WHAT TO DO FOR THE DV FIRST ROUND WINNER
As already reported in the last July issue of "Zagranitsa" (No. 30), the US State Department announced the results of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery-2005, the Green Card lottery held annually in the country. The total number of its participants this year was more than 9.5 million people. The number of winners from Ukraine is also impressive - 5,361.
Winning notifications this year began to be sent out by the Consular Center in Kentucky (CCK) by mail around May. And to this day, reports are still coming in from winners that they have received their notices - even though we are already in the first ten days of August. So if you sent in your application for the DV-2005 but have not yet received a winning notification, do not be upset - it is quite possible that the long-awaited package will still arrive. And those who were unlucky this year will be able to try their luck next time - the US State Department has promised to publish the rules and dates for the DV-2006 lottery as early as this month.
However, it is worth knowing in advance what path lottery participants will have to take before they turn from first-round winners into holders of US immigrant visas. As practice shows, a "primary" win is still a surprise for many and brings with it a certain amount of confusion.
Therefore, today we offer our readers comments on the main provisions of the lottery rules, as well as practical recommendations for first-round winners, prepared by Inostranets with the assistance of the office of American attorney Daniel Retter.
Act promptly
First of all, let us emphasize that the "winning" notification you received does not mean anything yet. Do not think that you have already caught your blue, or more precisely, green bird by the tail. You have simply, by a lucky coincidence, found yourself among the 100,000 lucky ones selected by computer from the tens of millions of applicants who take part in the drawing every year. Moreover, do not discount the fact that about 20-30% of applicants are rejected at the interview - in the vast majority of cases because of improperly prepared documents.
But a first, even if not one-hundred-percent, victory is still better than nothing. The further success of the whole undertaking depends to a large extent on how quickly and competently you prepare the required documents.
Along with the winning notification, lottery participants will receive the first set of US State Department forms, namely:
- Form DS-230, Parts 1 and 2 (application for an immigrant visa and alien registration);
- Form DS-122 (additional registration for participation in the lottery), in which you must provide information about your education, work experience, and the intended place of the interview.
Pay special attention to some items on the form. The question about the time and duration of your previous stay in the United States should be answered in great detail - listing all your visits to America without exception, their durations, and even the types of US visas you held.
When answering the question about your education, indicate all types of education you have received in addition to secondary education, the mandatory possession of which is required by the lottery conditions.
Do not be alarmed by the question about your address in the United States or about the relative you intend to join. In the case of this program, this question does not apply to you, so you may put a dash in the field or leave it blank altogether.
To the question about the expected duration of your stay in the United States, boldly answer "permanently," since the green card you hope to receive as a result implies exactly that.
Also do not forget that forms must be filled out for all members of your family who plan to move with you to the United States. By law, these may be the principal applicant's husband (wife) and unmarried children under 21 years of age. The forms of family members must be signed by them personally.
It is also worth discussing separately the place of the interview, which each winner has the right to choose himself. Under the law, you may have the interview either at a US consular post abroad or at offices of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) directly in America. The second option is rarely used - by those who received their winning notification while already on US territory (at work, for medical treatment, study, or visiting). Naturally, it makes no sense for them to spend money and time returning home for the interview. If you are one of such "chosen ones," you must immediately notify the CCK that you wish to have the interview (that is, change your status from nonimmigrant to immigrant) on US territory.
But the overwhelming majority of winners, of course, have the interview in their home country. Note that Ukrainian citizens must indicate the consular section of the US Embassy in Warsaw as the place of the interview. The American consulate in Kyiv does not yet handle such immigration cases.
The completed forms must be sent back to the CCK immediately. Let us remind you that an immigrant visa can be obtained only within the fiscal year following the year of the lottery. So you must send your documents to the Consular Center in Kentucky as soon as possible and have the interview before the end of September 2005. Otherwise, your win will be annulled.
Once the forms are sent to the CCK, all you can do is hope that you have acted quickly and that your documents will be among the first 50,000 applications whose submitters will receive an invitation to an interview. The waiting time is by no means a time of inaction: it should be spent gathering documents for the final interview.
