If you're really unlucky, you may just have to bite the bullet and marry a local. Not every employer is willing to go through the hassle of a green card application and obviously lots of people are going to lose with lottery odds of 1/160. That just leaves marriage. Although the lottery may be easier in that you're not betting the rest of your life on the game, the marriage gig doesn't involve any luck. Just find a yank, marry him or her, and you're in. Well, it's not exactly that simple, but the restrictions aren't too onerous.

Technically, this process involves having your spouse "sponsor" your for permanent residency. The first step is for your spouse to file a Form I-130, "Petition for Alien Relative," to demonstrate that you are eligible for an "immediate relative or family" sponsored visa classification. Any relative who is an American can file this petition on your behalf, but we are discussing only spouses because all other types of family members are subject to such stringent restrictions that they are almost impotent in helping you acquire a green card. The restrictions for non-spouse sponsorship are: (1) that there is a limit to the total number of immigrant visas that may be issued each year in the various visa categories; and (2) that there is a limit to the total number of immigrant visas that may be issued each year to aliens born in any single country.

If a visa cannot be issued immediately because the demand is greater than the supply of visas - which it always is - then your name is placed on a waiting list. For siblings or more distant relations, this list is years long. Only a few types of relatives can avoid this purgatory:

1. Spouses of U.S. citizens (you've got to marry it, amigo);
   
   
2. Widows or widowers of U.S. citizens who died within the past two years, if they had been married to the citizen for two or more years and have not since remarried;
   
   
3. Children of U.S. citizens, if the child is unmarried and under the age of twenty-one; and
   
   
4. Parents of U.S. citizens, if the citizen is twenty-one years old or older. So those are your options. If your parents or children are U.S. citizens, we're guessing you've already figured out how to get yourself in. For the rest of us, we're going to have to marry a yank and hope they don't die within two years.

Once you have successfully filed your I-130, the INS may investigate your case somewhat. They're not stupid, so they'll be looking to make sure that you and your spouse are actually married and live with each other. If they are initially satisfied with your petition, you may apply for an adjustment of status - from alien to lawful permanent resident - by filing Form I-485, "Application for Status as Permanent Resident," with your local immigration office. Be sure to include your approval from the I-130.

All adjustment-of-status applicants are then told when to appear for a required personal
interview before an immigration officer. If you sent in photocopies of documents for either the visa petition or the adjustment of status application, you now have to bring the original copies to the interview. You'll also need to bring your passport and Form I-94, "Arrival-Departure Record," (which you know as the little white card stapled into your passport by the immigration officers at the airport. If you've fooled the INS into believing that you're happily married, bingo, you're in! If not, well then not only do you not get the green card, but you're also stuck in a lousy marriage. Our condolences.