What is the difference between a visa and a green card?

jolana

This is a quotation from: http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/minis/mini/greencardmini/greencardmini1.html Okay, this little area of life can be confusing, mainly because there are so many damn terms for the same thing. Let's start with the basics: in terms of whether you're allowed to live in the U.S. or not, there are four legal statuses that you can have: 1. You can just be an outright foreigner with no right to come to this country. 2. You can obtain a visa that allows you to spend a finite amount of time here, usually for a discrete purpose. 3. You can become a permanent resident, which allows you to live here indefinitely with almost all of the rights of a U.S. citizen. 4. You can be a U.S. citizen. People in the first category need to get a visa before they can start worrying about anything else. Those foreigners who are in the second category - here on a temporary visa - who are hoping to get promoted to the third category - permanent residents - need green cards. The only real distinctions between green card holders and citizens is that only citizens can vote, can collect some sort of government benefits, and can never be deported. Jul 20 09, 4:47 PM

Monique97

if you were to visit or move for a long amount of time, u should get a green card because I dont think green card expires. visas are stamped onto a passport and there is a time limit to your staying at the country. Jul 20 09, 7:37 PM

star_gazer

US permanent residents are allowed to volunteer to serve in the US military. After their military service they will be in a much better position to become a US citizen. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=all Jul 20 09, 11:55 PM