Annual Green Card Lottery of the United States
Op-ed: I got my Green Card onthis lottery, Nenad Bach
One person out of 70 applicants actually wins the American Green Card to Live and Work in America
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http://www.usafis.org/faq/index.asp?af=adz&language=english
Register Now For DV2005
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Click Here and Apply for the Green Card Lottery Program.
Usafis Organization
Annual Green Card Lottery of the United States
USAFIS invites you to participate in the American Green Card Lottery program where you may win a green card and live and work in the United States. If you are not an American citizen, you must join the program and take advantage of the opportunity that has been offered to you by a program of the American government, through a law that has been passed by Congress – the “Diversity Green Card Lottery” program.
Click here to register
Are you eligible to participate?
Eighty five percent of the world’s inhabitants are eligible to participate in the lottery. Eligibility is determined according to the participant’s country of birth. If your country of birth does not appear on the list of eligible countries, you can register as a native of the country of birth of your spouse or parents. With the help of a three questions test you will be able to find out whether you are eligible.
Important!
According to immigrant authority reports, in previous year program, 2.5 million lottery forms were disqualified out of the 8.7 million forms that were sent. The various reasons for disqualification were mainly incorrect completion of forms, lack of information, wrong mailing address, and erroneous interpretation of the instructions.
How much does it cost to participate in the lottery?
It is free of charge. It does not cost anything to participate in the annual green card lottery. Usafis charges for application service, data inspection, correct completion of the form and sending it on time to the correct address. Usafis job is to make sure that your form will be entered in the lottery and not disqualifies.
For further information, please fill out a contact form or read the following questions and answers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Basic Questions
What is the green card lottery program?
The United States government allows a lottery of 55,000 visas using a law that was passed by Congress. The lottery is conducted by random computer retrieval of forms that meet the requirements.
Can I check my eligibility before participating?
Certainly. Press here to enter the test page where you will be asked to answer three questions concerning your country of birth, education and your employment status.
How long does it take to fill out the entry forms?
The entire process takes five to ten minutes.
Are there minimum requirements to participate?
Yes. The participant must be a native of a country that appears on the list of qualifying countries and must meet the minimum requirements concerning education/occupational training or employment status.
If I do not meet the minimum requirements, should I participate in the lottery?
No. If you do not meet the minimum requirements, do not enter the lottery.
How many forms should I complete?
You should complete only one form per year. Candidates who will submit more than one form will be disqualified even if they meet the rest of the minimum requirements. You may use Usafis service to participate in coming programs (next 1, 2 or 3 years) in one online process; nevertheless, only one form will be submitted by Usafis per year.
What happens if I live in a different country than the one I was born in?
No problem. The automatic application process will ascertain that in such cases your application form will be submitted correctly and not be disqualified.
What can I do if I was born in a country that does not appear on the list of qualifying countries?
In such a case, you can participate by presenting a country of a different citizenship than the one you were born in. This is possible if your spouse or one of your parents was born in a country that appears on the list of qualifying countries. Click here to check your eligibility.
Can I pay more to increase the chances of winning?
No. All the participants in the lottery have an equal opportunity. The winners are chosen at random by computer program.
How do I know if I won?
All winners will be informed by mail. The notice will be sent to the same address filled out on the forms. Participants who do not win will not be notified. U. S. embassies and consulates will not be able to provide a list of winners.
Are there additional fees?
There is no extra charge for participating in the American green card lottery, aside from the fee for using the on-line processing system.
Forms Related Questions
What information must I provide to enter the lottery?
The required information for participating in the lottery includes your place and date of birth, as well as that of your spouse and that of all your unmarried children under the age of 21. Similarly, your mailing address, a recent photo of all your family members and your signature. Failure to provide any of these particulars will lead to the disqualification of your application form. For your information, the online system will not proceed without required information entered (and will no reach the payment phase).
How should I send the registration form, the photos and the signature?
Once you completed the online process, you need to send the signed form along with family pictures to the Usafis offices in New York, to the address that appears on the form.
How can I be sure that all the information required appears on the form?
The online system will not facilitate completing entry and participation of a candidate who did not complete required details. Similarly, a candidate whose online registration process was not completed will not be charged.
Do the form, envelope, etc have a special format?
Yes, certainly, but you have no reason to worry about that since the automatic application system will make sure you complete all the relevant details and make the necessary preparations to send forms that meet the format (provided application fee has been paid).
What family members do I have to write down on the form?
You must register your spouse and all your unmarried children under the age of 21. You must register your spouse even if you are living apart. However, if you are divorced you do not have to register your spouse. It is compulsory to register all unmarried children under the age of 21, including adopted children, children of a spouse, and children from a previous marriage, even if these children are not currently living with you, and even if you do not intend to immigrate with them to the United States should you win the lottery.
Advanced Question
What happens if my form(s) gets to Usafis after the deadline?
In such a case, the organization will keep the form(s) for next year’s lottery. You will not be charged any additional fee, even in case of a change in application fee.
Can a husband and wife send a form separately?
Yes, absolutely. If one meets the requirements, both can submit a separate form. If one of the couple will be drawn in the lottery, the other spouse will be eligible for a green card. Note: couples cannot sign for one another. Each person must personally sign his/her own form.
If I have won, do I have to emigrate with my family?
No. The fact that you written down the names of family members on the form does not obligate them to emigrate with you. They can choose whether or not to join you. On the other hand, if you include on the visa request form (after winning the lottery) a family member who does not appear on the lottery form, your eligibility will be disqualified. However, the addition of other family members (brothers, sisters, a child over the age of 21, etc.) will not disqualify you from the lottery, but will not grant them the right for a visa.
Do I have to send the form on my own or can I use other services?
People participating in the lottery can prepare and sign forms on their own, or use other services. In any case, regardless of whether the participant or someone acting on his behalf completes the form, the participant must sign the form himself with his customary signature used on a daily basis. In any case, each candidate must send only one form, otherwise, participation will be disqualified. The winners – and only the winners – shall be informed only once at the address specified in the application form.
What are the minimum requirements for education and profession?
The law requires that a candidate have at least a high school education (12 grades), or the equivalent, or that over the past five years he/she has been working for at least two years in a profession requiring training or practical experience of at least two years.
What is the minimum age to participate?
There is no minimum age, but there is the requirement to complete high school or to have work experience, and as such, the program is designated for 18 year olds and up.
Is it important when and how I send the forms?
When a delivery is made through the Usafis organization, the organization verifies that all criteria have been met, and if this cannot be verified for the proximate lottery, the forms are transferred to next year’s lottery. Otherwise (if sent directly), forms that have arrived before or after the mailing period, or to an address different from the designated one according to the continent of origin, or through unauthorized mailing methods, will all be disqualified.
What happens to my spouse and the children?
If you win these family members can join you in filing a request for a visa based on your winning.
Does participation using the on-line system ensure winning or increase the chances of winning?
No. The service and the online system designed to assist you in preparing the form, are to be used at your discretion. The service confirms that you meet the minimum requirements; that the information on the form is complete; that the envelope and delivery service meet the requirements; and that the mailing address is correct. The objective of the service is to reduce the number of disqualified forms (in previous program, 3 million forms were disqualified out of 10 million forms that were sent, due to format and details errors).
Further information about the program may be obtained at the following site http://www.usafis.org/
One person out of 70 applicants actually wins
According to DV2003 results, about one of every 70 applicants was drawn to win the Green Card Lottery. Married applicants submitting double form (one for the applicant and one for the husband/wife) doubles their chances to about 1/35.
More information can be found in the
following message from the US State Department:
Complete State Dep. message can be found here
