Immigration to the USA: five stories of people who won the green card

Фото: Depositphotos

On May 15 2018 years can check results lottery draw Green Card 2019 (DV 2019). Lottery Green Card is one way to immigrate to the USAwhich suits almost any adult person from the countries of the former Soviet Union and Israel. This should be done only on the official website of the US State Department. www.dvlottery.state.gov.

ForumDaily previously gave step by step instructions what to do after winning the lottery Green Cardand answered the most common questions related to the lottery. In addition, on our website you can find out when can I apply next time и what to do, if you have not won the green card now.

ForumDaily collected 5 completely different stories of people who were lucky to win and get the right to live and work in America.

Leading, dreaming about the ocean

Albina Preuss is sitting on the shores of San Francisco Bay, breathing in the salty smell of the ocean. “I fell in love with San Francisco 8 years ago when I was here the first time. Even then I said to myself: I will come here to live. Moreover, at that time I didn’t have any plans at all for moving ”, - she admits.

Albina lived in Moscow and for several years led popular cooking shows on the TNT channel “Open Kitchen” and “Two and a half cooks”. Together with the co-host and her own newborn daughter, she taught the Russians to cook tasty and properly.

Albina Preis with her daughter Rona in her arms during the recording of one of the shows. Photo: Facebook “Two and a Half Chefs”

Albina filled out the questionnaire on the green card several times - to no avail. Yes, she did not really believe that you can just take and win the right to live in the United States. She did not win. Oleg won the husband - on the third try. He checked the lottery results twice: immediately after the results were announced, the system showed that he was not selected, but when he checked again a few months later, he read the cherished words about winning.

“I, frankly, did not really want to leave, I was scared. I am a talker, and in Russia I can properly implement myself with the help of a language. And I don't have much English. I was afraid - how can I chat here. At the same time, I always dreamed of living by the ocean. Therefore, I decided this way: there will be a contract with TNT for the next season - I will stay in Moscow, if I don’t, I will leave. And we did not have a contract, ”recalls Albina.

According to her, the departure has nothing to do with the political and economic situation in Russia: “Until I left, I personally and the people in my environment had no problems. Well, yes, no cheese, or it costs more. But happiness is not in cheese. ”

Then the family collected the necessary documents and passed the interview. “In the interview we were three of us - me, a husband and a child. Ron was sitting on my lap. The officer didn’t ask me a word, I didn’t say anything. My husband was asked: what would he like to do here and why he wants to come to America. There was no tricky question. Everything went really fast, ” - tells the girl.

Interview couple was successful. In Moscow, they were given immigrant visas in foreign passports, and when they arrived in California six months later, they received a green card itself. Now Albina lives in San Francisco, on the Pacific coast.

“I have a lot of difficulties here, but still I feel good. I, for the joy of myself, very easily refused what I had in Moscow. Yes, I was pleased that at the crossroads they approached me and said: “Oh, you’re the same Albina from the program“ Two and a half cooks ”! I really liked it. I liked that they invited us everywhere, everyone wanted us. Nobody wants here, but that's not bad either. - I have time to think what I want, " - she says.

Albina is now learning English in college and is trying to find a job in order to tighten her conversational language in this way. At home, she held cooking classes and now wants to find work in the kitchen. It was not easy.

“I feel like an idiot every day. I have difficulty with the language, and I want to practice it at work. Moreover, I am ready to go on almost any job for which I will be taken. I’ve had phone interviews all week. Talking on the phone in English is hell. I do not understand the questions they ask me. People just hang up. So while these interviews are not over ", - recognized Albina. But she doesn’t give up - new interviews are planned for the next week.

Twice immigrant in search of better earnings

Maksim Glubochansky-Grushikhin moved from Israel to the USA in 2013 year. The year before, on the third attempt, he won the green card. 30-year-old Max is a twice-immigrant. At 7, he and his family left Ukraine for Israel. In Haifa, received an economic education, 3, he served in the army. Green card won from Ukraine, because the main thing for the lottery - Place of Birth. Moreover, at first, as in the case of Albina’s husband, the system showed a negative result first, and after a few days - a positive one.

Since at the time of filing the application for the green card, Max lived in Israel, the interview took place at the US Embassy in Jerusalem. I found out about the prize in May, he was scheduled for an interview in February. At the interview, Maxim brought a bank statement (the more money on it - the better), a birth certificate, a certificate of higher education, as well as a letter from an American sponsor (in the case of Maxim, it was a relative), in which he assumed obligations to help the newly arrived American if necessary.

It was possible to take a translator for the interview, but Maxim decided to answer all the questions in English himself - he had been learning the language since 7. “The interview looked like this: I went to the counter behind the glass, we didn’t even sit down. For 15 minutes, the consular officer asked me about where I live, where I studied, born, where I’m going to stop for the first time in America, asked me to show my documents, and what I’m going to do after moving to the USA, didn’t even ask, ”Maxim says .

He left his passport at the embassy, ​​and after 2 weeks he was returned with an immigration visa. Less than a month later, Maxim flew to California. At the airport upon arrival, he was asked the address where to send him a green card, and in two weeks she was in Maxim’s arms.

Now Max lives and works in Silicon Valley. “After moving to the Valley, I realized that I needed to work on IT, and went to study for a tester. After a month of study, I got a job in San Francisco. At the first job I received $ 9 per hour, but after 3 a month I got a job at another company at $ 35 per hour. Then I found a job as a tester with annual earnings of $ 90 thousand - that's $ 45 per hour plus bonuses. True, about 30% salary goes to taxes. I am testing the functionality of the video players. This specialty can be mastered in a month of study, ”admits Max.

