How to win a green card in the USA? This interests many of our compatriots, for whom America remains a model of a country with equal and free opportunities, where everyone can show their talents and skills. Currently, almost everyone knows about the card, there are even whole companies that earn good money on this. How to become its owner and what is the probability of this will be discussed in this article.
What is a Green Card?
Before telling in detail how to win a green card in the USA, we will understand what it is like. This is a special identification card that gives you the legal right to live and work in the United States. In fact, this is one of the options for obtaining an American residence permit, one of the most common ways of emigrating to the United States in our time. The same document is a work permit.
Five years after receiving a green card, its holder, provided that he was constantly in the United States, can apply for citizenship.
Externally, the "Green Card" is a small green card with a photo of the owner, his fingerprint, personal data and expiration date. It is interesting that initially its prototype was an ordinary sheet of white paper, which confirmed the registration of a foreigner.
After World War II, it was this document that began to allow an immigrant to remain in the country on a legal basis. Soon, designers in order to protect against fakes changed its color. Currently, obtaining a green card is possible in several cases:
- for family reunification with relatives in the United States:
- To marry a US citizen
- in case of application by the employer;
- for political asylum;
- based on the results of investments in the economy.
Lottery participation
If you do not meet any of the above criteria, then you have only one chance - to win the green card in the USA lottery. The American government holds it annually, participation in it is completely free. To do this, you just need to fill out the form and submit the appropriate application. The procedure that will help you understand how to win a green card in the USA will be described in detail below.
Currently, registration is just in progress. You can apply to win the green card in the USA lottery until November 7, 2018. If successful, you can get it in 2020. By applying now, you will have to remain in ignorance for only a few months. Official results will be announced in the spring of 2019.
Many people have a question: what if I won a green card in the USA? In this case, you will need to successfully pass the interview, and then get the coveted document at the American embassy. This can be done in 2020.
The US Migration and Citizenship Service allocates regional limits for each year. The world in this case is divided into six regions, these are Africa, Asia, Europe, including all the former republics of the Soviet Union, Oceania, North America, South and Central America with the Caribbean islands.
There is some useful advice on how to win a green card in the USA. To increase your chances, it is recommended to fill out a questionnaire for each family member. If the husband wins, his wife also automatically receives the right to receive a Green Card and vice versa.
Filling in the questionnaire
To win a green card lottery in the USA, you first need to fill out a special form. Note that the drawing takes place using a computer. Its winners must then go through an interview and fill out all the necessary documents. However, there are certain quotas and restrictions. For example, residents of countries in which over the past five years fifty thousand people have officially immigrated cannot participate in the draw. The maximum number of green cards is allocated to countries with minimal immigration. The quota established by the US government is no more than seven percent of the total number of visas.
You need to understand that everyone has a chance to win, as they are determined by a computer using random numbers. By 2018, already about ten million people took part in the lottery. Filling out an online application is free, but if successful, you will have to pay a card issuance fee. It will be about three hundred dollars.
In order to receive the US green card after the lottery, you will need to go through an interview at the American embassy, as well as bring documents that will be announced additionally.
When filling out the questionnaire, you should be extremely careful, as any inaccuracy threatens to be disqualified. You can, of course, use the services of special companies that fill out the questionnaire for you. In this case, there is a chance to run into unscrupulous entrepreneurs who profit from those who want to try their luck.
What should be the photo
If you decide for yourself that you want to win a green card in the USA, you need to exactly meet all the requirements, including the requirements for photography.
It is subject to rather stringent requirements, and if they are not respected, even a won Green Card can be canceled.
The photo should be in electronic form 600 by 600 pixels in size, only in.jpg" />
It is forbidden to retouch a picture, change it in any way. The photographer must be warned about this, since they often cover up or remove acne on the face, and they can cut off a disheveled hairstyle. Be sure to take off in your usual clothes, without a headgear. It is forbidden to take pictures in religious clothing or military uniforms. The face in the image should not be too small and not too large, and the expression should be neutral, you should not smile.
After filling out the questionnaire, it must be submitted on the official website, which conducts a diversification lottery. You will receive a special number by which you can find out if you are among the lucky ones this year. In case of failure, do not be upset, but try again in a year. Here's how to win a green card in the USA.
Where is the draw held?
We emphasize that the only way to participate in the lottery is to fill out all the necessary documents on the website of the American government. This is the only place where you can legally win a green card in the USA. We emphasize that paper applications are not accepted at American consulates and embassies.
Organizations that offer intermediary services, in fact, simply fill out all the registration forms for the participant, they can not affect the result of the draw.
In this case, there are cases of extortion of payment of the winnings, if the application wins the lottery. As a rule, we are talking about an amount of several thousand dollars.
Probability of success
Many care about whether it is realistic to win a green card in the United States. If we analyze the statistics, then the chances of winning per one application per region for Europe are from 1.26 to 2.1 percent.
