Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Best way to move to United States in 2-3 years ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   3 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Best way to move to United States in 2-3 years
Category: Miscellaneous
Asked by: journeyer-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 04 Sep 2003 01:53 PDT
Expires: 04 Oct 2003 01:53 PDT
Question ID: 252080
I am a European Union citizen and tired of excessive government
intrusion to private life and high taxation in Europe. I am thinking
of moving to United States after few years and I am looking for a best
way of doing that.

I am 35 years old and hold a MSc in Computer Engineering with 10+
years of work experience. However I do not need to work for number of
years and finding a job should not be only way to move to US.

Best way here means:
- Resulting in permanenent residence in US
- Least paper work
- Possibility to work in US

Request for Question Clarification by legolas-ga on 04 Sep 2003 06:36 PDT
Are you a native of any of the following countries?

Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Estonia
Finland
France (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia 
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau Special Administrative Region
Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Netherlands (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Northern Ireland
Norway
Poland
Portugal (including components and dependent areas overseas)
Romania
San Marino
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Tajikistan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vatican City

Clarification of Question by journeyer-ga on 04 Sep 2003 08:10 PDT
I am native and citizen of Finland. That is on the list that you provided.

Request for Question Clarification by legolas-ga on 04 Sep 2003 09:39 PDT
I can provide you with information on how to enter a "lottery" of
sorts to acquire a Green Card. You can apply for free, but, there's no
guarantee you'll "win". Apart from a work visa and/or marriage to a US
citizen, this is the only other way to emigrate to the USA.

Is the information on, and how to enter the lottery acceptable to you?

Legolas-ga

Clarification of Question by journeyer-ga on 04 Sep 2003 10:37 PDT
Information that you propose in acceptable
Answer  
Subject: Re: Best way to move to United States in 2-3 years
Answered By: legolas-ga on 04 Sep 2003 10:52 PDT
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Hi journeyer-ga,

Every year the USA gives away about 50,000 immigrant visas (the type
of visa that gives you and your family (including children and
unmarried sons and daughters under age 21) a green card).

You can find the official government page explaining the Diversity
Visa Lottery here:
http://travel.state.gov/dv2005.html

The following are excerpts from the above site. (There is no copyright
on things produced by the Federal Government - feel free to copy and
print the information from the State Department website at will.)

It's easy to apply, and everyone in your family (including your
children if they have graduated high school already but are still
under age 21) can submit their own entry to increase the chances of
being selected. Caveat: their nationality must be on the list of
'acceptable' countries. Some countries are not allowed to participate.

Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among all
qualified entries. Those selected will be notified by mail between May
and July 2004 and will be provided further instructions, including
information on fees connected with immigration to the U.S. Persons not
selected will NOT receive any notification. U.S. embassies and
consulates will not be able to provide a list of successful
applicants. Spouses and unmarried children under age 21 of successful
applicants may also apply for visas to accompany or follow to join the
principal applicant. DV-2005 visas will be issued between October 1,
2004 and September 30, 2005.

There is only one way to enter the DV-2005 lottery. Applicants must
submit an Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form (EDV Entry Form), which
is accessible only at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov

PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING AN ENTRY TO DV-2005 
All entries by an applicant will be disqualified if more than ONE
entry for the applicant is received, regardless of who submitted the
entry. Applicants may prepare and submit their own entries, or have
someone submit the entry for them.

The Department of State will only accept completed Electronic
Diversity Visa Entry Forms submitted electronically at
http://www.dvlottery.state.gov during the 60 day registration period
beginning November 1, 2003.

The Department of State will send DV lottery entrants an electronic
confirmation notice upon receipt of a completed EDV Entry Form.

Paper entries will not be accepted. 

The entry will be disqualified if all required photos are not
submitted. Recent photographs of the applicant and his/her spouse and
each child under 21 years of age, including all natural children as
well as all legally-adopted and stepchildren, excepting a child who is
already a U.S. citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident, even if a child
no longer resides with the applicant or is not intended to immigrate
under the DV program, must be submitted electronically with the
Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Form. Group or family photos will not
be accepted; there must be a separate photo for each family member.
Each applicant, his/her spouse, and each child will therefore need a
computer file containing his/her digital photo (image) which will be
submitted on-line with the EDV Entry Form. The image file can be
produced either by taking a new digital photograph or by scanning a
photographic print with a digital scanner.

