The rules for participating in the DV-2007 program are quite simple. The only and main requirement for a participant from Ukraine is having an equivalent of secondary education. To participate in the program, you must register an application form in your own name on the official website of the U.S. Department of State from October 5 to December 4, 2005.
The popularity of the program leads to the emergence of various kinds of scams related to participation in the lottery. There are many offers from firms providing document preparation services. Most of them harbor many 'pitfalls.' We have tried to describe all cases of dishonest assistance in registering for the Green Card lottery.
'Official representatives.' There are firms that call themselves official representatives of the U.S. Department of State for accepting applications in one of the regional centers, cities, etc., but this cannot be true, since no official representatives of the Green Card lottery exist! And this is clearly stated in the program instructions for participants.
Firms that process applications for free. These may indeed be professionals in their field, but with one drawback - they put their own address on the lottery application. This means that if you win, the notification will go not to you, but to their address. It is not hard to guess what could come of this - plain blackmail. As a result, you will be forced to buy back your own notification from them for quite a lot of money. Moreover, the 'chairs first, then money' option doesn't work.
There are more honest firms. They also put their address on the application, but immediately warn the client about the fee that will have to be paid in case of winning. If the firm keeps its word, then everything is fine: you pay - you get the package with the winning notification. Only the reasonableness of such expenses is doubtful - from $300 and above.
Another type of such firms is marriage agencies, which enter client information into their database. And in case of a win, they will persistently recommend a fictitious marriage. Usually such firms offer free services to unmarried women under 30.
Firms that 'guarantee a win.' Here we can distinguish two main types: firms that manipulate the number of registered applications, and those that simply collect money from winners.
Firms of the first type mainly perform the following trick: they send not one application to the Consular Center on your behalf, but, for example, 50. To do this, they change the spelling of your last name and first name in fifty different ways, or even simply click 'register' 50 times. Even if you win this way, the fraud will certainly be discovered at an interview at the U.S. Embassy, where the computer database of all registered applications is stored. And then - an instant refusal to issue a visa.
Firms of the second type give a guarantee only in words, talking about their 'connections' with the staff that maintains the computer program and, accordingly, about the ability to influence the results of the drawing. This cannot be the case simply because even at the first suspicion, people from the maintenance staff would be instantly fired. But even if they convince you that such a possibility exists, how will they prove that it was they who helped you win?!
When registering an application yourself on the U.S. Department of State website, you should pay attention to the following:
* the interactive application form consists of two main parts, including data about you and your family;
* data entered in each part of the form can be corrected, but after they are submitted for registration, it is impossible to change anything;
* the questions in the form should be read carefully, and answer strictly to the question asked, because incorrectly entered information may be grounds for refusal at an interview at the U.S. Embassy;
* photos of each family member are also sent together with the application data electronically and strictly in accordance with the lottery organizers' requirements;
* you can register an application for each applicant only once;
* when registering an application, a high-quality Internet connection is required; otherwise, either errors may occur when entering information into the form, or repeated registration of the application, which is not allowed by the lottery organizers' rules.
At the end of the registration process, a message is displayed indicating that the data has been entered into the system and your application has been accepted for participation in the lottery (provided the data is correct and only one application is registered). After that, you just have to wait for the results. If you are lucky, the winning notification will be sent to your mailing address from May to August 2006.
If you nevertheless decide to seek help to guarantee a result, we advise you to pay attention to the following:
* you should clarify which postal address will be indicated in the application (it is to this address that the winning notification will be sent!);
* find out how much the service for registering your application will cost, and whether you will have to pay anything else after winning;
* find out how long this firm has been on the market, and do not hesitate to ask for copies of winning notifications from clients of this firm;
* whether this firm can provide confirmation of your application registration;
* if you are in the same city, ask whether the firm can register your application in your presence.
We hope that this information will help you successfully register your application and participate in the Green Card lottery.
Alexey Ushakov,
consultant at the Golfstream association.