How people actually get their green card

The visa or status each worker held when their employment green card (PERM) was filed, FY2017–2024. Most were on H-1B, but a meaningful slice reached permanent residence on other visas entirely. Those are the real-world H-1B alternatives.

Of the 763,193 green-card cases that disclose prior status, 30% were not on H-1B when they filed.

How a work visa becomes a green card

Most employment green cards run through the same DOL step, PERM (labor certification), which is the EB-2 and EB-3 route, so everything here is an EB-2/EB-3 green card. A few categories skip PERM, EB-1 (extraordinary ability, multinational executives), EB-2 NIW (national interest), and EB-5 (investor), so they aren't in this PERM data. For the rest, what differs is the temporary visa the worker holds when they file.

Temporary status

H-1B · L-1 · F-1/OPT · TN · O-1 …

↓→

PERM

DOL labor certification

↓→

Green card

Employment-based (EB-2 / EB-3)

The paths to a green card

#Status when green card was filedFilingsShare

1H-1B specialty workerThe standard path, already on an H-1B when filing537,55070.4%

2F-1 student / OPTFiled straight from student status, bypassed H-1B59,5747.8%

3L-1 intracompany transferTransferred in from a foreign office49,8286.5%

4Outside the U.S.Consular processing from abroad44,7175.9%

5TN professional (USMCA)Canada / Mexico, no lottery14,3871.9%

6B-2 visitorWas on a visitor visa (change-of-status)10,8761.4%

7E-2 treaty investor10,1321.3%

8H-2B seasonal (non-agricultural)5,0940.7%

9J-1 exchange visitor3,6330.5%

10H-4 dependent of an H-1B3,0420.4%

11O-1 extraordinary abilityMerit visa, no cap, no lottery3,0030.4%

12F-2 dependent of a student2,7990.4%

13E-3 Australian specialtyH-1B cousin, Australia-only2,7760.4%

14Temporary Protected Status2,6210.3%

15B-1 business visitor2,1510.3%

16Entered without inspection2,0060.3%

17H-2A seasonal agricultural1,7080.2%

18L-2 dependent of an L-11,2850.2%

19E-1 treaty trader1,1070.1%

20Paroled into the U.S.9850.1%

21H-1B17650.1%

22A1/A2495<0.1%

23P-1434<0.1%

24J-2389<0.1%

25R-1262<0.1%

From F-1: which paths can bypass H-1B?

The mix above is status at green-card time. The practical question for a student is the reverse: from F-1/OPT today, which of these can you actually take without the H-1B lottery? (Verdicts below are immigration rules, not from our data.)

O-1, extraordinary abilityBypasses H-1BChange status F-1→O-1 directly. No cap, no lottery. Needs a strong record, awards, publications, press, pay.

EB-2 NIW, green cardBypasses H-1BSelf-petition, skips H-1B and PERM. Needs an advanced degree + national-interest case. Catch: India/China face a multi-year EB-2 backlog, so you still need something to stay on meanwhile (STEM-OPT/O-1).

F-1/OPT → PERM green cardConditionalEmployer files the green card while you are on OPT. Only finishes in time if you are NOT from a backlogged country, India/China can’t complete it in the OPT window and still need H-1B to bridge.

TN (USMCA)Yes, nationalityCanadians / Mexicans only. F-1→TN directly, no lottery. (Dual intent can be a complication if you’re also pursuing a green card.)

E-3Yes, nationalityAustralians only. Separate 10,500/yr quota, rarely full.

H-1B1Yes, nationalityChile / Singapore only. It is the H-1B family, but its own quota is almost never full and has no lottery, so it skips the lottery, not H-1B itself.

L-1, intracompany transferNot from F-1Requires ~1 year working abroad for the company first, you’d have to leave the U.S., so it isn’t a path directly from F-1.

E-2 / J-1Not from F-1E-2 needs treaty nationality + investment; J-1 often carries a 2-year home-residency bar.

Cap-exempt H-1B (university / nonprofit)ConditionalStill H-1B, it just skips the lottery. The route some no-lottery-luck students use to land an H-1B anyway.

The realistic shortlist for a typical F-1 student: O-1 (if you have the record), EB-2 NIW (self-petition the green card), or OPT→PERM directly (only realistic if you’re not from India/China). Everything else is nationality-gated or needs you to leave first.

Status held when the green-card (PERM) was filed, FY2017–2024. It's the status at filing time, so someone who switched visas before filing is counted under the later one.