible to apply for a green card while entering the United States on a tourist visa? visa? see the tourist visa is an interesting kind of Visa because most people who come from all over the world can apply for it but the thing with the tourist visa is that even though most people can have it on their passport for 10 years you can only stay inside the United States on a visitor visa for up to six months and during this six months period you have to figure out a way how to convert your tourist visa to a green card remember the more people enter the United States the more they realize that they have opportunities and an interest to stay in the United States but it's very important to understand specifically those of you entering on a tourist visa that if you make a mistake specifically in the first few months of entering the country you may jeopardize your entire State and maybe even the future possibility to get a green card so can you change your status from a tourist visa to a green card well it depends first of all it depends on how you enter the United States the United States immigration nationality Act spefic specifically has a few Provisions to determine whether a person who enters the United States on a tourist visa eventually can change their status to a green card so first of all let's talk about the Five Points that must occur for you to be able to change your status from a tourist visa to a green card while you enter United States first of all you must enter legally into United States you must be admitted and inspected at the Port of Entry it's not enough just to have the tourist visa and your passport you must present yourself to an immigration officer at the Port of Entry log your information into the system when you enter and have maybe even a stamp on your passport sometimes they give you a stamp and enter the United States if you not admit it inspected you're not going to be able to change your status to any status specifically a green card as well Point number two you must properly file an application for adjustment of status when I mean properly means that you must have somebody that is available to file for you either maybe a spouse or an employer that are willing to file the adjustment of status for you and it must be done properly typically at least after 90 days of entering as a tourist number three you must be physically present in the United States to be able to convert your tourist visa to a green card now it may sound obvious but people are not understanding the fact that you must be in the United States States after you've been inspected as I mentioned in point number one and after being here for at least 3 months to physically be on us soil to file the application to change your status number four you must be eligible to receive an immigrant visa and what do I mean by that for example if you are married to a US citizen you are eligible to receive an immediate Visa you don't have to wait if you file for an employer and you meet certain requirements and your Visa C category for example is an eb1 there's no wait time for Visa YouYou can also file the application immediately;immediately; there's no wait time,time, and therefore,therefore, that makes you eligible to receive an immigrant visa at that time. If you're not eligible, you're not going to be able to file the adjustment from inside the United States, and finally, Point number five an immigrant Visa must be available for you to file your adjustment of status for example if you're married to a green card holder and the priority date is not current you're not going to be able to change your status from a tourist to that of a green card holder so be careful make sure that you check the Visa bulletin to see that a Visa is actually available for you so now that you understand the conditions that must take place for you to be able to file a change of status from a tourist to a green card let's talk about the ways that you can actually change your status from a tourist to a green card in no particular order we start with number one which is the most obvious one marriage to a US citizen if you're here on a tourist visa and you meet the love of your life and you get married as long as you file the green card after the three months of your entry to the United States you should be able to adjust your status from a tourist to that of a green card holder now Point number two: if you find an employer, let's say you find an employer. You're here on a tourist visa, and that employer is going to file for a green card for you. You'll be able to eventually adjust your status now. The caveat with an employee M sponsorship is that it's a very lengthy process, and therefore you need to convert your tourist visa to some other visa while you're waiting for that process. For example, if that same employer wants to file a work visa for you, they can convert your tourist visa to a work visa, like, let's say, an O1, an H1, or an J1, and then while you're on a work visa, they can file a green card a green card for you, and eventually you'll be able to get your green card by converting from a tourist visa to a work visa and eventually to a green card. Another option is that if you're an investor, you have a lot of money—at least $800,000—that you can invest in a government program like the EB5 regional center. You'll be able to change from a tourist to an EB5 while inside the United States under recent guidelines. if you're in a tourist visa and you have that kind of money you can file for an adjustment of status these are new changes that that happened from last year and you can wait inside the United States while your application form I 526 is pending to the eb5 Green Card category so another way if you're an investor you'll be able to change your status from that of a tourist to the green card through investment another option is that if you're somebody with exceptional ability let's say youve you've built a business in your home country let's say you wrote some kind of a book let's say you have some kind of a patent on a program you're somebody of exceptional ability you'll be able to apply for two self- petition categories eb1a or eb2 national interest waiver Green Card Those are two self-petitions, one based on exceptional ability and the other based on whether your project is in the national interest. If you're somebody who can advance this project to show that you qualify, you'll be able to get a green card without an employer. Switch from a tourist to a green card while inside the United States again. Make sure that you remember to check if a visa is available for you if you're from China or India. if you're from Philippines or Mexico sometimes you have to make sure that visas are available and people from those countries have to wait longer than other countries to be able to to be eligible for adjustment of status and finally if you're inside the United States and you're afraid to go back to your home country you can apply for Asylum while you're here on a tourist visa you'll be able to switch to that of Asylum because you have a fear of going back to your home country and then you'll be able to stay in the United States and pursue your Asylum petition you'll be able to get a work permit while you're waiting there may be other categories if you're a victim of a crime or domestic violence visas like you or vaa but the categories I mentioned to you right now marriage to a citizen employment category through a job self- petition through investment self- petition as an exceptional ability or national interest waiver and finally through Asylum are the top categories how somebody can switch from a tourist visa to a green card inside the United States as always if you need help with your immigration matter all you have to do is send me a text 619 483 4549 or go to www. immigration asap.com and leave your details and one of our team members will contact you ASAP as always thanks for watching and I'll see you in our next video