Green Card Lawyer

How you entered decides where you apply

The first question attorney Zachary Gold asks is how you entered the United States, because a lawful entry is usually what lets you apply here instead of at a U.S. consulate abroad. As your green card lawyer, Cruz Gold & Associates then prepares the petition and the application for the route that fits you, and Zachary attends your USCIS interview with you.

The ways to get a green card

Most people qualify through family, a job or protection:

• Through family. A U.S. citizen's spouse, unmarried children under 21 and parents are "immediate relatives", with no annual limit and no waiting line for a visa number. Other relatives of citizens and permanent residents wait in line by the date their petition was filed. See family-based immigration, marriage green cards and the K-1 fiancé(e) visa.
• Through work. Employment-based green cards run from EB-1 to EB-5, usually starting with an employer's petition, and many applicants first come on a temporary work visa such as an H-1B. Some applicants petition for themselves, such as people of extraordinary ability (EB-1A) and those seeking a national interest waiver (EB-2 NIW), explained in our EB-2 NIW requirements guide. See also EB-3 and PERM and EB-5 investors.
• Through protection. People granted asylum can apply one year after the grant, and refugees must apply after one year. Victims of abuse, crime or trafficking, and some children under a state juvenile court's care, have their own routes.
• Through the diversity lottery, which gives up to 50,000 immigrant visas a year to people from countries with low immigration to the United States.

Whatever the route, the green card itself comes either through adjustment of status here in the United States or through an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad.

Working with Cruz Gold & Associates on a green card

• Zachary Gold at your USCIS interview. He attends field office interviews with his clients, after going over the questions with you in English or Spanish.
• A fee you know before you decide. Most green card cases have a flat fee.
• Conditions removed, then citizenship. The same firm can file to remove the conditions on a two-year card and, once you qualify, your citizenship application.

Three Ewing clients on their green card cases

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

Rated 5.0 on Google from 97 reviews of our Ewing office (October 2026)

How we prepare a green card case

Before anything is filed, Zachary Gold goes through your history: how and when you entered, every visa and status you have held, any time out of status or work without permission, earlier applications or denials, any arrest anywhere, and your trips abroad. For a family case he also checks the sponsor's income against the affidavit of support minimum. Our team then assembles the forms and evidence.

What we ask you to collect:

• passports, I-94 records and every immigration document you have received
• birth certificates, marriage certificates and any divorce decrees
• for a marriage case, proof of the life you share, such as a lease, joint accounts and photos
• the sponsor's recent tax returns and proof of income
• certified court records for any arrest, whatever the outcome
• a medical exam by a USCIS civil surgeon (Form I-693), which must be filed with the green card application

Before the interview we go over the likely questions, the originals to bring and how the officer will compare your answers with your file. On the paperwork side, we watch for problems that recent rule changes created. USCIS now rejects a green card application filed on any edition of Form I-485 other than the September 18, 2026 one, an affidavit of support filed on an old edition of Form I-864 counts as missing evidence, and a credit freeze can slow the new credit check on the sponsor. Since August 2026, travel abroad on advance parole can also trigger the 3- or 10-year bar for someone with unlawful presence, so we review your status history before you plan any trip.

Green card cases we handle

• Family petitions for spouses, parents, children and siblings, inside the United States or through a consulate
• Marriage green cards, and removing the conditions on a two-year card (Form I-751)
• Adjustment of status, including immediate relatives who overstayed after a lawful entry
• Employment-based green cards: EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, EB-3 with PERM labor certification, and EB-5
• The green card one year after asylum is granted
• Renewing or replacing a 10-year card (Form I-90)
• Adjustment of status before an immigration judge, as part of deportation defense

Can you apply for a green card from inside the United States?

Usually only if you entered lawfully, meaning you were inspected and admitted or paroled. Adjustment of status on Form I-485 lets a person in the United States become a permanent resident without leaving (INA 245). A U.S. citizen's spouse, minor child or parent who entered lawfully can adjust even after overstaying or working without permission. Relatives in the other family categories generally need to have kept their status. A narrow exception covers people with a petition or labor certification filed by April 30, 2001.

Adjustment is also discretionary. A USCIS memo of May 21, 2026 tells officers to treat it as extraordinary relief and weigh each applicant's history, including how they kept the terms of their visa (USCIS PM-602-0199).

Everyone else applies through consular processing. After USCIS approves the petition, the National Visa Center collects fees and documents, and the interview takes place at a U.S. consulate, since November 1, 2025 in the applicant's country of residence (State Department).

How much does a green card cost?

USCIS filing fees, in effect since April 1, 2024 (USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055):

• Family petition (Form I-130)$675 on paper, $625 online
• Green card application (Form I-485)$1,440 on paper, $1,390 online; $950 for a child under 14 filing with a parent
• Work permit with a pending I-485 (Form I-765)$260
• Travel permit with a pending I-485 (Form I-131)$630 on paper
• Employer petition (Form I-140)$715, plus an Asylum Program Fee of $600 for most employers or $300 for small employers and self-petitioners
• Removing conditions (Form I-751)$750 on paper
• Renewing or replacing a card (Form I-90)$465 on paper, $415 online
• Affidavit of support (Form I-864)no USCIS fee

Through a consulate, the State Department charges $325 per person for a family-based immigrant visa, $345 for an employment-based one, and $120 to review the affidavit of support at the National Visa Center (State Department visa fees). USCIS then charges a $235 immigrant fee to produce the card. The civil surgeon sets the price of the medical exam.

