Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Get a Permanent Residency with Green Card Lottery

A permanent resident card of United States also known as Green Card or immigrant card is an identification card assigned to a foreigner as a permanent resident proof of resident in United States of America. With this valid proof, a card holder is granted benefits of immigration including the authorization to stay in United States permanently and work as well. The status of permanent resident of United States can be taken back from the green card holder if certain criteria to hold this status are not met.

Initially, green cards were issued by the Immigration and naturalization service or INS, but during the process of re-organization, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration service of Department of Homeland security, replaced and absorbed it. Soon after re- organization bureau of citizenship and immigration services was renamed to United States citizenship and immigration services, which retains the authority of issuing green cards to foreign nationals. After the completion of five years of its stay in United States of America, a foreigner is eligible to apply for the Green card. If he/ she are married to a citizen of United States citizen then this time period is shortened to three years. It can also be reduced to four years if a foreigner is in an asylum. Citizens are given special privileges and rights than permanent residents. A foreigner who has applied for the green card can acquire two important documents or permits, if a certain stage or time has passed in processing the green card. The first one is an employment authorization document which is also known as the temporary work permit which authorizes a foreigner to work in United States. The other one is temporary travel document which permits him to enter United States

Green Card Lottery

Each year around more than fifty thousand immigrant visas are issued through diversity visa program, which is popularly known as Green card lottery. The winners of this lottery are eligible to apply for the permanent residence. They can also file the permanent resident status for their unmarried children under 21 years of age and spouse.

Fraud with Green Card Lottery

There are many scams associated with green card lotteries. Some fraudulent agencies charge some money from applicants to submit the application form on their behalf. They usually charge a fee of around $150-200. It is just the waste of money and time. There is no charge for submitting an application it is free of charge.

There are many websites which provide help in filling up the application form.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Things to Consider After Winning the Green Card Lottery

A permanent resident card or green card visa is granted to a person who is authorized to live and work in United States of America on a permanent basis. Green card Visa is a proof of such of that authority. Any foreigner can get the green card visa or green card in many different ways. A relative or family member or employer in the United States of America sponsors most foreign citizens. Some of the foreign individuals may become permanent residents through asylum refugee status or other humanitarian program. In these cases, a person is eligible to file a petition for a green card.


In some cases, a foreigner may even be able to file a self-petition or have a record created for permanent residence card on its behalf. Generally, to meet the requirements for permanent residence card or green card visa in the United States, a foreigner must fulfill following criteria.

  • He/ She should be born in any country other than United States of America.
  • The immigration rate of his country should lower in comparison to the immigration rate of other countries in the past five years.
  • He/She should have qualification up to High school or relevant experience of two years in the field of employment.

These are the basic criteria for people applying for green card or visa US. The criteria can be different for different immigrants.

All foreigners applying for green card visa or adjustment of status must have valid proofs to satisfy consular or immigration officers that they are admissible (eligible for green card) to the United States of America.

There are many valid reasons of inadmissibility or rejection of an application that could potentially cause a foreigner to be ineligible to become a permanent resident of United States. The USICS officers may consider issuing green card visa grounds of medical illness, criminal, security issues, physical disability or humanitarian activities.

The immigration visa US or US Green Card visa is valid up to ten years from the date of issue and it should be renewed after stipulated period. It is privilege to hold the United States citizenship and every year 50000 foreigners fills application forms to get the green card visa. There are also green card lottery programs conducted every year and winners are announced by the lucky draw and choosing a number randomly. The green card lottery programs were stared in the year 1996 and have provided US citizen ship to many.

Monday, May 10, 2010

USAFIS - Green Card Application Service



Green Card Application Service by USAFIS for appearing in Diversity Visa Lottery Program. To know more visit http://www.usafis.org
USAFIS Organization
2576 BROADWAY 443
New York NY 10025, United States
Ph- +1-866-737-7193

Friday, April 30, 2010

US Green Card Lottery – Immigration Procedures

If you would like to get an eternal residential status in the United States, you will have to get the Green card, which is regarded as the identity card. It is otherwise known as United States Permanent Resident Card. The name Green Card comes from the color of the card and it has the individual’s photo identity and details belonging to the United States. Having a US green card means that the individual has a permanent resident status in the United States. Green cards are issued by Immigration and Naturalization Service and obtaining a green card is an Immigration procedure. It is obvious that a Non-US citizen would apply for the Green card and not people from the USA. There are different types of Immigration procedures that one can choose from to obtain a Greed Card.


One way to obtain this status is through family members. Immigrants can obtain this status through employment opportunities and also through investment. Another most interesting form of immigration type is through diversity lottery. There are two other ways of immigration procedures through refugee and asylum status and through the registry.

The diversity lottery procedure is generally used by the immigrants, who have entered the United States with a student Visa and would like to gain the status of a permanent resident in the USA. Diversity lottery services are otherwise known as Green Card Lottery.

