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Glossary
Every immigration term this site uses, defined in one or two sentences.
Getting a green card from inside the U.S., without leaving. The application is Form I-485.
Permission to travel abroad while your case is pending. Leaving without it can abandon a pending application.
The sponsor’s signed promise that the immigrant will have financial support — Form I-864, part of most family cases.
Your Alien Registration Number — the number USCIS uses to track your file. It starts with the letter A and follows you across cases.
A person who has been granted asylum. One year after the grant, an asylee can apply for a green card.
Protection for people in the U.S. who fear persecution in their home country because of who they are or what they believe.
The person a petition is filed for — the one who receives the immigration benefit if it is approved.
Fingerprints and a photo, taken at a USCIS appointment early in many cases, used for identity and background checks.
A real marriage — entered to build a life together, not to get an immigration benefit. Proven with the everyday record: shared home, finances, time.
Where your case stands in USCIS’s system, tracked online with your receipt number.
A two-year green card, issued when the marriage is younger than two years at approval. The conditions are removed with Form I-751.
Getting an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad, then entering the U.S. as a permanent resident — the path for applicants outside the country.
Living in the U.S. without long interruptions — a requirement for naturalization. Long trips abroad can break it.
A family member — usually a spouse or unmarried child under 21 — who gets status through the main applicant’s case.
Employment Authorization Document — the work permit card. Applied for with Form I-765, usually based on a pending case.
A local USCIS office where interviews happen. Which office handles your case depends on where you live.
The card proving lawful permanent residence — the right to live and work in the U.S. permanently. Formally, Form I-551.
The number of people counted for the affidavit of support’s income requirement — counted by the form’s own rules, not intuition.
The spouse, parent, or unmarried child under 21 of a U.S. citizen. Immediate relatives have no annual visa limit — no waiting line.
A visa for moving permanently — it ends in a green card. Its opposite is a nonimmigrant visa, which is temporary.
A legal reason someone can be refused a green card or entry — certain histories of immigration violations, crimes, or health issues. Some grounds can be waived.
A green card holder — someone with the permanent right to live and work in the United States. Often written LPR.
The process of becoming a U.S. citizen, on Form N-400 — generally after five years as a permanent resident, or three if married to a citizen.
Someone in the U.S. temporarily — to visit, study, or work — on a visa that does not, by itself, lead to a green card.
Form I-797 — the letter USCIS sends when it receives, schedules, or decides something in your case. The receipt notice is one of them.
The National Visa Center — the State Department office that prepares consular cases between USCIS approval and the embassy interview.
The final step of naturalization: taking the Oath of Allegiance. You become a citizen at that moment, not before.
Official permission to enter or remain temporarily without a visa — used for urgent humanitarian reasons, and as “advance parole” for travel during a pending case.
The filing that asks the government for an immigration benefit. The person who files it is the petitioner; the person it benefits is the beneficiary.
The person who files a petition for someone else — in family cases, the U.S. citizen or permanent resident relative.
Actual days spent inside the U.S. — counted for naturalization, where at least half the residence period must be spent physically in the country.
A family or employment green card category with an annual limit — where cases wait in line by priority date. Immediate relatives are the exception.
Your place in the visa line — usually the day your petition was filed. The monthly Visa Bulletin shows which dates are being processed.
The Form I-797 letter confirming USCIS received your filing. It carries your receipt number — and for some renewals, it extends your current document.
Request for Evidence — a letter asking for more proof before a decision. The case pauses until you answer. Complete filings draw fewer of them.
A petition you file for yourself, with no employer or family sponsor — like the EB-2 national interest waiver, EB-1A, or a VAWA case.
A USCIS facility that processes filings by mail, without a public counter. Which center is irrelevant to how you file — USCIS routes the work.
The person who signs the affidavit of support, promising financial backing. Usually the petitioner; a joint sponsor can be added when income falls short.
Temporary Protected Status — protection and a work permit for nationals of countries the U.S. has designated because of war or disaster.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — the agency that decides petitions and applications filed inside the country. welcomeUSA is not affiliated with it.
The State Department’s monthly chart showing which priority dates are current — the official schedule of the waiting lines.
A petition asking the government to forgive a ground of inadmissibility that would otherwise block a case — like Form I-601 or the provisional I-601A.
The everyday name for the EAD — the card that makes working legal while your case is pending.
A term you looked for and did not find? Tell us — this page grows. The forms themselves are defined in the form guides.
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