{"id":973,"date":"2014-11-24T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-11-24T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=973"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:49","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:49","slug":"toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/","title":{"rendered":"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The TOEFL is a near-universal requirement for ESL international students coming to the United States. English assessment is especially important for international students because their visa depends on their academic success. International students also usually have little experience with academic English before coming to America.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<ul><strong>IMPORTANT NOTE:<\/strong> <em>We&#8217;ve gotten a lot of questions and comments on this topic. If you have a question about TOEFL for U.S. Green Card holders, check out the comments at the bottom of this page&#8211; there&#8217;s a good chance you&#8217;ll find your answer. You may also find the answers you need in our<a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-school-u-s-green-card-holders-frequently-asked-questions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TOEFL for US Green Card Holders FAQ<\/a>, or on our posts regarding US Green Card holders and <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/college-admissions-u-s-green-card-holders-frequently-asked-questions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">college admissions<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-study-options-u-s-green-card-holders-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">English study options<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/english-study-options-u-s-green-card-holders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">enrollment in Intensive English programs<\/a>. We even have an article about <a href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/exams-toefl-u-s-green-card-holders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SAT, ACT, GRE and GMAT for Green Card holders<\/a>!<\/em><\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p>U.S. permanent residents who come from other countries (also called Green Card holders) have different needs than international students. They can get low grades and even take a break from school without having to leave the U.S. Their English speaking background varies a lot. Some Green Card holders have been in the U.S. since they were little kids. Others may have been in the U.S. for less than a year when they apply. This is especially common for refugees. Still others may have been exposed to English regularly in their home country. This is often true of people holding marriage visas.<\/p>\n<p>Holding a Green Card instead of a student visa has a lot of advantages. Permanent residents do not have to pay international tuition, and they can get local financial aid. They have the same right to hold a job as a U.S. citizen, too. However, there is one way in which Green Card holding university students are less fortunate than international students: they face requirements for admission that are inconsistent and confusing.<\/p>\n<p>Admissions rules for U.S. permanent residents vary a lot from campus to campus. <a href=\"http:\/\/admissions.psu.edu\/info\/future\/international\/requirements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Penn State<\/a> doesn\u2019t ask U.S. permanent residents to prove their English language ability in any way. <a href=\"http:\/\/admission.princeton.edu\/applyingforadmission\/application-checklist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Princeton University\u2019s<\/a> website says that \u201cif English is not the primary language at your school and if English is not the primary language spoken in your home,\u201d you need to take the TOEFL, even if you have a Green Card. <a href=\"http:\/\/gpadmissions.osu.edu\/intl\/additional-requirements-to-apply.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ohio State University<\/a> requires you to take the TOEFL if you\u2019ve had your Green Card for less than a year. However, if you\u2019ve been a U.S. permanent resident for MORE than 12 months, no English exam is needed.<\/p>\n<p>To make things even more complicated for Green Card holders, language exam requirements are not always clearly posted on school websites. Some universities don\u2019t publicly post their English proficiency rules for permanent residents at all. Additionally, admissions representatives and counselors may give confusing or incorrect answers. To research this article, I called Princeton to ask them about their rules. The person I spoke to in the admissions office said that the home language of an applicant doesn\u2019t matter, even though Princeton\u2019s website says it does. Similarly, a community college near my hometown has been known to mistakenly tell Green Card holders that they need to take the TOEFL even though the school doesn\u2019t actually require it.<\/p>\n<p>If you hold a U.S. Green Card, congratulations! Your residency will open many doors for you, both in work and in education. However, when applying to American colleges and universities, be sure to check the admission requirements carefully. If you call the admissions office, consider getting in touch with the office manager or an international enrollment specialist to make sure you\u2019re getting the right information. Make sure you do this well before the application deadline, so that you\u2019ll have enough time to <a href=\"https:\/\/toefl.magoosh.com\/?utm_source=TOEFLBlog&amp;utm_medium=BlogPost&amp;utm_campaign=InText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prepare for the TOEFL<\/a> if you do need to take it. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The TOEFL is a near-universal requirement for ESL international students coming to the United States. English assessment is especially important for international students because their visa depends on their academic success. International students also usually have little experience with academic English before coming to America. IMPORTANT NOTE: We&#8217;ve gotten a lot of questions and comments [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13606],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-visas-immigration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.7 (Yoast SEO v21.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The TOEFL is a near-universal requirement for ESL international students coming to the United States. English assessment is especially important for international students because their visa depends on their academic success. International students also usually have little experience with academic English before coming to America. IMPORTANT NOTE: We&#8217;ve gotten a lot of questions and comments [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-24T17:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:46:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Recine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/\",\"name\":\"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-24T17:00:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768\",\"name\":\"David Recine\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/de262e64bb4e3e488753d8c58ff3cc70\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David Recine\"},\"description\":\"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"TOEFL\",\"IELTS\",\"TOEIC\",\"PET\",\"FCE\",\"BULATS\",\"Eiken\",\"SAT\",\"ACT\",\"GRE\",\"GMAT\"],\"knowsLanguage\":[\"English\",\"Italian\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Content Creator\",\"worksFor\":\"Magoosh\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders","og_description":"The TOEFL is a near-universal requirement for ESL international students coming to the United States. English assessment is especially important for international students because their visa depends on their academic success. International students also usually have little experience with academic English before coming to America. IMPORTANT NOTE: We&#8217;ve gotten a lot of questions and comments [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/","og_site_name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","article_published_time":"2014-11-24T17:00:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-10T21:46:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"David Recine","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_site":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Recine","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/","name":"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-24T17:00:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/toefl-for-u-s-green-card-holders\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TOEFL for U.S. Green Card Holders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/","name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","description":"Online TOEFL Preparation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/fa2be5405a605e37f4199c90e2236768","name":"David Recine","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/de262e64bb4e3e488753d8c58ff3cc70","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David Recine"},"description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. David has a BS and MA from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew"],"knowsAbout":["TOEFL","IELTS","TOEIC","PET","FCE","BULATS","Eiken","SAT","ACT","GRE","GMAT"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Italian"],"jobTitle":"Content Creator","worksFor":"Magoosh","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13630,"user_id":80,"is_guest":0,"slug":"davidr","display_name":"David Recine","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b70c17ee6f3ef87dc4cc5dbdebda911d6dd30dfe15845e4b1d459a3e1b33ef98?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Recine","first_name":"David","description":"David is a Test Prep Expert for Magoosh TOEFL and IELTS. Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C50&amp;q=Recine+magoosh&amp;btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=973"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}