There is much more to obtaining permanent residency than leaving one’s home country and finding housing and employment in the United States. Each year thousands of people apply for LPR status, but the United States limits the number of immigrants that it admits. It is not unheard of for an immigrant to wait several years to receive an immigrant visa number, which identifies the immigrant as an LPR.

Some people do not need to get LPR status. Students or people working on temporary projects can get temporary visas that allow them to live and work freely in the United States. Many people who enter the country on temporary visas choose not to leave after the visa runs out; people who do this are in violation of the law and subject to deportation. People who come from another country and wish to make the United States their permanent home need to go through the residency process.