How to Apply for a US Green Card: step by step

America's lotteries

How to take the right photo for a green card

As noted above, the photo cannot be retouched, for this they are removed from participation. However, there are elements, which can be corrected, and such changes will be acceptable. For example, it is possible to change the unsuccessful background of a photo to a plain color or change clothes to a more neutral one..

Green card photo requirements

There are many photo editors for changing your green card photo, but we recommend “Photo for documents”. With this program you can easily edit individual objects in photographs, using a very convenient corrector. If you understand, that I wasn’t photographed wearing the best shirt, then you can easily change it on the photo itself. The editor will offer you 300 with more men's and women's suits, or you upload your version.

Also in the editor you can recolor or change the background in the photo and you don’t have to go to a studio, to take photos again. In the Document Photo program, face marking is done automatically or manually, at the same time, directly from the editor you can print a photograph in any format. The functionality of this program is very easy to use and does not require any complex or special skills from the user.

Features of Green Card

Filling out:

To participate in the lottery for a green card, you must fill out an application on the official website of the lottery. The peculiarity of filling out the questionnaire is that, that all fields must be filled out accurately and without errors. Any inaccuracies or incorrect data may lead to denial of a green card.

Documentation, necessary:

To apply for a US green card, the following documents are required: passport, birth certificate, photographs, as well as documents, confirming education, work experience or specialization in a particular field.

Passing the application:

Submitting an application for a green card is subject to certain terms and conditions, specified by official bodies. Typically the application period begins on a certain date and ends on a different date. After submitting an application, a drawing is carried out and winners are determined.

Common mistakes:

Interview:

If you win the green card lottery, you must undergo an interview at the US Embassy. At the interview, all documents are checked and questions are asked about the purpose of obtaining a green card.. Successful interview is key to obtaining a green card.

Chances of winning:

The chances of winning a green card depend on the number of applications submitted and the number of available green cards. Every year the number of lottery participants increases, so the chances of winning may be low. However, Compliance with all requirements and rules increases the likelihood of successfully completing the green card process.

Tips for applying:

  • Please check all details carefully before submitting your application.;
  • Follow the instructions and requirements to submit your application.;
  • Take high-quality photos, compliant;
  • Don't wait until the last day to submit your application.;
  • Be careful and careful when filling out all fields of the form.

The terms of participation:

  • Be a citizen of a country, allowing participation in the lottery;
  • Have secondary education or work experience in a specific profession;
  • Meet photographic and document requirements;
  • Comply with application and process deadlines.

How to win a green card:

Winning a green card depends on the outcome of the lottery. Winners are determined randomly. Exact Factors, influencing winnings, unknown. However, Compliance with all requirements and rules allows you to increase your chances of winning.

Green Card

"US Green Card" is an official document, giving the resident the right of residence, acquisition of real estate, training, official employment and receipt of medical services in the country.

The USA Permanent Resident Card began to be called green because of the corresponding shade in the design.. Worth considering, what's wrong 1964 by 2010 year they tried to change the color scheme and design of the identification card, but still returned to the green tint and today the document looks like this.

The process of obtaining a residence permit in the USA is quite lengthy and complex.. IN 2025 There are several ways to become a Green Card holder:

  1. Family reunion (difficult path, but real, if a close relative is already a US citizen).
  2. Marriage with a person, having US citizenship (worth considering, that fictitious marriages for the purpose of moving are punishable by law).
  3. Employment in one of the American companies (relevant for specialists in in-demand specialties, for which the employer will be willing to deal with the relocation of the employee and his family).
  4. Request for political asylum.
  5. Participation in the DVlottery state gov project, which will continue in 2025 year.

When will registration for a green card begin? 2023

Approximate deadlines for submitting documents for a Green Card in 2021 year - from 6 from October 19.00 according to Moscow time 9 November. Exact data will be published on the website https://dvprogram.state.gov/. The official acceptance of applications for registration is also held here..

Screenshot from the official website of the US State Department

Attention:
When filling out the form, you must indicate your country of birth., not citizenship

It is important, since entering incorrect data is a gross violation of the rules, which leads to disqualification

Carefully, beware of scammers!