“Well, where we are not, but we are already everywhere,” Maxim replies, laughing, asking why he decided to leave. - I love Israel very much, it's good to live there. And there, frankly, it is much safer than in San Francisco. The only thing that strained me was that everything is quite predictable, everyone earns from $ 1,5 to $ 3 thousand per month. After arriving here, I quickly went out for the money that I could not earn in Israel. There such salaries, as I have now, are received, for example, by very cool doctors. It's nice that the United States allows you to realize your potential. "

A couple from Donetsk, who came to the children

Nadezhda and Valeriy Savchenko from Ukraine won the green card last year. Both - on 55 years. An application for a green card was submitted on their behalf by a daughter who already lives in the USA. From the first time Valery won.

The family at home for more than 20 years was engaged in business - owned a women's clothing store. Valery, in addition, did the repair of housing. One of the main fears of Hope associated with the move - ignorance of the English language. Although she almost independently learned Polish, while 23, she went to Poland for goods.

In preparation for the interview, the spouses of the documents collected even more than is required. In particular, the daughter wrote a financial commitment to support them financially in the US, if necessary.

According to Nadezhda Savchenko, the interview took place in Russian and lasted less than 5 minutes. Just asked a few questions - how they found out about the green card and how their daughter got to america. In this case, the spouses did not even ask - do they speak in English.

Newlyweds applying for a green card from the USA

Alexandra Stepanova, along with her then future husband, Ilya, applied for a green card from America. Together they came from Russia: Alexander on a student visa, Ilya - on a working visa, he is a programmer. We lived in Boston for about 2,5 years, when they learned that Ilya had won the green card on the third attempt. That was in 2011. After that, the young people immediately got married and applied for an immigration visa.

Alexandra Stepanova works in the USA as a fitness instructor. Photos from the personal archive

“In the lottery, they assigned us a rather high number — somewhere for the 30 000. We were afraid that we would not have time to go through all the procedures before October 1, because after this date our winnings would have burned out. But, thank God, we had time ", - says Alexandra.

After some time, the couple moved to California. The interviews were held at the San Jose office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Spouses threw questions.

“At the interview we paid much attention to our marriage, because they thought it was fictitious. After all, we got married after the win. Therefore, everyone asked: where did we go to relax together, how many people live in our apartment, do we know each other's parents, etc. But before the 10 marriage we had met for years, we calmly answered all the questions ”, - remembers Alexander.

As a result, the couple received a green card, and now lives happily in California and is raising a child.

Latvians who almost missed the green card

Pavel and Katya Kilivnik - citizens of Latvia, but at the time of submitting the application for the lottery-2015 lived in Ireland. Spouses have filled out their application and completely forgot about it. The results of the lottery-2015 published 1 in May 2014, and they rushed to check the results only in September.

"Having read You have randomly selected [You were randomly selected] Did not believe your eyes, - remembers Katya. - On the one hand, we were very happy, but on the other - we were afraid that we had lost a lot of time. The next day, they began to call the consulate center in Kentucky, and we were confirmed that we still have time to fill out questionnaires for three family members. ”

The family has been waiting for 8 months for their interview. The interview took place in Dublin.

“We were super-prepared, but still very worried, because the result of the interview depended on whether they would give us a visa or not. As it turned out, they were worried in vain, as they received visas without any problems. In addition to the usual questions about school and work, they asked only where we plan to live and work. That's all! We, satisfied and happy, having waited from the embassy for passports with visas, immediately ordered tickets to San Francisco at one end ”, - remembers Katya.

The family received the green card via 3 weeks after entering the United States. My husband was transferred to the San Francisco office of an IT company in which he worked, and was given an apartment in Silicon Valley for 2 weeks to arrange. During this time, the family received a social security number and rented a house in a small town near San Francisco.

“My husband at the beginning of 2000 had already lived in America for a couple of years, so now he feels like a fish in water. And I'm still in a state of euphoria ", - laughs Kate.

What to do if you won the green card

So, a short instruction on what to do after you have learned about winning a green card.

1. Fill in the form DS-260.
2. Get a medical examination. Its cost is $ 150-215 (depending on the country and age). Necessary vaccinations are paid separately. You need to undergo it only in the clinic, which is approved by the US Embassy in your country. Their addresses are on the website of the embassy. For example, for Ukraine it is International Organization for Migration in Kiev, For Russia - International Organization for Migration in Moscow. The results of the medical examination for the interview must be brought in a sealed envelope.
3. Collect the necessary documentsmatching your situation:

• Certificate of education or confirmation of the required work experience;

• birth certificate;

• marriage certificate or official evidence of the name change;

• divorce certificate;

• court decision on adoption;

• a certificate of good conduct from all countries (including the former Soviet Union) where you have lived for over a year;

• military ID;

• all decisions of courts and penitentiary services, if you were detained, arrested or served time;

• documents explaining staying in the USA for more than half a year and documents about deportation;

• two color photographs of 5x5 cm taken no earlier than six months before the date of the interview;

• proof of residence in the country at the address indicated in the questionnaire DS-260;

• Evidence that in the United States you will not be in state content. These may be documents confirming the existence of property, savings, an invitation to work in the United States or a document of financial support from a relative or friend from America (I-134 form).

4. Pay a $ 330 visa fee.
5. Pass the interview.

All additional information needs to be found only on the website of the US Embassy in your country.

For those who decide to immigrate to the United States, ForumDaily told me how to get an american identity card, open a bank account, rent a house, to get an education and build credit history.

Editorial: The first version of this article was published in 2016 year.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How to get US citizenship, if the spouse - American

Green Card Draw Results: Tips and Rules

What to do after winning the Green Card Lottery: step by step instructions

How a divorce can affect immigration status

Abandoning the American Dream: the story of those who returned to their homeland

Lottery "Green Card" in questions and answers

10 ways to stay in the USA

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.