About the Green Card lottery

A Green Card is an official document (United States Permanent Resident Card) that is issued to a certain person in accordance with the applicable requirements of the lottery. This document confirms the right to permanent residence and employment in the United States. A Green Card recipient automatically becomes a U.S. resident and acquires certain rights, including possible discounts on tuition fees at U.S. institutions of higher learning, targeted lending privileges, and certain social benefits for people of retirement age.

A person who receives a Green Card is granted the privilege of legally staying in the United States. The validity period of this document is 10 years. After this period, the person can extend the validity of the Green Card at their own request without any complications. Also, during the 6th year of their stay in the US, a Green Card holder is eligible to apply for US citizenship. Once you become a Green Card holder, you will have almost all the rights of a U.S. citizen. The restrictions apply to voting rights.

This is why the Green Card lottery is a good choice for people who want to change their lives, expand their opportunities and build a better future for themselves. Registering for the lottery is the first step towards a coveted immigrant visa. In total, there are more than 60 types of visas for visitors and immigrants to the United States. Although obtaining any of them is not exactly easy, you don’t need to treat visas as a barrier to your dreams.

On the outside, the Green Card is
a plastic card with a photo and
winner’s personal data

Obtaining a US visa

In order to obtain an appropriate visa for the United States, it is necessary to have reliable information. There are different ways of obtaining an appropriate visa: participation in the Green Card lottery, professional merit, family ties, employment, investments, and the like. On the official website of the US embassy in Ukraine you can find the list of documents for the corresponding application, which is called an immigration petition. This petition is submitted by you or an interested party to the regional USCIS centre.

Once the submitted immigration petition has been reviewed, you will receive a decision on the review and, if it is rejected, the reason and conditions of appeal will always be communicated. If the petition is approved, the documents are forwarded to the relevant visa centre for the issuance of the visa on a first-come, first-served basis. Through the established quotas for each type of visa, priorities are set and a waiting list is created. Visas are allocated by the U.S. Department of State.

An important next step in obtaining a visa is an interview at a US Embassy Consulate and the formation of a case. The applicant must apply for a visa at the Consulate within one year of receiving the invitation for the interview. The immigrant visa applicant receives an information package regarding the list of documents that must be gathered within a certain period of time. The interview itself is scheduled for the applicant only after all the documents have been collected. The invitation for the interview and the appointment does not guarantee that the immigrant visa will be granted. Each applicant must attend the interview in person, answer some questions, convince himself/herself that he/she meets the requirements of US law and take the oath. Upon successful completion of the interview, the applicant is provided with an immigration packet for the US Border Protection agent. The Green Card itself is issued within one month of crossing the U.S. border, after Customs checks that the documents are in order.

For people who do not have relevant academic achievements, professional accomplishments, available invitation from an employer, the US government has developed the Diversity Immigrant Visa programme (Green Card lottery). Every year a list is approved for natives of member states with a low immigration record, i.e. less than 50,000 immigrants in the last 5 years. Each year, 55,000 people who complete the formalities will be eligible to immigrate to the US.

Registering for the Green Card lottery

In order to take part in this programme, you must register within certain deadlines. The main prerequisite is that personal data must be submitted accurately. Please note that all family members, including newborn children, children from previous marriages and adopted children, must be photographed and have to provide data.

It is important to state your official marital status correctly. It is important to realise that an unmarried person is someone who has never received a marriage certificate, i.e. who has not officially registered the relationship. A church marriage certificate does not replace a marriage document. We would like to point out that the dissolution of your marriage will be deemed final with a certificate of dissolution of marriage issued by the state civil registry office. Please note that if you are married for the second or third time, you must indicate your current marital status. It should be stressed that applying for entry to this lottery in more than one place at the same time may result in disqualification as a participant and render you ineligible for this year’s Green Card draw.

Representatives from our organisation will help you with all the details of the law. Even now, you can call our specialists and get advice by telephone: (000) 000-00-00 or write to us by e-mail: ask@dvlotterygreencard.com. We make complicated things simple and straightforward!