Interestingly, even though the American government claims that all countries within the same region have equal chances of success, in reality this is not so. At the stage of checking information and questionnaires, an active fight against fraud in this area is being conducted. For example, the chances of winning from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana are much lower than from other countries of Europe and Africa, since in these states a high level of fraud is recorded.
Lottery winner visa chances
These chances do not depend on a specific region, but on a country. Among states with a statistically significant number of winners in recent years, Nepal has the highest rates and Senegal the lowest.
In some cases, a person refuses to obtain a visa or cannot meet all its requirements. There is a possibility that the winner will refuse on his own or will not pass an interview at the American embassy, which is a prerequisite.
Selection and notification
All applications undergo a thorough check for compliance with the criteria established in the rules. If several applications have been received from one person, then all of them will be disqualified without participating in a further draw. The selection is made on a computer by random numbers.
If earlier notifications came by mail, now the results of the draw can be found only on the website of the American government. At the same time, the processing time of the applications themselves is significantly reduced. Remember that the spouses of the winners, as well as their unmarried children under the age of 21, also have the right to apply for a visa. They can accompany the applicant, having gone to the place of his further permanent residence.
How to win a green card lottery in the USA? Participants are required to meet several requirements. The applicant must be a native of the country that is on the list of lottery participants this year. If you are married, you have the right to participate in your spouse’s country of birth, even if your own state does not participate in the lottery.
In some cases, it is allowed to apply for the country of birth of the parents. If the applicant was born in the United States, but has not received American citizenship or has lost it, then he can apply for participation in the lottery from the country of which he is currently a citizen. If he does not have citizenship - from the country that is his permanent place of residence.
At the time of application, the applicant must have a complete secondary education or education equivalent to it. There is also an option to get a visa without education. To do this, you must have two years of experience in the profession in demand in the United States over the past five years.
Next steps
When won the green card in the USA, what next? In this case, the winner, before receiving a visa, will have to provide evidence that he will not be in the United States is dependent on the state. This can be a confirmation of the availability of their own property, a form of "Support Confirmation", a form from a friend or relative living in the United States, or an offer from an employer.
At the next stage, you will need to fill out a questionnaire in English, which indicates personal data, information about the place of study, work, marital status, criminal record. A separate form is filled out for each family member.
After filling out the form, the confirmation page should be saved on your computer and printed. She will then need to be taken with her for an interview at the embassy. His date will be sent to you by e-mail.
First you will receive a letter informing you that your visa application has been received. Then within a week one more message should come. It may contain information that the questionnaire is in the processing stage, which can last up to four months. In the event that you did not indicate any data that you considered not significant, the questionnaire can still be accepted into work, if this did not happen, they will inform you. Then you will need to make the necessary corrections.
While the questionnaire is being studied, collect the necessary documents and translate them into English. All documents must be accompanied by a certified translation. In this case, notarization is not required. You will need to provide your passport, birth certificate, diplomas confirming education, a work book, and a certificate of no criminal record to the consulate. If you still have a criminal record, you can still qualify for a green card, but you must document that you have already been punished.
You will also need a marriage or divorce certificate, military ID, for those who have served in the army, bank statements, a document on the assessment of real estate, a certificate of employment that you are the owner or employee of the company. Here's what to do if you won the green card in the United States, but that's not all.
When the date of the interview is set, you can go for a medical examination. This must be done only in specialized certified centers. On average, the cost of the examination will be $ 215 (14 thousand rubles) for each family member. Depending on the country of your residence, the price may vary slightly, by about ten to fifteen dollars (600-900 rubles). Vaccination is paid separately.
For people who have won a green card in the United States, vaccination is required to determine if any of them have a disease on the list of ailments that restrict entry into the United States. These include the active stage of tuberculosis, all kinds of ailments of a psychological nature, leprosy and some others. Until recently, HIV was included in this list, but since 2010 this provision has been repealed.
Based on the results of the medical examination, you will be given a sealed envelope, which should be passed without opening a consul.
During the interview itself, you will be required to provide the originals of all documents and their translations into English, the results of the medical examination, and the invitation to the interview itself. The embassy will need to pay a visa fee. It is worth noting that in case of failure, the money will not be returned back, payment does not guarantee your visa. You can pay in cash or by card.
Interviews are an important stage that you need to go through with dignity. True, it’s pointless to specially prepare for it, since standard and everyday questions will ask you.
After all, the main purpose of the conversation is to make sure that those people who came for an interview submitted applications for the Green Card. After that, you will be fingerprinted, checked against the database, checked the results of medical examinations, as well as the availability of all necessary documents.
So, what does a won green card in the USA give? In the case of an interview, you will be given a visa for six months. During this period, you will need to travel to the United States, otherwise it will be canceled. At the airport you will need to give a sealed envelope to the officer, which you will receive at the consulate.