Preparation of documents
So, part of the road has already been covered: you have received a notification of winning, filled out and sent to the Consular Center in Kentucky the first State Department forms sent to you. It remains to hope that your papers will be among the applications whose filers (including their family members) will receive an invitation to an interview. What documents are needed for the final conversation at the embassy, how to prepare them competently, and what to pay special attention to?
Before receiving the invitation to the interview and the second package of State Department forms, you have several months during which you need to prepare a number of documents. Keep in mind that you will need both originals and copies of documents, and in some cases, copies translated into English. For example, a translation of your passport, educational documents, etc. Neither copies nor their translations need to be notarized.
When preparing documents, special attention should be paid to two points. First, for applicants for an immigrant visa under the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery program, an educational requirement is established: at least a secondary or secondary specialized education is necessary. But for the interview, you need to bring not only a school certificate. If you have a technical school, institute, or postgraduate degree behind you, you will need a copy of the corresponding diploma.
Second, you will have to documentarily prove that, upon arriving in the United States, you will not become a candidate for government assistance: discussion of this issue takes up a large part of the interview. Evidence can be a statement of financial support from an American sponsor, a job offer from a local employer, or documents confirming ownership of sufficient personal funds to support your family in the United States for the first year.
The requirements for these documents are extremely strict. For example, if you rely on financial support from an American friend or relative, a simple letter with their consent to support you will not be enough. The sponsor will also need a whole range of documents confirming that they are able to fulfill the assumed obligations - copies of tax returns, letters from the bank, from the place of work, and so on.
A certain amount of paperwork will also have to be presented by the employer who is ready to provide you with a job in the United States. In particular, they will need a letter indicating the amount of salary they intend to pay you, as well as a detailed description of your future job responsibilities. The most difficult is for those who have no sponsors or employers and have to rely on themselves. They need to present documents about their bank accounts or ownership of liquid assets (real estate easily sold within a year, securities, antiques, etc.) at the interview. It is also advisable to have documentary evidence that someone (a firm or an individual) agrees to buy all this from you. Plus a certificate from a bank that undertakes to transfer to the United States the funds received from the sale.
In addition to the above, you will also need:
- documents evidencing family ties (birth certificates of children, marriage certificates, certificates of dissolution of previous marriages, etc.). A separate issue is children from previous marriages going with you to the United States. The embassy requires a number of documents from the parent not traveling with the children: notarized consent for the child's departure, a certificate of absence of alimony obligations and other financial claims. By the way, all children over 14 years old included in the immigration application must appear at the interview together with their parents;
- a military ID or documents evidencing exemption from military service;
- certificates from the district police department on the absence or presence of criminal records and terms of imprisonment - for all family members over 16 years old, from all places where they lived for more than six months. Moreover, this should be done as early as possible: the district police station will certainly contact the city database, and this sometimes takes about a month.
All these are documents that you can prepare yourself. Then, along with the interview invitation, you will be sent the so-called second package of State Department forms. This package includes a form about the results of a medical examination. The medical examination should be done only at medical institutions authorized by the US consulate, a list of which is attached to the form. You will have to pay about $100 for the medical examination procedure.
In addition, the second package of forms will include a detailed description of the photographs you need to take. You must submit to the embassy only photographs taken according to the specified standards, and no others.
When starting to prepare documents, you should carefully study the instructions sent to you from the United States. Those who want to reduce the risk of visa refusal due to incorrectly prepared documents can resort to professional consultants. However, finding such consultants is rather problematic.
Who will not be allowed into America
Competently and quickly completing the necessary paperwork is only half the battle. According to statistics, about 20-30% of winners of the first round of the Green Card lottery who timely sent their papers to the US Consular Center and as a result received an invitation to an interview at the embassy are "cut off" at this very interview. The main reason for refusal of an immigrant visa, of course, is incorrectly or incompletely prepared documents. The main one - but, alas, not the only one. They can also "turn you away" if the consul has reason to believe that you pose a threat to American society.
The “threat” you pose may be of various kinds. For example, medical — if you have AIDS, syphilis, open forms of tuberculosis and other dangerous infectious diseases, serious mental disorders, a morbid addiction to drugs. Or criminal — if in the past you committed a criminal offense against a person (murder, rape), against private property (robbery, theft), against morality (crimes related to drug trafficking, prostitution).
