Comment by abalashov

I know you believe that, and I know that's what the State Dept calls them, but they're not really how most legal immigrants come here and aren't available to most of the people who apply for greencards today.

As a practical matter, all these immigrant visas pretty much entail a greencard soon thereafter. In other words, to get them is about as easy as getting a greencard in the first place, give or take, more or less.

The discussion here is really about legal workers, students and others on temporary visas who convert to permanent status.