A green card is a US permanent resident card that is usually issued for a period of 10 years. This card is required for legal residence in the States. In addition, the green card is the first step to further obtain US citizenship. There are several ways to get a Green Card and one of them is the Green Card Lottery, which is held every year. In this way, you can get a card absolutely free of charge and without much effort.
After 5 years of residence in the States with a Green Card, you can obtain US citizenship.
The Green Card Lottery was created to diversify the flow of immigrants to the country.
The first step is to fill out a questionnaire on the official lottery website. In this case, you indicate basic information about yourself and attach a photo, to which, it is worth noting, there are strict requirements. You can find out about this on the official website during registration. Usually, the lottery takes place every autumn in October-November.
After registration, you will receive a special code. With the help of it, next May you have to check whether you won or not. 55,000 people from different countries covered by the drawing have the opportunity to win a Green Card using the lottery.
Who is eligible to participate in the lottery?
There are only 3 criteria for participants:
- You must be born in a country that is eligible to participate in the Green Card Lottery;
- you must have a diploma of complete secondary education (11 classes) or its equivalent;
- availability of a valid foreign passport or its equivalent.
It is also worth noting that when registering for participation in the lottery, you need to have not only your photo, but also a photo of your family. Namely: spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age.
If you are legally located in the United States at the time of registration, you are also eligible for the green card lottery.
The selection of the winners is carried out randomly, absolutely no one can influence it.
What if you won a Green Card?
In case you won a Green Card, you will need to move to America later than 1.5 years later. If you have not done this for any reason, then your winnings will simply be canceled.
In addition, after you have won, you need to collect all the documentation, fill out a questionnaire and wait for the call for an interview. In this case, be prepared for the fact that you will need to pay the consular fee.
Also, a mandatory step is to undergo a medical examination in a special clinic accredited by the US Embassy in your country, for which you will also need to pay. After the medical examination, you will only have six months to enter the United States. Be careful, in no case should you open the envelope with the results of the inspection, you give it at the border in the United States.
What are the chances of winning a Green Card?
Due to the fact that since last year the third criterion for participation in the lottery – the presence of a passport – has been introduced, the number of participants has decreased. This increased the chances of winning by an average of 2.5 times.
Unfortunately, in connection with lotteries, a lot of scammers have appeared who take huge money from people for participating in the green card lottery. Many of them send messages about the winnings and the amount that must be paid for further processing of documents. BUT, the USA never makes such a mailing list. You can find out about the prize yourself and only on the official lottery website.
For those who, for some reason, do not have the opportunity to apply for participation, there are companies that help in filling out the questionnaire. Here, too, you need to be careful. Before paying for this service, find out if they send a screenshot of the completed questionnaire. You also need to clarify whether they provide registration data after filling out the questionnaire.
