There are several ways to get a Green Card and move to the U.S. You may try and relocate through marriage, employment or family reunion, but the easiest option that requires little preparation would be entering the annual Green Card Lottery. Read the following post, if you want to know where you can find an application form and register for participation.
What is the Green Card Lottery or DV Program?
In the 1990s the U.S government issued a Diversity Visa program. The main purpose of it was to let immigrants from around the world win the right to live in the U.S and potentially obtain citizenship. Since then millions of people have participated and won in the Lottery.
The drawing process is random and cannot be tricked. In earlier years you could enter with multiple applications, although lately only one per person has been allowed to keep the results as fair as possible.
To secure your Green Card you need to go through two main stages of the DV Program:
- Fill in your registration form. The application is completely free and you can find it on the official DV Lottery website when the application form opens on October 6. The winners are announced in May 2022. Warning! There are lots of other websites claiming that they are official websites, but the only official website is https://dvprogram.state.gov.
- If you are a winner, then you will need to pay a fee of $330 per person to be invited for an interview with the U.S embassy in your country.
5 Steps to Filling a Perfect DV Lottery Registration Form
If you decided to take part in the Lottery this year then here are a couple of tips to save you time and effort when applying.
1. Practice with an online training application.
Use a training form to familiarize yourself with the questions in the application. The copy is a full duplicate of the original with the exact questions as in the official form. Being prepared saves you from making a crucial mistake that can cost you your win.
The U.S authorities are very strict even with the minor slips. Even if your application got chosen through a random drawing, it still can get rejected during the interview if the information doesn’t match.
2. Get a compliant photo for your application.
Plenty of otherwise successful applicants receive a negative response if their photo doesn’t suffice. Don’t let that happen and use a professional online service to produce a 100% acceptable DV Program application photo.
- Getting your DV photo online is faster and more reliable than going to a store
- You can retake your photo as many times as you need until it satisfies you
- It is 50% cheaper than at offline photo services. For $7 you get a digital photo to use in your application and another one with 4 images for the print out option
3. Check the Qualifying Occupations List.
To be eligible for the DV Program you should have at least a valid high school diploma as proof of education.
Otherwise, a 2-year working experience in your profession is required. Your job has to be on the O-NET occupation list, so make sure to give it a proper look before filling your application in.
4. Learn the correct spelling for your country of birth.
To avoid disqualification, make sure the spelling of your birth/residential country matches with the most modern version of it in Google or other search engines.
5. Head to the DV Program official website and fill your application.
The registration opens on October 6 and closes on October 15. You only have one shot at completing it, so we advise you to practice well in advance to not let any mistake slide.