The diversity lottery program provides over 50,000 immigrant visas. Many people who have been born in other countries in which the immigration rate is low also apply for Green Card Lottery with the desire to get an enduring residential status in the United States. The citizenship of the individual matters very little in this procedure. What matters most is the country of birth of the individual. People born outside the United States can apply for the Green Card Lottery program if their country has a lower immigration rate to the United States. The applicant can also apply for their spouse and dependent children who are unmarried and under the age of 21. If announced as a winner, they are issued the permanent resident status and would receive an immigrant visa for their passports, which needs to be activated within 6 months from the date of issuance at any port of entry into the United States. The immigrant will receive a stamp on their visa indicating that they are lawfully permitted to live and work in the United States permanently. Finally, the permanent green card arrives in mail within a few months.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Understand About Diversity Visa Lottery Program

Immigrant visa is necessary for being in the United States. For a permanent stay in the United States and for the work permit and filing of taxes, a green card is required. There are several ways to obtain a permanent resident status. The Diversity Visa Lottery program is one of those methods. There are many people now applying for this program through many sources. Statistics show that there are about 6.4 million applications for the 2008 Diversity Visa Lottery program or Green Card Lottery program. When account dependents are considered there were about 10 million applications for Green Card Lottery program. The highest numbers of applications were from the country of Bangladesh.


Applications from Africa were 41% and from Asia were 38% in 2008 Green card lottery. There are however many scam programs related to the issuance of the Green Card through lottery services. Reports show that the fraudulent green card lottery programs take money from the applicants in terms of the application fees between 50$ to 250$ and do not process the applications. There are now many websites relating to the green card lottery entry and issuance of immigrant visa to the USA. Attracting the customers with exciting claims is not very difficult with advancement in marketing strategies.

Some Diversity Visa programs claim that they would provide free airline ticket to the winner and some might even claim that they can increase the chance of becoming a winner which can be false. The winner would be issued an immigrant visa prior to the issuance of green card and it is issued by the Immigration Naturalization Services.

Applicants are advised to use the United States Government approved Green Card Lottery programs to get the most, out of their efforts in getting the immigrant visa with permanent residence status. These are available on the US government official websites. The State of Department has issued warnings to websites providing fraudulent information to the applicants. The best way to apply is to do a small research on the available sources for the issuance of green card and then decide upon which website to trust and go about with the application. There are also several testimonials available online expressing the satisfaction of some of the green card lottery program's participants and the individuals can use them to come to a decision. The Encyclopedia has loads of information regarding this which can be used to verify whether a website is genuine or fraudulent.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Get More Information about the Green Card Lottery Program

There are no fees for entering into the green card lottery program, but once selected you should be able to pay the immigrant visa fees and a separate visa lottery surcharge. Some websites take an additional fee for rendering service in form filling and submission. The official sites of the United States department for issuing of green cards do not provide the necessary help needed for filling in the form.

Every year about 10 million applications are processed and about 50,000 visas are issued all over the world. The winners are notified through mail and others who are not selected are not notified. Even if you are selected, it does not guarantee issuance of immigrant visa as you have to pass all the requirements of immigration to the United States.

Some websites save the applicant information in a database so that it would be easy for you to fill in the form when you decide to re-enter in the green card lottery program if you are not selected the first time. You can however re-appear only once in a year. These websites which render additional service will charge you a fee for their service. The service charge differs depending upon the website and the services they are providing.

The directions provided on the website are very essential since if the directions are not followed your application will be rejected. The rules and ways to apply for the green card will be provided before the drawing of the green card lottery and they are made available in the Federal Registry for reference. Instructions are usually posted between the months of July and August. The registration period of the green card lottery program is usually during the months of October and November every year. You can call the US lottery state information center on 1-900-884-8840 for more information.

The US Embassy and consulates would also have the required information. When the total application number is less, there are higher chances of your winning the lottery. The green cards are actually pink in color. It was green earlier. Usually a green card is valid for 10 years after which it needs renewal. The green card lottery program conducted this year would be called Diversity Visa Program DV-2012. Last year's program is known as Diversity Visa Program DV-2011. The opening date of the registration is generally announced in the month of July. A digital photograph is required for filling out the form.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Explore The Green Card Lottery Program

The Green Card Lottery programs started in the year 1996 through the Immigration Act developed to provide immigration opportunities to the natives of countries other than United States and those which have a lower rate of immigration to the United States. The programs provide green cards to the winner of the lottery. The lottery is conducted once every year where they use a computer application, and a number is chosen randomly just like a lucky draw. Over 50,000 immigration visas are issued every year through this program throughout the world. There are several official and non-official green card lottery websites available in the internet using which one can apply for the green card. Some of the websites provide expert online support for applying to this program. Some provide service in terms of updating of contact information at any point of time as the green card would be sent by mail to the address in the application. The immigrant visa is issued to the winner with a stamp on it to show permanent status. The applicants are allowed to bring their spouse and dependent children who are unmarried and below the age of 21 years. The applicants are not permitted to submit the applications by postal mail. All applications have to be submitted electronically. These applicants are considered eligible based on the following points.

  • The applicants should be born in a country other than the United States.
  • The immigration rate of the country from which the applicant is applying to the United States should be low as compared to other countries in the past five years.
  • The individual should have a minimum of a high school education or 2 years of work experience in the required field.

One might need assistance in filling up of the green card lottery form and few websites provide expert advice on how to fill in the form without any errors. Some websites provide service all around the clock. Using the internet, people can gather information about all these and it becomes easy to apply for the immigrant visa to the United States and in turn increase their chances of getting a permanent resident status. American citizens are not required to carry a green card when they travel in the United States, but an alien with an immigrant visa or green card should carry it along with them and show the same to the USCIS officer when asked for proof of permanent residence or work or travel parole.