Permanent residence refers to the status of a green card holder, which offers many benefits, including the ability to live and work permanently in the United States on an indefinite basis. Permanent residence can generally be pursued through employment, family, the diversity lottery, and asylum. Certain categories of permanent residence are not subject to annual numerical restrictions (e.g. marriage to a United States citizen), while other categories may involve backlogs of many years because of annual limitations (e.g. employment-based green cards for professionals). The U.S. agencies nowadays enforce the physical residence requirements very strictly, and it is important to comply with these rules to ensure that the permanent resident status is maintained.
