'I applied for fun, I'm writing from Boston': 11 stories about the green card lottery

It's possible for a few more days apply for the green card lottery. Russian-speaking readers told Tinkoff about their experience of participating in its draw: how many times they applied, whether they managed to get a green card, how much effort and time it took the whole process of moving to the USA.

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Some won the first time, others got tired of trying or changed their mind about emigrating to the USA. We offer the most interesting stories.

“The dream remains a dream”

User Aslamovs Munira wrote that for the first time the whole family participated in the green card lottery in 2021. They applied for DV-2023, won and began preparing documents. Why and how they came up with a green card lottery, read in our article.

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“But we were denied an interview, and all the plans we had made collapsed. We even sold the apartment, unfortunately, it can’t be returned. So I don't know what advice to give to people who keep trying. The dream remained a dream,” wrote Aslamovs Munira.

“I’ve been preparing for the move for about 1,5 years”

“I applied for fun and won the first time. I started to figure out what to do next only after winning. I was preparing for the move for about 1,5 years from the moment I won: the visa is given for six months, but you can enter to issue a green card and leave for another six months. Everything went well, despite the coronavirus pandemic,” noted Vestnik user Apokalisa.

“The prospects here are much more interesting. Before that, I was considering moving to other countries, but now an easy opportunity to do so arose,” she clarified.

“We won’t serve again”

User Ksenia participated with her husband in the green card lottery in 2022, but they did not pass. The couple did not apply for 2023. They said that priorities and attitudes had changed and the United States no longer looked like such an attractive place to live.

“I used to think about moving there, starting to work somewhere in an office in my specialty, living in a big city with a lot of interesting places. Money, success and all that. And now I understand that I won’t feel safe there: I’ve heard that there are often shootouts,” Ksenia explained. — Big cities exhaust me and don’t interest me, and I wouldn’t want to work in an office. The country itself is more focused on career development, business, etc., which doesn’t particularly attract me.”

Now Ksenia has a dream - she wants to buy a house somewhere in calm Portugal.

“I want to work remotely, close to nature, growing olives and taking care of cows,” she said.

“A few years later I remembered about the application”

User Artem Dm said that his friend had an interesting story with a green card. She submitted the application herself several times, then used the service of a company that had to submit the application for her for five years.

“As often happens in such situations, she forgot about it, because there were many events in her life: a wedding, the birth of children. A few years later I remembered about the application and decided to check my email. Imagine her surprise when she found out that she had won the lottery several years ago!” - Artem Dm was amazed.

“I didn’t win and moved to Germany”

User Boris Köln participated in the green card lottery twice, but did not win either. Then he decided to move to Germany, where he now lives.

“I don’t plan to move to the USA anymore, so I don’t participate in the lottery anymore. An acquaintance won the third or fourth time, left, and now lives in the USA,” he shared.

“Participated in the lottery 12 times”

User Pioneer3003 has tried his luck 12 times since 2011. This was his youth dream.

“I won in 2023, have already received a visa to enter the United States, and am planning to move. I take it lightly - like another journey. If you manage to learn the language at the proper level and find a job in your specialty, it will be great,” he admitted. — At the end of 2022, I was denied a study visa for language courses, I wanted to go in May 2023 for a couple of months. But in the end, in May, news came about winning a green card.”

“I gave up this idea, and everything returned to normal”

The user Pig Tufi participated in a lottery for a company with colleagues from the company in 2000, won with entry in 2001, passed the first stage of verification and received permission for an interview at the embassy with a set date.

“A couple of months before the interview, on a low turn with a parachute, I decomposed into rubbish: a fracture of the pelvis, heels, ribs, a couple of vertebrae, or rather their processes. “I went to bed for six months,” the user complained. “The interview was postponed, six months later, on crutches, I started collecting fresh documents again, but strange things began to happen in life again: my mother suddenly died, my business went to zero, and other little things.”

The man says that as soon as he gave up this idea, everything returned to normal.

“I stayed where I was born,” he summed up.

“The girl won, we got married”

Nikolai Denisenko said that his girlfriend won the green card lottery the first time. They got married and received their visas a month ago.

“It’s a long and thorny path, I’ll tell you,” the man emphasized. — At the consulate, of course, they check whether it’s a fictitious marriage. But the consul has no goal of bringing you down, and, to tell the truth, there is nothing to be afraid of.”

“Won the third time”

Elizaveta Soprunenko won the lottery for the third time. “I applied for fun. So the joke has gone on for a long time, I’m writing this comment from Boston. I've been here since January 2024. I found a job in five days. My husband searched for about a month, but he also managed,” she said.

“I have thoughts of leaving, but who will I work there?”

The user Kolibri Pchelka has a higher education in economics; he combines work as a chief accountant at three enterprises with various types of activities.

“My income has increased over the past year because I work a lot, have little rest, and see my child on weekends. Yes, I have thoughts of leaving, but who will I work there? - he asked a rhetorical question. — My cousin won a green card, lived in a dorm with drug addicts. Sometimes I slept under a bridge; I studied during the day and worked at night. He was forty years old, maybe more. I moved from New Jersey to California and had to collect my documents again. Educated as a lawyer, he worked as a baker's assistant and an ambulance driver. Because he doesn’t have a few years left to graduate from university and pay for his studies. As a result, he returned seven years later.”

“Life has taken such a fast pace - it’s breathtaking”

Alexey Kulyukin won the lottery almost 10 years ago. He submitted applications with his wife (at that time they were not yet married), the winnings fell to Alexey Kulyukin.

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“We immediately got married, filled out all the documents, went to Moscow and took care of other chores. In short, since then my life has taken such a fast pace that it’s breathtaking,” the user wrote. “I didn’t become a billionaire, but life definitely became more interesting.” He worked as a tester, then continued his path to IT. There is enough for life, if you successfully get a job, then everything is fine. It’s more difficult with children: they have a lot of expenses, and even without relatives it’s not easy with them. At the same time, I was recently in Moscow - life there for IT specialists is no worse.”

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