The path to United States citizenship starts with Lawful Permanent Residence which may be obtained via a family based petition or a permanent employment (or investment) based petition (EB).  What was traditionally considered green card status, Lawful Permanent Residence allows foreign persons to legally live and work in the United States permanently. Foreign nationals presently residing in the United States on non-immigrant visas (tourist visas, student visas, H-1B visas, etc.) are eventually required to return to their native country.  LPRs are not.  Instead, LPRs become eligible to apply for United States Citizenship after five years (three years in some limited circumstances including those that obtained LPR status via marriage to a U.S. Citizen). 

The application procedures for immigrant visas are cumbersome.  However, for a large number of qualifying foreign nationals the difficulties are far outweighed by the benefits of Lawful Permanent Resident status and eventual U.S. citizenship.  San Diego Immigration Attorney Donald R. Oder assists prospective immigrants navigate the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) complex visa procedures.