If you have friends who want to move to the U.S.

[TravelingGal]

I think I post about this every year, but the Diversity Lottery is now open for the 2009 year. There has been talk about getting rid of this lottery, but so far no action has been taken.

Not all countries are eligible, but if you know someone who wants to start a new life in the U.S., this is still the easiest and often most cost effective way to get in.

Applications are being accepted until Dec. 2. Good luck...as you all know, this is how TGuy and I decided we were meant to be, because he won!

http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/

 

[Alienor]

Thanks TG. I forgot it was this time of the year again.

 

[Lynn B]

Don''t know a THING about this, can someone give me a 101, please!?

We have a friend in Japan who would LOVE to live in the US more than ANYTHING.

THANK YOU!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/16/2007 10:25:41 PM
Author: Lynn B
Don''t know a THING about this, can someone give me a 101, please!?

We have a friend in Japan who would LOVE to live in the US more than ANYTHING.

THANK YOU!

Lynn, if your friend is interested, I am happy to help out. I probably have forgotten a lot, but really researched the hell out of this and got through it without the help of an attorney.

First off, it doesn''t matter if your friend is "in" Japan. She must be BORN in Japan. The DV Lottery takes into consideration only where you wer born, regardless of citizenship. (One year, some poor girl was disqualified at the last minute because although she an Australian citizen, they she was born in Ireland and claimed Australia as her qualifiying country). Looks like there are some exceptions that are new from when we did it, but I won''t go into those.

Here are the countries that DO NOT QUALIFY:

BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PHILIPPINES, PERU, POLAND, RUSSIA, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible.

Secondly, she must have completed the equivalent of high school (a 12 year program), or have two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform. I will say right off the bat that the latter is harder than it sounds to prove. A high school diploma is the EASIEST and best way around this requirement.

If she gets selected to move on in the process, there are a host of other requirements (medical, criminal and financial) she will have to meet. But the above two basic ones are all you need to apply.

The process is completely free, despite the online sites that tell you otherwise. Only enter ONCE otherwise she will be disqualifed. The form is now electronic (has been since 2005 when we entered). If she is married, her husband and she can submit separate entries. If she does not qualify for the two criteria above, but her husband does, he can apply and she can "ride" in on his application without having to meet the criteria.

It closes Dec 2, and winners will be notified between May and July 2008. (although notices tend to go out as early as April). Interviews begin in Oct 2008 for the DV 2009 lottery. There are six regions in the lottery, and she will fall under Asia, which is a bit unfortunate. I say "unfortunate" because the middle east falls under Asia under this program and the processing is notoriously slow for that region (for that reason) once the interviewing process begins.

IF she gets selected, i.e. "wins", it is NO GUARANTEE that she will get the green card, or even an interview. They select double the winners as there are actual greencards to give out (50,000 of them) with the assumption that people will not be approved in the interview process. If she gets selected, the fun really begins.

If anyone wants to do this, or knows someone who does, just post questions here. I''m not kidding when I say I researched the bejeezus out of this, especially for applications in Oceania (Australia/NZ) region. You don''t need a lawyer to get through this process unless you have some really extenuating circumstances.

 

[TravelingGal]

Topping this one because there is only one more week to apply. So if you know anyone who is interested in applying for this greencard, tell them to get moving!