If the submitted digital images do not conform to the following
specifications, the system will automatically reject the EDV Entry
Form and notify the sender.

The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
format.

The image must be either in color or grayscale; monochrome images
(2-bit color depth) will not be accepted.

If a new digital photograph is taken, it must have a resolution of 320
pixels wide by 240 pixels high, and a color depth of either 24-bit
color, 8-bit color, or 8-bit grayscale.

If a photographic print is scanned, the print must be 2 inches by 2
inches (50mm x 50mm) square. It must be scanned at a resolution of 150
dots per inch (dpi) and with a color depth of either 24-bit color,
8-bit color, or 8-bit grayscale.

The maximum image size accepted will be sixty-two thousand five
hundred (62,500) bytes.
If the submitted digital images do not conform to the following
specifications, the entry will be disqualified:

Applicant, spouse, or child must be directly facing the camera; the
head of the person being photographed should not be tilted up, down or
to the side, and should cover about 50% of the area of the photo.

The photo should be taken with the person being photographed in front
of a neutral, light-colored background. Photos taken with very dark or
patterned, busy backgrounds will not be accepted.

Photos in which the face of the person being photographed is not in
focus will not be accepted.

Photos in which the person being photographed is wearing sunglasses or
other paraphernalia which detracts from the face will not be accepted.

Photos of applicants wearing head coverings or hats are only
acceptable due to religious beliefs, and even then, may not obscure
any portion of the face of the applicant. Photos of applicants with
tribal or other headgear not specifically religious in nature are not
acceptable. Photos of military, airline or other personnel wearing
hats will not be accepted.

Please ensure that you VERY CAREFULLY read the directions on official
site:
http://travel.state.gov/dv2005.html

Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general
information, and are not intended to substitute for informed
professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal,
investment, accounting, or other professional advice.

Thanks,

Legolas-ga

No search was done on this question: the methods of immigration are
well known to me.

Request for Answer Clarification by journeyer-ga on 04 Sep 2003 13:22 PDT
From the text in the Clarification Request I gather that my choices
are:
- Find a job in US. I'd probably have to work 4-5 years before green
card
- Marry an American
- Try my luck in lottery

Since I am already married and unlikely to divorce for this cause :-),
this leaves me low chances of winning in lottery or going thru a
process of finding a job and holding it for 5 years.

Is this correct?
- You can't convert student visas to green cards?
- You can't start a local business and invest say $500,000, and get
green card that way?

Clarification of Answer by legolas-ga on 04 Sep 2003 14:15 PDT
In the future, you may wish to ask for clarification prior to rating
this answer. Rating the answer prior to it being to your satisfaction
will close the question. However, I will quickly address your
comments:

- You can't convert student visas to green cards? 
No. No way to do that.

- You can't start a local business and invest say $500,000, and get
green card that way?
You can invest $1 million in US dollars and get an immigrant visa that
way, but, that's an awful lot of money to invest. You can find the
form for doing this here:
http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-526.htm

To get a green card based on work, it WILL take years.. Also, remember
that while YOU can work in the above scenarios, your wife and children
will NOT be able to work. The Lottery is your best bet.

Legolas-ga
journeyer-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars

Comments  
Subject: Re: Best way to move to United States in 2-3 years
From: astargazer-ga on 04 Sep 2003 19:45 PDT
 
From my understanding, the US picks a certain amount of people from
each country every year. I understand it's by percentages.  They might
have a large percentage of selections from Finland this year. Suppose
the percentage allotment would allow a selection of 100 lottery
winners from Finland, and suppose only 50 Finnish applied, you would
get the card.

If I were you I would apply for the lottery. I know of several people
who've won it, some on the first year and some after trying for many
years.
Subject: Re: Best way to move to United States in 2-3 years
From: journeyer-ga on 05 Sep 2003 01:01 PDT
 
Sorry for being too quick to rate. I thought it would be polite to
indicate that the answer is worth the money by closing the question
that then asking a clarification.

Thanks for the info. Looks like there are number of sites that offer
help with enrolling to lottery at $30-$50. On the official site that
you sent, the fee is zero.

Thanks, a lot. This clarifies the issue for me.
Subject: Re: Best way to move to United States in 2-3 years
From: legolas-ga on 05 Sep 2003 19:02 PDT
 
The lottery is FREE to enter -- if you have an MSc, there should be NO
problems with you doing it for FREE! Why pay someone to type your name
when you can do it yourself.

Legolas-ga

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy