US Green Card

jamiewduffy

Hi,

I'm looking for people who have gone through the process of applying for the Diversity Visa Lottery and (preferably) won a green card, or anyone in general who knows about the process.

I understand that 100,000+ people will actually win the lottery but only 55,000 visas are issued annually, of which 50,000 are available through the DV lottery. I recognise my chances of getting one are slim, but for the opportunity of a life in the USA I'm willing to take the odds.

The things which I am most uncertain about are the following;

1. How does the process work (as in dates) I know it opens each year in October/November and then you recieve a letter in May if you've won, but what is the general waiting time for an interview and when can you then move to the United States (is there a time limit after green card issued to move permanently)?
2. If I wish to bring any family members with me, will I be able to add them to my green card application form and if so which members am I entitled to bring with me?
3. Is there any costs involved with attaining the green card?

Any help is much appreciated.

silja

Mod note: Moving from Living Abroad to USA forum for country specific answers.

Fr Tod Umptious

jamiewduffy wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking for people who have gone through the process of applying for the Diversity Visa Lottery and (preferably) won a green card, or anyone in general who knows about the process.

I understand that 100,000+ people will actually win the lottery but only 55,000 visas are issued annually, of which 50,000 are available through the DV lottery. I recognise my chances of getting one are slim, but for the opportunity of a life in the USA I'm willing to take the odds.

The things which I am most uncertain about are the following;

1. How does the process work (as in dates) I know it opens each year in October/November and then you recieve a letter in May if you've won, but what is the general waiting time for an interview and when can you then move to the United States (is there a time limit after green card issued to move permanently)?
2. If I wish to bring any family members with me, will I be able to add them to my green card application form and if so which members am I entitled to bring with me?
3. Is there any costs involved with attaining the green card?

Any help is much appreciated.

Got mine 20 years ago and living in the US at the time so this may not be relevant but may be helpful.

1. Timeline
I was able to start processing mine in the spring of the year after I got the notification.
The start of processing is actually around Nov but my number did not come up until spring.
So notification of success in May, start processing sometime the following spring.
Did the interview a few months after the start of processing and had physical green card in hand about 9 months later.

So from application to having a green card in hand is about 2 years.

2. No idea about family.

3. Yes there are fees to pay at various parts of the process, it was close to $300 at time I did it if I recall.

Palmy

I went through this in 2010.
Applied for Green Card lottery at the end of 2008. I got my notification that I had been selected around April/May 2009. They tell you to get things in order ready for your interview( Medicals, Certs etc)  and then sent away forms to the U.S.
I didn't hear anything back until late November 2009 with an interview date at the U.S Embassy in Dublin for mid January 2010. Went to the interview which isn't actually an interview, Just basically handing over the fee around 900 euro for each person and then handing over all documents ( birth, marriage certs, police certs etc ). Sat down with a number and waited for them to call my number ( about an hour ) went up scanned fingers prints and also an eye scan. I had to actually ask if we had got it in the end because the person behind the counter was like "That's all we need " Got the passports back about 2-3 weeks later with visa. You have six months to enter the U.S from the visa date. I went for a month long vacation then came back to sell up and moved over 10 months later in 2011.
You can take your Wife and Kids automatically once you have been selected but not Parents, Girlfriend or Fiancée. Medicals where about 300 euro each plus the visa fee around 900 each. You also have to prove you have about 10-15k with you.
Sorry a little sporadic but that's basically how it went.

Aprilmay

As Palmy said it's pretty straight forward we got selected around the same time, once you have the education requirements, pass the medicals and can support yourself you are good to go.  We had built up the interview at the Embassy in our heads so much. It was easy once everything else was in place.We left in October 2011, husband and our two kids and we have never looked back since.

Aprilmay

As Palmy said it's pretty straight forward we got selected around the same time, once you have the education requirements, pass the medicals and can support yourself you are good to go.  We had built up the interview at the Embassy in our heads so much. It was easy once everything else was in place.We left in October 2011, husband and our two kids and we have never looked back since.

Dublin991

Hi i was lucky enough to be selected this year, I've just finished a BA this week so apart from the support myself part I'm all good. As of now I financially have about enough to pay for the interview and medicals etc. I work part-time but I am however in the middle of sorting full-time employment and better money within the next month or two with any luck...

I'm guessing if I'm called for interview, it will be by next January 2018. My application number is EU15xxx, I believe this is quite low. Has anyone got any idea of what the minimum available financials would be to prove I could support myself at interview stage? I have no family in the US so no body to state that they could financially support me. I think I could save about 5-7k by January. Any advice would be appreciated.

Palmy

Not sure on exactly how much you will need. Maybe borrow some money from family to pump up your account, but make sure you do this way before the interview like 6 months. You might want to reach out to a few companies and and try and get something on paper that once you have your greencard they would be interested in hiring you. I know people have done this before.

SHOVELLER

I was of the understanding that it was either or. If the financials are not available a definite job offer would suffice.

leestone

Hi

Looking online it's very confusing a lot of websites asking you to register and pay ?
Where is the official place to go to register your interest? Can you apply now or is there at a set time open for registration ?

Palmy

You have to apply through the website from the U.S .Embassy . It ends in a .Gov. All the others you have to pay and are a scam. There is only a small window to apply of about 3-4 was around October- November every year. Go onto the U.S Embassy for Ireland website and it should tell you.

ProudDUB

The registration link will re open in November. Once the application process shuts down in November, that is it for next 12 months. As the above poster says, the official US govt website ends in .gov. It is the only official place to register your interest in the annual diversity lottery, where you are assured your application is going to the correct US govt department. There is no back door, or alternate way you can fast track your application through a third party website.

Come back here in early November and there will be plenty of talk about it and links to the official site. If you apply this November, you will find out in May 2018, whether or not your application has been successful.

fleet

After winning and filling out the (monster of an) application online what is the next step?

When should one apply for the Police Certs / Medical?
Do they tell you which countries they need Police Certs for?
How much money does one need saved?
How much notice do they give before the interview?

Loads of questions :pac:

Palmy

Police cert needs to be from every country you have spent ( lived in ) for 6 months or more.
Once you have sent your paper work off start doing all you have mentioned. I had only about 3 weeks notice and actually had to change my appointment date as I was lacking the police certs, so get everything in order. Everything else you need is mentioned.

fleet

Palmy wrote: »

Police cert needs to be from every country you have spent ( lived in ) for 6 months or more

Thanks for the reply.

Just one correction to the above.
It's 6 months if you're a citizen of said country. 12 otherwise :-)

4068ac1elhodqr

Today's announcement is good news for any skilled/graduates from here, applying for the GC in future:

US President Donald Trump and two Republican senators have unveiled a new immigration plan aimed at halving the number of legal immigrants travelling into the United States.

The plan aims to favour English speakers, have a points-based system for green cards, and would put a cap on the number of refugees able to gain permanent residency at 50,000 a year.

circular flexing

Reid Howling Hatchet wrote: »

Today's announcement is good news for any skilled/graduates from here, applying for the GC in future:

There's no way the bill will get through congress in it's current form. Also it gets rid of the Diversity Visa altogether.

4068ac1elhodqr

circular flexing wrote: »

There's no way the bill will get through congress in it's current form. Also it gets rid of the Diversity Visa altogether.

Historically perhaps, but 'the times are a changing'. By 2030 around half of current jobs won't exist, and China will be on parity with the US for GDP.

By then the majority of unskilled roles will be redundant in favour to the auto-bots. No pool-boys, no lawnmower men, no warehouse people, very few articulated(hgv) drivers and zero growth of retail staff. These are all the type of roles that most diversity arrivals (historically) have taken on arrival.

It would still be slightly diverse as the 50,000 visa would be offered to folks outside of the states anyway. The big difference would be that they're offered mostly to NW European or fluent English speakers with decent funds and on-demand graduate skills to ensure they settle in very quickly to boost their economy from 2019 onwards.

Pretty much the exact same as migrating to Canada/Aus/Nz, whereby points means prizes.

vard

Reid Howling Hatchet wrote: »

Historically perhaps, but 'the times are a changing'. By 2030 around half of current jobs won't exist, and China will be on parity with the US for GDP.

By then the majority of unskilled roles will be redundant in favour to the auto-bots. No pool-boys, no lawnmower men, no warehouse people, very few articulated(hgv) drivers and zero growth of retail staff. These are all the type of roles that most diversity arrivals (historically) have taken on arrival.

It would still be slightly diverse as the 50,000 visa would be offered to folks outside of the states anyway. The big difference would be that they're offered mostly to NW European or fluent English speakers with decent funds and on-demand graduate skills to ensure they settle in very quickly to boost their economy from 2019 onwards.

Pretty much the exact same as migrating to Canada/Aus/Nz, whereby points means prizes.

I'm surprised... I never thought I'd agree with anything coming from Trump's gob.