How long does it take to get a green card?

For a U.S. citizen's spouse, parent or child under 21, USCIS was completing 80% of family petitions (Form I-130) within 25.5 months as of September 17, 2026. A green card application filed in the United States goes to the field office for your ZIP code, and on October 3, 2026 USCIS listed these times for completing 80% of family-based applications (USCIS processing times):

• Mount Laurel, the office for Ewing and the rest of Mercer County21.5 months
• Newark, the office for Hackensack22 months
• Philadelphia15 months
• Houston18 months

Other relatives also wait for a visa number. The October 2026 Visa Bulletin is issuing visas, for most countries, to spouses and children of permanent residents with petitions filed before September 22, 2026, to married sons and daughters of citizens with petitions filed before October 22, 2014, and to brothers and sisters of citizens with petitions filed before October 22, 2011 (October 2026 Visa Bulletin). Applicants from Mexico and the Philippines have their own, later dates. Our article on immigration backlogs and wait times explains why the lines exist.

What can delay or deny a green card?

• Public charge. An applicant likely to depend on public support can be refused. DHS's new public charge rule took effect on September 18, 2026 (Federal Register, July 2026). Most family cases also need a sponsor earning at least 125% of the federal poverty level, $27,050 for a household of two (USCIS Form I-864P).
• Unlawful presence. More than 180 days in the United States without status, followed by a departure, brings a 3-year bar, and a year or more brings a 10-year bar. The bars are triggered by leaving, which is why consular processing can carry more risk than adjustment for someone who overstayed (USCIS unlawful presence).
• Criminal history and misrepresentation. Some convictions, and any fraud or false statement in an immigration case, make a person inadmissible, with limited waivers.
• Requests for evidence. USCIS can deny an incomplete case without warning or send a request for evidence with at most 12 weeks to answer and no extensions.
• The interview. Adjustment applicants are interviewed unless USCIS waives it, and in a family case the petitioner usually attends too. Spouses are not among the categories USCIS may excuse (USCIS Policy Manual).

Fees, processing times and rules on this page were checked on uscis.gov, travel.state.gov and the federal regulations on October 3, 2026.

When does a green card need to be renewed?

A standard green card is valid for 10 years. File Form I-90 when it has expired or will expire within six months. The receipt notice, shown with the expired card, proves your status, work and travel for 36 months past the expiration date (USCIS: replace your green card). An expired card does not end permanent residence.

A green card through a marriage less than two years old at approval is conditional and valid for two years. It cannot be renewed with Form I-90. The couple files Form I-751 together during the 90 days before it expires, and the receipt extends status for 48 months. Missing that window ends conditional residence automatically (USCIS: removing conditions).

The green card process, step by step

1. Free consultation. We confirm your route and whether you can apply inside the United States.
2. The petition. A relative files Form I-130 or an employer files Form I-140. A citizen's spouse, parent or child in the United States can file the green card application at the same time.
3. Fingerprints and permits. USCIS takes your biometrics. With a pending green card application you can request a work permit and a travel permit.
4. Waiting. We answer any request for evidence within its deadline and track the Visa Bulletin if your category has a line.
5. The interview. At your local field office, or at the consulate abroad. We prepare you beforehand and attend field office interviews in person with you.
6. The card. It arrives by mail. A conditional resident marks the 90-day window to remove conditions, and when you qualify for citizenship, our guide to N-400 processing times shows how long that step takes.

Our fees for a green card case

Most green card cases have one flat fee, quoted at the free consultation before you decide. A case that goes before an immigration judge is billed by the hour instead. USCIS and State Department fees, listed above, are paid to the government on top of our fee, and we accept credit cards for ours. The calendar on this page books the free consultation with Zachary Gold, and what an immigration lawyer costs has more on how we bill.

Attorney Zachary Gold

Questions about green cards

How much does a green card lawyer cost?

Most of our green card cases have a flat fee, quoted at the free consultation. The government fees come on top, for example $675 for a family petition and $1,440 for a green card application filed on paper.

Can my lawyer come to my green card interview?

Yes. A lawyer who has filed a notice of representation can attend, and since May 18, 2026 a lawyer at a field office interview has to be there in person. Zachary Gold attends his clients' interviews.

What is the fastest way to get a green card?

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, and applicants in categories marked current in the Visa Bulletin, skip the line for a visa number. They still wait for USCIS processing, which was about two years for a spouse's petition in September 2026.

Can I apply for a green card for my parents or siblings?

A U.S. citizen who is at least 21 can petition for parents as immediate relatives, with no line for a visa number. Brothers and sisters fall in the fourth family category, where the October 2026 Visa Bulletin is reaching petitions filed in 2011 for most countries. Permanent residents cannot petition for parents or siblings.

What happens if my green card expires?

You remain a permanent resident, but you should renew it with Form I-90 right away. Adults must carry a valid card, and the I-90 receipt notice with the expired card proves your status for 36 months.

Can I get a green card if I entered without inspection?

Usually not through adjustment in the United States, unless an exception applies, such as an old petition filed by April 30, 2001. Leaving to apply abroad can trigger the unlawful presence bars, so get advice before you travel or file.

Related pages

• Citizenship and naturalization once you qualify
• Deportation defense when a green card case is before an immigration judge
• Immigration lawyers in New Jersey, our Ewing office
• Immigration lawyers in Philadelphia, our office on South Broad Street
• Immigration lawyers in Houston, our office on Caroline Street
• About attorney Zachary Gold
• What an immigration lawyer costs