You will not receive a visa also if the consul suspects that you are going to the United States for the purpose of espionage, terrorist or any other illegal activity. Or if in the past there was deception related to obtaining a nonimmigrant visa. This, by the way, is a very serious point: if you, having received a notification of winning and sent documents to the KCC, obtained a nonimmigrant visa for yourself and at the same time stated in the application that you had no immigrant intentions, you violated U.S. immigration law. Which is quite enough to deny you the right to enter America as an immigrant.
However, the concept of a “threat to society” is quite vague. And often, with the help of a competent lawyer, people manage to convince the consul that he has no reason to refuse a visa. Those with U.S. immigration law violations behind them have a much harder time in this regard.
In the event of a refusal of an immigrant visa, the applicant will receive a written notification from the consulate with a detailed explanation of the reasons for the refusal and a list of steps that must be taken to overturn the consul's decision — if that is at all possible. And if you hasten to prepare additional documents, it is not excluded that you will still be able to obtain a visa.
In principle, American legislation does not provide for the possibility of appealing a consul's decision. This is the so-called “concept of consular absolutism,” enshrined in particular in the Immigration Act of 1990. Nevertheless, having received a refusal, you have the right to contact the U.S. State Department with a request to reconsider your case. But note: the State Department can only issue a recommendatory decision, which, although it is brought to the attention of the consulate, is not binding.
And finally, the last thing: you should not, before you have passed the interview, quit your job, sell your apartment, and throw a farewell dinner with friends and relatives. Having come to the embassy with all the necessary documents, having spent 6-7 hours there (that is how long the interview usually takes), having shown maximum goodwill and courtesy in conversation with the consul, you still may not receive an immigrant visa. And as a result, you will remain in your homeland — but already without housing and work.
The last step to a new homeland
If you have prepared your documents correctly, sent them to the Consular Center in Kentucky on time, received an invitation to an interview and, most importantly, passed it, you have very little left to do.
If the embassy officials have no grounds to refuse entry, you, as the principal applicant, and the members of your family included in the application will be issued immigrant visas. Your documents will be sealed in an envelope, which, in fact, is your visa. At the point of entry into the United States, the envelope will be opened by an immigration officer — at the moment you cross the American border. It is strictly forbidden to open the envelope yourself.
Within six months from the date of receipt of the immigrant visa, the lottery winner and his or her family members are required to enter the United States. Moreover, the principal applicant must enter either earlier or together with his or her household members, but in no case later than them.
In the event of unforeseen circumstances, such as the illness of one of the family members, the applicant can apply to the consular section of the American embassy with a request to extend the period for entering the country.
Ideally, an immigrant visa is your permission to enter the United States. However, it is not unconditional. The final decision is made by a U.S. immigration service officer conducting passport control. He checks the integrity of the envelope containing your documents, as well as the data contained in your visa. If the envelope has been opened, the visa data do not match the passport data, or something else is wrong, you risk being denied entry and subject to immediate deportation from the country.
Well, if everything is in order, preparations for obtaining your green card will begin right at the border. They will take your fingerprints, take your photograph, and also ask you to sign on a special tablet connected to a computer. After that, a special stamp will be placed in your passport, giving the right to live and work in the United States. The green card itself will be mailed to you in a few months — to the address you specified.
After five years of living in the United States as a permanent resident of the country, you can apply for American citizenship. The naturalization process begins with the filing of an application. Then — an interview, which includes exams on the English language and U.S. history, a loyalty oath, and you are a one hundred percent American citizen. True, you can also refuse all these troubles: having arrived in the United States, you can live your whole life there as a permanent resident without ever becoming a citizen.
Consequences of the status
Green card (green card) is the informal name of the form that a U.S. resident receives from the immigration service. First of all, the green card gives the right to live and work in America. But the rights and obligations of its holder are not limited to this.
First, let's talk about the less pleasant part - obligations. First of all, all US residents must pay taxes. You must file a personal tax return every year, starting from the calendar year when you received a green card. Moreover, regardless of where you live and, accordingly, where you receive your salary. And if you try to evade financial reporting to the state, your status as an American resident will be put at risk.
