Unlike other aliens, those who were admitted to the United States as resettled refugees are not required to file green card applications. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services routinely prepares their applications, which usually occurs anywhere between one and two years after their lawful entry into the country. In all other cases, the alien must actually file an application for adjustment of status or cancellation of removal and wait for the approval, which could take between one year and several years. In order to apply for permanent residency, the applicant must not be "removable" from the United States. If he or she is the beneficiary of an approved immigrant petition, the priority date must be current. The application must be accompanied by a sealed envelope from a designated civil surgeon who performed a medical examination on the alien applicant. This envelope must be accompanied by Form I-693. Once the application package are received, the applicant will receive the receipt number. This receipt number can be used to track the case online. In most employment-based applications, the petition will be approved within four months and a green card will automatically be mailed. In some cases, a face to face interview is required. This is often done in marriage-based applications to ensure that the marriage is bona fide, meaning genuine and not a sham marriage. After filing the adjustment of status forms, the application will be considered abandoned if the applicant leaves the United States. This can be mitigated by filing for an advance parole and an Employment Authorization Document. Once the advance parole and Form I-765 are approved, the applicant will receive the Employment Authorization Document which will also serve as advance parole. In exceptional cases when the adjustment of status is approved, but an immigrant visa number is not immediately available, the approval will be postponed indefinitely until such a number is available. This can be the case when the applicable priority date retrogresses during the time of adjudication. In such cases, it is common that the Form I-765 and advance parole are renewed every year.
From February 24, 2020, every applicant for adjustment of status in the United States, except for those who fall under exceptions, will have to submit form I-944, Declaration of Self-Sufficiency. The form calls for information related, among other things, to the applicant's assets and liabilities, health insurance, bankruptcy filings, past Immigration Fee waiver requests, applicant's education and occupational skills and more. The form is based on the adopted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
