Travel back to your country of origin to begin your consular processing to gain legal access into the U.S. Consular processing enables a person who is in the U.S. but does not qualify to adjust status while in the country to get an immigrant visa abroad and re-enter the U.S. as a permanent resident (Reference 3).
Request a family relative, who is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident, to file an immigration petition for you. Download the form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services site. Ask the family relative, the petitioner, to fill it in by following the instructions provided by the USCIS and send it with a filing fee of $420 to the USCIS Chicago lockbox: USCIS, P.O. Box 804625, Chicago, IL 60680-4107 for the U.S. Postal Service and USCIS, Attn: I-130, 131 South Dearborn-3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60603-5517 for express mail and courier deliveries.(Resources 1)
Ask your employer to file the form I-140, Immigrant Petition For Alien Worker. Download the form from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services site. The employer should send the petition with a filing fee of $580 to USCIS, P.O. Box 660867, Dallas, TX 75266 for the U.S. Postal Service or to USCIS, Attn: AOS 2501, S. State Highway 121 Business, Suite 400, Lewisville, TX 75067 for express mail and courier deliveries (Resources 2).
Receive a notification concerning the decision on your immigration petition from the Department of State's National Visa Center. If your petition is denied, you will be notified about the reasons and whether you can appeal. If it is accepted, the National Visa Center will inform you when an immigrant visa number becomes available (Reference 4).
Wait for the National Visa Center to contact you when the immigrant visa number is available. The center will ask you to send the immigrant visa processing fees and supporting identification documents to the U.S. consular office in your home country. The consular office will schedule an immigrant visa interview with you (Reference 3).
Attend the immigrant visa interview at the U.S. consular office in your home country. Tell the interviewer the truth about how you arrived in the U.S., how long you lived in the U.S. and that you have been educated in the country. A decision will be made about your eligibility for an immigrant visa (Reference 4).
Receive the Visa Packet after obtaining your immigrant visa. Do not open the packet. Travel back to the U.S. and present the Visa Packet to the Customs and Border Protection officer on arrival. Undergo an inspection by the Customs and Border Protection officer, who will then allow you into the U.S. as a legal permanent resident if you pass the inspection (Reference 3).
Receive your green card in your mailbox from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Contact the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 if you do not receive your green card 30 days after you arrive in the U.S. (Reference 2).