1-Hire a Professional Lawyer
Your lawyer is your guidepost, especially if you don’t know or completely understand U.S. immigration laws. A lawyer saves you time, legal troubles, and needless worries. And not all lawyers are effective, honest, and professional. If they promise you this will be easy, rarely is that honest. If they try overcharging you or adding fees, that’s unprofessional. If they have no legal experience in immigration, it’s doubtful they can be effective. You need a professional immigration lawyer who has experience in helping immigrants, who charges fairly, and who never breaks any laws or asks you to.

2-Avoid Immigration Consultants
One term used by some who specialize in immigration is the “immigration consultant,” who, for a fee, promises you or a loved one a green card. What often ends up happening is the consultant either breaks immigration laws or takes your money and literally disappears. Always work with a lawyer.

3-Know Your Rights
You have rights too.  And they should be protected. But many of us do not know all our rights. As an immigrant to the U.S., you must follow the laws of this country. If you breaks laws, such as illegally immigrating, you can be deported. If you fail to follow other laws such as criminal acts, you can be deported even if you have a green card. On the other hand, though you have less legal rights than a citizen, that does not mean you have no legal protections. You have the right to live, work, and raise a family with a green card. You then have the right to be naturalized.

4-Stay On Time
One common mistake immigrants make is not reading through all the rules. They don’t necessarily break laws on purpose, but fail to keep up on paperwork. A green card is not a lifetime event; you have to reapply every 10 years. Once you live in the U.S. for some time, 3-5 years, you can apply for naturalization.  That way, you need not worry about losing your green card after leaving the country, or being deported for other reasons. You can travel as much as you want as a citizen with no risk to your status, and you can never be deported.

5-Never Agree to Illegal Activities
Finally, if you want to protect your right to live and work in the United States, never break laws when applying for a green card or citizenship. You may wonder about shortcuts, ways to “work” the system, but these are illegal. If you try to sway immigration official decisions with bribes or favors, a common promise made by bad lawyers and criminals, you are risking ever being allowed in the U.S. If you have a green card, and are asked to take part in a criminal activity, this too risks deportation. Stay within the laws and you almost always get an opportunity to live in the United States.

The advantages of living, working, and raising a family in the United States are many. However, that does not mean it’s easy to immigrate here. If you hire the right lawyer, and if he or she ensures you follow all laws and guidelines, you have a very good chance of getting a green card. The odds are much better if you have family already here, especially immediate family.

This guide will explain: what getting a green card means, how long it takes to get a green card, how long citizenship takes, what laws you need to follow, and how an immigration lawyer can help.

What is a green card?
First, you might wonder what a green card is in the first place. Quite simply, it’s a document allowing you to live and work in the United States. You are considered a permanent resident of the United States, you can live and work here, and you can then apply for citizenship.

In order to get a green card, you need to be sponsored by a family member or employer.

How long will it take to get a green card?
This depends on who is sponsoring you and their current position in the U.S. The time table is shortest if you are sponsored by an immediate family member. For example, if your mother lives in the U.S. and has a green card, she can sponsor you for one as well. Since she is immediate family, the process often only takes a matter of months.

If on the other hand you have no immediate family – immediate family being parents, spouses, brothers and sisters, or children – you have to wait for an Immigrant Visa to open up. The best way to do this is to be sponsored by family, but if you have no family and have to wait for a visa, the process can take years.

How long for citizenship?
After you’ve had your green card for five years, you can apply for citizenship. You can also become a citizen if you’re spouse is a citizen. You must be able to prove a knowledge of U.S. history and law, be able to read and write in English, and be willing to follow the laws and Constitution.

What laws must you follow?
There are some who try to cheat the system. For example, sometimes marriages occur between citizens and immigrants in order for the immigrant to get a green card (and having no relationship). This is illegal and because it’s somewhat common you must be able to show proof.

Also, if you have a green card, you can be deported for breaking U.S. laws. This is quite common in misdemeanor and felony cases where jail time is part of the punishment. Your legal right to live in the U.S. is threatened if you break major criminal laws.

What can an immigration lawyer do?
The immigration process can sometimes be quite confusing, and that’s why hiring an experienced immigration lawyer is smart. He or she can ensure you fill out all documentation correctly, that you are ready for any questions to be asked, that you follow the laws, and that this process takes as little time as possible. Whether your goal is a green card or naturalization, an immigration lawyer is invaluable.