Secondly, all male green card holders aged 18 to 26 are required to register for military service.
For US residents who received a green card through labor certification or another work-based method, there is no minimum period during which they must work for the sponsoring employer. But if you joined an American company, got a green card, and then immediately quit, immigration service officials may suspect that you cheated. What if you simply used your employer to obtain resident status, without ever actually intending to work for them?
This is by no means an idle question. If it is proven that you cheated, your green card will be revoked immediately. Under current law, those who have worked for their employer for six months to a year are not suspected of fraud. However, it is better for your case if, after receiving permanent residence, you continue working with the company that invited you for at least a couple more years.
Some green card holders do not move to America - they continue to live in their home country, visiting the US only periodically, as if to justify their status. At passport control at a US airport, they may face an unpleasant surprise. An immigration officer will likely ask about your true place of permanent residence. And if it turns out that you spend most of your time outside America, the immigration officer may conclude that you do not need a green card at all. Such problems arise primarily for those who have been continuously outside the US for a year or more, or who frequently travel abroad for periods of six months to a year. In such cases, you may be sent to an immigration office, where you will have to prove that your ties to America are in fact strong and reliable.
Many facts can serve as evidence. For example, you own property in the US, your family lives here, you study or work, and you file your tax returns on time. It is also advisable to present to the immigration office your US-issued driver's license, credit cards, statements from personal accounts at American banks, insurance policies - in short, any documents proving that you are inextricably linked to America. If you fail to convince the immigration service of this, you will most likely lose your green card.
Another obligation, though a completely undemanding one, is to keep track of your children's green card matters. Children permanently residing in America who have reached the age of 14 must contact the immigration service and exchange their old green card for a new one with a different photo.
The last, but perhaps most important, concern: under no circumstances should you violate American law - neither criminal, nor tax, nor any other. Of course, minor offenses will not jeopardize your status. But if you, after a boisterous time, end up behind bars, after serving the required term you can easily lose your green card.
But why are we talking about sad things? As already noted, the main rights of US residents are to permanent residence and employment in America. No less pleasant is the fact that, once you obtain a green card, you can invite your relatives to join you. True, they cannot automatically claim their own green cards in this process.
For example, you obtained permanent residence through marriage to an American citizen. After that, you can calmly invite your parents to visit. But your mom and dad will get green cards only if your American spouse agrees to sponsor them.
A green card is also a travel document that allows you to leave the United States and return. But if you need to stay outside the US for more than a year for any reason, you must obtain a special re-entry permit before you leave.
If you are going abroad briefly - to rest, travel, or see relatives - no additional permits are needed. But, we repeat, it is better to return no later than six months later.
How to become a loyal citizen
Our compatriots who move to the US for permanent residence initially receive an American residence permit - temporary (conditional green card) or permanent (unconditional green card). Some live in America as green card holders, while others go through the naturalization process and become full-fledged US citizens.
It is quite natural that many are in no hurry to give up their old citizenship. And they are troubled by the question: how does the United States view the idea of dual citizenship?
US law does not prohibit dual citizenship. Some Americans automatically have dual citizenship. For example, if they were born abroad to a family of US citizens. Or - in the US, but to citizens of another state.
New candidates for American citizenship, before obtaining citizenship, must undergo a naturalization process consisting of an exam in English and US history and an oath of allegiance. Taking the oath means that from now on you renounce allegiance to another state, even while continuing to be its citizen.
The oath of allegiance imposes several prohibitions on you. In particular, the law requires American citizens to use only an American passport when traveling abroad. If you continue to use your home country's passport or in some way demonstrate that you are a citizen of another country, the U.S. authorities may decide that you lied when taking the oath. And on that basis, strip you of your American citizenship.
Moreover, if after becoming a U.S. citizen you voluntarily accept the citizenship of some third country, you will be thrown out of the ranks of American citizens in five minutes.
However, it may not come to that - for the simple reason that your request for citizenship may be rejected outright. For example, because in your naturalization application you knowingly provided false information about yourself. Or because they will consider that your love for the States is insincere and the oath of allegiance is empty words to you. Then you will have to spend your days as a permanent resident of America, having forever said goodbye to the dream of becoming its citizen.