GC · MUSEUM
U.S. Green Card Museum
From the three characters on the card to a document, a legal status and a chapter of U.S. immigration history.
Permanent resident card, January 2023 design (USCIS specimen)
About the card: view official specimensGreen card code directory: 709 codes — 494 in official code tables or notices · 215 official historical codes (not currently available) · another 7 collected records are excluded. A code existing does not mean every field is verified or that it is open now.Code and data sources
Which question do you have?
Code atlas preview
View all codesOfficial code table
Regional center set aside, rural, adjustments
Investment-based immigration · Principal applicant · Recent codes appearing in actual FY2024 statistics
Difficulty 64 / 99
Official code table
Spouses of RR6, adjustments
Investment-based immigration · Spouse (derivative) · Recent codes appearing in actual FY2024 statistics
Difficulty Not yet assessed
Official code table
Children of RR6, adjustments
Investment-based immigration · Child (derivative) · Recent codes appearing in actual FY2024 statistics
Difficulty Not yet assessed
Official code table
Spouses of E11, E12, E13, E16, E17, or E18, adjustments
Employment-based immigration · Spouse (derivative) · OHSS master table combining current and historical entries (status not identified by OHSS)
Difficulty Not yet assessed
Official code table
Professionals holding advanced degrees, adjustments
Employment-based immigration · Principal applicant · OHSS master table combining current and historical entries (status not identified by OHSS)
Difficulty 50 / 99
Official code table
Spouses, new arrivals
Family-based immigration—Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens · OHSS master table combining current and historical entries (status not identified by OHSS)
Difficulty 21 / 99
Official code table
Asylees
Refugee/asylum adjustment—adjustment under INA section 209(b) by persons granted asylum · OHSS master table combining current and historical entries (status not identified by OHSS)
Difficulty 20 / 99
Official code table
Principals, new arrivals
Diversity immigration—annual Diversity Visa (DV) · OHSS master table combining current and historical entries (status not identified by OHSS)
Difficulty Scoring incomplete
This site's "difficulty" is an explainable composite score (v1): it first checks whether the pathway is currently obtainable, then weights five dimensions — eligibility threshold, numerical limits and waiting, burden of proof, statutory financial threshold, and procedural dependency — into 0–99. 100 is reserved for pathways that official evidence shows are fully closed to new applicants. Every dimension carries facts, rationale and official sources; if any dimension is missing, no total is shown. This is an editorial assessment by this site, not a government score or an approval probability; annual issuance counts are shown as separate facts and never converted into the score.
Difficulty score v1 · assessed pathways
Method and formulaIncludes the ten pathways from the hardest-pathways feature plus representative common pathways — 22 in total, each dimension checked against official pages. All other codes show “Not yet assessed”; nothing is inferred from code numbers. Editorial assessment by this site, not a government score or approval probability.
- FeatureS informant/witness later adjustment (principal)Difficulty 84 / 99
- FeatureT trafficking victim later adjustment (T-1 principal)Difficulty 73 / 99
- FeatureU crime victim later adjustment (U-1 principal)Difficulty 73 / 99
- FeatureSpecial Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) later adjustmentDifficulty 70 / 99
- RR6EB-5 regional center · rural set-aside (principal, adjustment)Difficulty 64 / 99
- FeatureEB-1A extraordinary ability (self-petition)Difficulty 61 / 99
- E26EB-2 advanced-degree professional · employer PERM (principal, adjustment)Difficulty 50 / 99
- E31EB-3 skilled worker · employer PERM (consular)Difficulty 50 / 99
- F11F1 unmarried adult son/daughter of a U.S. citizen (consular)Difficulty 34 / 99
- F21F2A spouse of a permanent resident (consular)Difficulty 34 / 99
- F41F4 brother/sister of an adult U.S. citizen (consular)Difficulty 34 / 99
- CR1Conditional spouse of a U.S. citizen, CR1 (consular)Difficulty 30 / 99
- IR6Spouse of a U.S. citizen · immediate relative (adjustment)Difficulty 24 / 99
- IR5Parent of an adult U.S. citizen · immediate relative (consular)Difficulty 24 / 99
- IR1Spouse of a U.S. citizen · immediate relative (consular)Difficulty 21 / 99
- AS6Asylee adjustment under INA 209(b) (principal)Difficulty 20 / 99
- RE6Refugee adjustment under INA 209(a) (principal)Difficulty 20 / 99
- Z66Registry (INA 249) · entry 1940-06-29 to 1972-01-01 (adjustment)Difficulty 37 · existing cohort only
- DV1Diversity Visa (lottery) principal (consular)Difficulty Scoring incomplete
- FeaturePrivate immigration bill in Congress (individual relief)Difficulty Scoring incomplete
- FeatureINA 240A(b)(1) cancellation of removal for nonpermanent residentsDifficulty Scoring incomplete
- FeatureINA 240A(b)(2) VAWA special-rule cancellation of removalDifficulty Scoring incomplete
About the card: timeline
About the card →- 1940 · AR-3 / AR-3A / AR-1031940: Alien registration and the AR-3
- 1946 · I-1511946: The I-151 and the “green card” nickname
- 1977 · I-5511977: The I-551 replaces the I-151
- 1989 · I-551 second version1989: Second-version permanent resident card
- 2017 · I-551, May 2017 design2017: Next Generation Secure Identification Document
- 2023 · I-551, Jan. 2023 design2023: Current design and cross-generation validity
KNOWLEDGE BASE
Employment, family and other pathways
Reading priority dates, why an approved I-140 is not a green card, removing conditions on residence — each section cites official sources and check dates. Articles are available in Chinese and English.
Open the knowledge base →Status comparisons: permanent residence as the baseline
View six comparisonsKeeping a green card · sources as of 2026-08-13
“Return once a year” is not a safe harbor
Whether permanent residence has been abandoned depends on intent and objective circumstances, not on an automatic day-count rule. This site lists only general official rules, procedural steps and their limits; it does not collect your travel dates or give any personal conclusion.
- The card, temporary status evidence and reentry documents
- Long absences and abandonment of permanent residence
- SB-1 Returning Resident
Further reading: the hardest green card pathways
An editorial comparison of ten legal routes or mechanisms to permanent residence; for computable composite scores see “Difficulty score” above.
- 1Private immigration bill in Congress (individual relief)
- 2S informant / witness later adjustment
- 3Registry