Green Card & Permanent Residency Attorney for Salt Lake City

A green card, formally known as a United States Lawful Permanent Resident Card, authorizes an individual to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. Green card holders are generally eligible for any lawful employment and, after meeting the required years of permanent residence, may apply for U.S. citizenship (with certain exceptions, such as for some refugees and spouses of U.S. citizens who may qualify sooner).

Most green cards are issued with a ten‑year validity period but can be renewed, and permanent resident status itself does not automatically end when the card expires. Maintaining this status requires, among other things, keeping the United States as your primary residence, avoiding lengthy trips abroad without proper planning or reentry documents, and not engaging in certain criminal or immigration‑related violations that could place your status at risk.

U.S. citizens can petition for certain family members to receive a green card and live permanently in the United States. Immediate relatives (spouses, parents, and unmarried children under 21) are not subject to annual quotas, so they generally have the fastest path to lawful permanent residence and do not wait for a visa number. Other qualifying family members fall into “preference” categories, where only a limited number of visas are available each year and applicants wait in line for a visa number to become current. Your place in line is set by your “priority date” (usually the filing date of the petition), and the U.S. Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin shows which priority dates are currently being processed for each family category and country. When your priority date is earlier than the date listed in the Visa Bulletin for your category, a visa number is available and you can move forward with the final stage of your green card process.

An individual married to a U.S. citizen may be eligible for a marriage-based green card, and our Provo, Utah attorneys can guide you through the petition and adjustment (or consular) process so the foreign spouse can obtain permanent residence. Approval depends not only on meeting the legal requirements, but also on demonstrating that the marriage is genuine and not entered into solely for immigration purposes.

If a U.S. citizen and a green card holder later separate or divorce, the green card is not automatically taken away. However, immigration authorities may closely review the history of the relationship and the circumstances of the divorce, especially in cases involving a conditional (two‑year) green card, to determine whether the marriage was bona fide at the time it was entered.

Some foreign nationals can obtain a green card through permanent, full‑time employment in the United States. In most cases, the U.S. employer must first complete the PERM Labor Certification process with the Department of Labor to show there are no able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers available for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not negatively affect U.S. wages or working conditions.

After PERM approval, the employer typically files Form I‑140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) to classify the employee in the appropriate employment‑based category. Our firm assists employers with each stage of this process—from PERM strategy and recruitment through preparing and filing the I‑140 and addressing any issues that arise with the Department of Labor or immigration authorities. Contact our law office online or call us at 801‑691‑0604 to learn more about sponsorship options for your employee.