On October 21, 2018, almost on the last day, I took a picture of my mother and brother to participate in the Green Card lottery. My brother refused to take pictures of me, so I took a photo of myself and filled out a form on the website dvprogram.state.gov. Hope to win was gone for 3 years of participation in the lottery. It was the 7th attempt, so the process of filling out the questionnaires turned into a routine.
But on May 10, 2019, my brother, checking our profiles, reports that I won. My feelings were divided at that moment. Hooray, I won! Terrible, what should I do now?
At that time, my life stabilized, everything suited me and I did not want to change anything.
But the brother of this turtle did not let him relax, so on July 11, 2019, 2 months after winning, I submitted a fully completed DS-260 form, which is filled out on this site ceac.state.gov/ceac. By this moment I have already subscribed to all groups, chats, forums, telegram channels. The latter have become the main source of obtaining all the necessary and important information. I also found video blogs on YouTube of people, families who also won a green card and moved to the USA. And these videos have become a regular during family gatherings during dinner.
On the subject: Green card for a relative: what is needed to transport relatives to America and how long the process takes
I always say that I don't have any friends or relatives in the US, but that's not entirely true. My classmate Nastya married an American and went to live in the USA 7 years ago. She was the first person I told that I won the green card, with the hope that she would congratulate me and help me figure it out. But Nastya's first reaction was: "Oh, Anyuta, it's not so easy in this America." Nastya at that time was pregnant with her second child. All I needed from her was an American address to fill out the DS-260 form.
When you are a tourist, it is better not to have any relatives or friends. But when you are an immigrant, you need connections - that's such a dilemma. However, Nastya snapped: “I will not give my data, for many reasons. I refused my cousin. It would take a long time to explain this. It's hard in the States, Anya. You don't want to clean the toilets here." And then Nastya was drawn to describe all the horrors of American life. This made me very upset. After all, in fact, the address was needed only so that my green card and CSN number would come to it in the future. There was no guarantee of any kind. But no, no, that's why I found the address of Mikhail Portnov's testing school, he allowed all new immigrants to indicate it without even asking permission personally. Uncle Misha has his own vlog on youtube.
As for the address in the USA to fill out the DS 260 form and to receive a green card and CSN at this address.
This is generally a separate issue. Everyone says: look for the address on forums, on the Internet, write to bloggers if you don’t have friends or relatives in the USA. So I wrote to 30 people, YouTubers, Instagrammers, Facebookers, whoever I could trust to get my important American documents. But they all refused me. But I didn’t come to them with an empty account, I’m an open book. Now I read the situations of people with this ill-fated address.
So one girl found the address of a woman who now turned out to be a crazy old woman. She received the documents, but does not want to send them to the girl. Other guys had a situation that the person whose address they indicated in the questionnaire moved out of this address. And new tenants are not up to the documents of new immigrants. And there are many such stories. A US address is not just an address. You need to be sure that you will receive your documents at this address, they will not be thrown away, they will not require payment for their forwarding. I had to send an envelope with stamps to Portnov, in which he would put my documents. But there are those who require significant amounts later for documents. Therefore, this is an important point and taking the address of a person you do not know is a huge risk.
At the same time, I begin to tell friends, relatives about the win and that I plan to move to the USA. And ... I break my leg, out of the blue, at home, doing the physical exercises that I do every morning. How so. One and a half months on crutches. Then the removal of the cast and a trip to Oktoberfest. And only on October 16, 2019, a request comes from KCC for a scanned copy of the documents. I quickly make a certificate of non-conviction on the site MVS of Ukraine. And a week later, on October 28, 2019, I send all the documents to the KCC (the Kentucky Consular Center).
An interesting moment that many single men who dream of being in the USA missed.
This is me, an unmarried young girl with a green card. The fact is that the process of obtaining a green card lasts quite a long time. And from the moment of winning to entering the United States, it usually takes from six months to almost 2 years, as happened to me because of the coronovirus and Trump's proclamation banning immigrants from entering. There are people who intend to get married or get married just to enter the United States. After all, if one person wins in a family, then all family members under 18 years old - husband / wife and children receive a green card. And there are young couples who, after winning one of the partners, finally decide to legalize their relationship. Before submitting the DS-260, everything can be done. But now bite your elbows.
On October 28, when I sent scans of my passport, birth certificates, police clearance certificate, I checked the questionnaire again. And I found an error in the address of the school in it, so I asked to unblock the profile and on October 30 sent it already corrected.
On January 27, 2020, a letter arrives with information that the scanned documents have been verified, please wait for further instructions. You can still follow the progress here. The fact is that the timing of the interview directly depends on the number of the case that you will be assigned with the winnings. My case was 18 thousand out of 55 thousand winners. This is a lot, but the case is passable. If you have it 40-50 thousand, then the chances are small and only the most agile manage to seize the opportunity anyway and fly to the USA.
On February 28, 2020, a letter arrives with an invitation for an interview on April 15 in Kyiv. Finally. I buy a train ticket, book a hotel, prepare the entire package of documents, go through a medical examination with a family doctor, Nastya gives me her address, but she plans to move. So I keep her address for insurance purposes. And on March 18, 2020, there is a complete lockdown due to the coronovirus. COVID-19 canceled everything at once, and trains, and hotels, and interviews, and the work of consulates and embassies.
The time of calm and waiting has begun.
In April, Trump signs Proclamation 10014, which bans new immigrants from entering the United States. It was supposed to operate for 3 months, but in June, Trump extended it until the end of 2020. The proclamation affected not only entry, but also the issuance of visas, so all American consulates were closed and no one dealt with the affairs of green cards.
During this time, I lost hope. After all, I was ready, studied a lot of information and collected my thoughts that this prize was given to me in order to change my life. This chance was given when I really needed it. And then ... Fate gave, fate took away?
On September 9, on my birthday, I wept over the lost hope for changes in my life. And after 2 days, on September 11, a message comes from the consulate that they are ready to resume consideration of my case and invite me to choose the next date for the interview myself. Each lottery program has its own deadlines, so DV Lottery 2020 ended on September 30, 2020. If you have not received a visa before this date, then it will not be possible to do this later. Therefore, I chose a new date for the interview on the same day - September 24, 2020. According to the rules for obtaining an immigrant visa, I scheduled the passage of the medical examination at the IOM 2 days earlier, on September 22. I bought train tickets, booked a hotel again, took out documents littered with other papers from the nightstand and went to Kyiv.
