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What process needs to be followed in order to acquire an American Green Card and subsequent citizenship if one is in the US on an H1B ?

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    possible duplicate of As a French PhD student in the US, what can I do to get the US citizenship as quickly as possible?
    – littleadv
    Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 6:17
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    Green card is something, and citizenship is another thing. A totally different story...
    – Nean Der Thal
    Commented Mar 22, 2014 at 21:23
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    @MeNoTalk - really? Yes its a big commitment step, but its not procedurally a particularly difficult step compared to getting a work visa or a green card. Yes you have to conform to certain criteria ... but its not particularly onerous if you are someone that considers the USA your home.
    – iandotkelly
    Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 18:44
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    @MeNoTalk not different at all. Green card is a must-pass step for getting citizenship, you can't have one without the other (unless you were born a citizen, or in the military, or got a special citizenship legislation just for you personally, good luck with that).
    – littleadv
    Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 18:06

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There are many paths to both a Green Card and Citizenship, including employment based, family based (e.g. marriage) and various special interests.

Since you are in the US on an H1B, you are likely employed, and if you are lucky your employer will sponsor you for a Green Card. It is a long and fairly complicated process. You should contact your HR department; however if they are not used to doing this it may be an uphill struggle to get them to spend the time and money on an application. This slide show from "Coming to America" (slides 8 to 15) has a good summary.

As for citizenship, most paths to that go through the Green Card. Once you have a Green Card there is a waiting period before you can apply. There are other routes like joining the US Military. See the USCIS website.

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    One important info is that H1B is an dual-intent visa. You are allowed to apply for a Green Card on an H1B visa. This is not the case for all US visas.
    – dmeister
    Commented Mar 26, 2014 at 19:54

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