Many fraudulent sites appear before the start of DV-Lottery, similar to US government resources. They usually ask for money for help with registration. The user transfers a certain amount, and, of course he gets nothing in return.

Therefore, before registering on any site, make sure the name ends with gov (domain zone for government resources). All "com", «org», “info” – scammers or intermediaries.

You also need to be careful with the latter.. If they win, they will also receive access to the Confirmation Number (confirmation code), without which it is impossible to obtain a residence permit.

How to apply for a Green Card

To obtain an immigrant visa, you need to fill out different forms, collect documents for a green card, make copies of them, go through honey. examination and interview at the embassy. The sequence of actions for the applicant will be as follows:

  1. Visa application is being filled out, immigration form DS-260.
  2. A package of documents is being collected (translations, copies) for an interview.
  3. Contender, before, how to apply for a green card, honey passes. commission at a clinic from the proposed list.
  4. At the American Embassy, located in Moscow, an interview is being conducted.
  5. Consular fee is paid (15986r./220 dollars).
  6. After successfully passing the interview, the applicant is issued a visa - the courier will deliver a sealed envelope, which must be handed over at the American airport to a customs officer. This document gives the right to enter the United States within 6 months from the date of medical. examinations. In America, the applicant will be able to apply for a Green Card.

Attention! With yeast 2021 of the year, The US Embassy in Russia has stopped accepting consular fees. You can pay the receipt in any other country, for example at the Polish embassy before the interview

From official source: https://ru.usembassy.gov/ru/visas-ru/.

Contacts of the US Embassy in. Moscow:

Bolshoi Devyatinsky Lane No. 8

Index: 121099

Telephone: +7 (495) 728-5000

Visa Application Form DS-260 – an important document, forming part of a U.S. nonimmigrant visa application. It is filled out and sent by the applicant via the Internet before making an appointment for an interview at the American Embassy

Need to pay attention, that time to fill out the form is limited. If you fill out the document online, If there is no activity on the part of the applicant, the session for displaying the page from the documents becomes inactive after 20 minutes

After this time, all entered information is deleted. It is better to write down the application number, indicated in the upper left corner of the page or download the file to your computer and fill it out. To accurately save information, it is better to regularly press the “Save” button after entering the data.

When filling out the application form, you must upload a photo of the applicant, done no later 6 months until delivery. The official website of the US State Department contains detailed technical requirements for photography. After entering the information, it is better to print the form and make sure, that the photo loaded correctly. If done right, a unique applicant page is created, where is the barcode generated?, consisting of numbers and letters. This page needs to be printed.

Next, in the browser you need to click on the “Back” button and send the DS-260 form to the applicant’s email address. The file will be in PDF format and will be opened by appropriate software (AcrobatReader, Foxit Reader or modern browser versions).


Instructions for filling out the DS-260 form

Technical errors in filling are determined by the system. The user will not be able to click the "Next" button, if any were found. Columns and points of the questionnaire, where the errors were found, highlighted in red. If everything is correct, the Next button becomes active. The user can proceed to the next step

The applicant describes in detail the purpose of the trip, family composition and other important information. After this, the application is reviewed by the Immigration Service and an interview is scheduled.

Methods for obtaining a document

Cost of participation

By itself, It's worth checking before applying, how much does it cost to participate in a green card. The official submission of an application through the lottery website is absolutely free.. At the same time, in Russia, and in other countries of the world there is a network of agencies, offering their assistance in filling out the application. Companies charge their clients for services, which can reach hundreds of dollars.

Use such offers with great caution. For example, some firms send duplicate applications, As a result, both questionnaires will fail

Other companies may not notify you that, that you sent your application again next year, which can also lead to duplication.

If the company declares, which will increase your chances of winning, then you should refuse its services - these are ordinary scammers. The same applies to cases, when they demand several thousand dollars from you for winning.

The lottery winner will have to fork out at least the visa fee for an immigrant visa (order 330 $), passing a medical examination (220 $), service fee for card production (220 $) and air tickets to the USA (from 500 $). You will also have to provide financial guarantees that, that upon arrival in the country you will have enough money to rent housing, food and bills.

