For those who are baffled by this (I think this is right...) An immigrant visa is one that permits (in principle, perhaps subject to removal of conditions) law

For those who are baffled by this (I think this is right...) An immigrant visa is one that permits (in principle, perhaps subject to removal of conditions) lawful permanent residency in the U.S. A green card is a document that proves immigration status as a lawful permanent resident. You don’t need actually to have received an immigrant visa to be a lawful permanent resident because you can also achieve that through adjustment of status. A non-immigrant visa is one that does not permit permanent residency. A non-immigrant visa that permits dual-intent is one that can be held concurrently with an application for an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to a category of permanent resident.