[hvb2]

A green card is NOT a visa my friend. Getting a green card is a very involved process.

So why would you need to leave the country, if you couldn't figure out why you don't want to issue one in the year+ it takes to jump through the hoops

Just a fun fact, getting a green card means signing up for ten YEARS of tax liabilities in the US. And those 10 years start, AFTER you relinquished it...

[bluesea]

Wrong - green card is visa

[sushid]

https://guides.sll.texas.gov/immigration-law/visas-green-car...

A green card is literally not a visa

[rc1]

A green card is literally not a visa in US Law.

In other contexts, it literally is.

[pxc]

"Green card" literally refers to US permanent residency cards; it's called that because the physical cards issued by the US are/were green. "Other contexts" are riffing on actual green cards as a metaphor, and if speakers in other contexts want to talk about legal specificities, they should use an accurate term...

[jmspring]

It’s a type of visa with benefits afforded a more temporary form.

A green card like a visa can be revoked. Citizenship gets a bit more interesting with the current administration.

[cheschire]

OK so apparently when you file for an IR-1 visa, the IR-1 is the sticker they put in your passport that gets you into the country. But once you get the card, it replaces the visa. So the card is not the visa.

Today I learned. Before this thread, I was under the same impression as bluesea.

[matwood]

Correct and it's a typical process for many countries. You get a visa so you can stay past the tourist time (often 90 days and with an intent to apply for residency), and then while in country you apply for residency (the green card). One of the issues in the US is the process can take so long you end up overstaying your visa. Logically you should be able to extend the visa or the gov. shouldn't care since it's their fault it's taking so long. But, it's better for one side to simply declare these people illegal.