Historical Codes and Current Pathways: Do Not Mistake Archival Records for Options Available Today

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Refer to USCIS Category Pages for Current Pathways

To determine whether you can apply today, start with the USCIS Green Card Eligibility Categories page: family, employment, special immigrants, refugees/asylees, humanitarian, and other categories. Historical codes that do not fall within these pathways should not be promoted as currently available options.

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What Historical Codes Tell Us

The codes collected on this website come from official statistics and historical documents. Many appear only under prior laws or in specific years, such as Z-category codes relating to people who entered before 1940, or XB3, which is distinguished from Registry in this website’s data. For these codes, this website only compares historical texts; this does not constitute a legal review of current eligibility.

Some historical entries are marked “Content Not Publicly Available” because the original text is incomplete or sources are insufficient. This website will not fill gaps with guesses for the sake of completeness.

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Discontinuation of a Code Does Not Mean Revocation of Status

When a code is no longer newly issued, that indicates only that no new people are using that entry classification; permanent resident status previously obtained lawfully is not automatically revoked as a result, and an individual’s status still depends on subsequent facts. The color and form number of the Green Card have also changed several times. You can read more in the history section of this website’s “Understanding the Green Card.”