If a person is issued an immigrant visa at a U.S. consular post abroad, the person will be issued a green card upon arriving in the United States. This is normally in the form of a stamp placed in the person's passport. The actual green card will be mailed later. Most immigrant visa categories are subject to quotas, and there can in some categories be a waiting period of several years before an immigrant visa becomes available. The priority dates for these categories are released monthly by the U.S. Department of State and are posted on our website.
Immediate relatives are the children, spouses and parents of U.S. citizens.
However, for a parent to qualify as an immediate relative, the U.S. citizen must be at least 21 years of age. Although immediate relatives do not have to wait for a visa to become available, they still have to go through the required visa or green card processing. The child who is born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. For this reason, unless the parent qualifies for a green card on some other basis, the parent cannot get a green card based upon the birth of a U.S. citizen child until the child reaches age 21. 5. This visa is available for a person with a four year college degree, or its equivalent, who will be employed in a position which requires such a degree.