What is a green card

The green card was first introduced into use in 1940 year. You could get it at any US Post Office. The official name of this document is United States Permanent Resident Card. The name Green Card was given because of the color, in which the document is drawn up. Translated, this commonly used term means “Green Card”.

The Green Card performs three main functions:

  1. Verifies the owner's identity.
  2. Confirms that a person has a residence permit, who is not an American citizen, but permanently resides in the United States.
  3. Gives the right to work in the country.

At the very beginning, the document looked like a white card with the inscriptions, made in green. That, What does a Green Card look like today?, fully corresponds to its name: a plastic card, similar to a bank, Green colour.

This document is a variant of a long-term multiple entry visa with extended rights. Status, which he gives, should never be confused with full citizenship. The validity period of the green card is strictly limited, and it is issued subject to certain conditions.

If a foreigner, card holder, will forget, what is a green card, and violate, For example, some rules for staying in the States, the document may be canceled, which will entail deportation with all the ensuing consequences.

Green card gives the right to obtain US citizenship, but does not guarantee, that it will be appropriated.

How else can you get a green card?

Green card is a general term for a US permanent resident card. You can move there for various reasons., and not just thanks to the lottery.

What are the reasons:

  • Marriage to a US citizen or resident.
  • Family reunion.
  • "Talent visa" for people with outstanding abilities and results.
  • Investments (from 1 050 000 dollars).
  • Work.
  • Right to political asylum.

Moving illegally for a green card is not worth it: Firstly, with immigration intentions it is unlikely to obtain a visa, Secondly, violation of migration laws is fraught with expulsion and a ban on subsequent entry.

Green Card distribution based on experience

The probability that winners from Europe will meet all the requirements and will be able to continue without any problems is much higher than in South America or Africa. For this reason, approximately 20 % fewer winners are notified in Europe than in Africa, so the statistically determined “failure rate” is already taken into account during the drawing. Therefore, if you are a qualified winner from any country with a high number of selectees, do not despair! Your chances are quite high that you will get your Green Card, especially if you trust in The American Dream’s advice during the process!

There are always more winners drawn than there are immigrant visas available. This is to ensure that around 55,000 Green Cards can actually be issued each year. Worldwide, approximately 100,000 people are drawn annually. From this group, the US authorities then expect about 55,000 qualified applicants. As a rule, the sum of the “surplus” of notified winners is well calculated by the years of experience of the US government and generally prevents people who are qualified and also want to accept the Green Card from being left out.

However, disqualifications do not only occur due to small mistakes when applying for the Green Card Lottery “by oneself.” Winners also often fall by the wayside due to misunderstandings during the further selection process. After all, if you win, you have to fill out about 70 pages of online forms and present a number of documents at a personal appointment at the US consulate.

Fortunately, this cannot happen to customers of The American Dream. With more than 25 years of experience, we ensure that no situation is insurmountable and a personal advisor always knows a way out. The American Dream takes you on the way to the much-desired immigrant visa – from submitting the application until you hold the Green Card in your hands!

What are you waiting for? Fulfill your very own American Dream and sign up for the Green Card Lottery.

Green Card Raffle

To start, All submitted questionnaires are checked by a special program, which evaluates the correctness of its completion. Further, there is a drawing among the remaining applications. Winners are determined randomly.

You can check the results of the draw in May 2022 Mr. for those, who participated in the Green Card Lottery DV-2023, that is, you filled out the form in the fall 2021 of the year (a little confusing, but we hope you understand). You can do this using the number assigned to you when registering the profile and indicating your personal information.. If you forget your number, it can always be restored. You can check your Green Card results on the same website https://www.dvprogram.state.gov/.

In case you become a lucky winner and your application is selected for further participation, then you will be assigned a special number (case number), after which you and your family will need to go through the visa procedure within a certain period of time.

After winning, the first thing you need to do is fill out a special application form to obtain an immigrant visa DS-260. Further, With the obtained visa you can enter the territory of the United States of America.

You can discuss the subtleties and any nuances in a special chat, dedicated to the Green Card Lottery - https://t.me/dv_lottery. In the chat you can follow the latest news about the Green Card lottery.

We wish you good luck and hope, the information was useful.

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