Family based Green Card and employment based Green Card are the two most common ways of green card(permanent residence in United Statess). Other ways of getting green card include political asylum, refugee, adoption and diversity lottery.

For most employment based green card categories, the visa sponsor(employer) starts the process by filing a permanent labor certification(LC) with the Department of Labor under PERM system. The certification needs to show that no qualified US workers are available or willing to do the described job duties that the beneficiary(foreign worker) is qualified and willing to perform. The proof includes job advertisements, skill requirements, prevailing wage, foreign worker background and the employer's ability to pay.

After the labor certification(LC) is approved, the visa sponsor(employer) can file Form I-140(Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker).  If I-140 is approved, and the priority date is current, the employer can file Form I-485(Adjustment of Status).

Form I-140 and Form I-485 could be file con-currently if priority date is current.