Green Card Lottery

[COLONEL_SMITH]

Sorry for another post about moving to the USA but I have a couple of questions about the Green card lottery.
I know I cannot apply being a UK citizen but my wife can. If she actually won would I be able to both live and work in the USA on the basis of being married to her?

[COLONEL_SMITH]

Matt Harper said:

I think you will discover (if you choose to research the subject) that as the lawful spouse of a DV lottery 'winner', you would be eligible as a derivative family member - assuming you meet all of the other qualification criteria.

Thanks..I will be doing a lot more research if she decides to apply. This was just the first hurdle of what will probably be many but at least in principle I am allowed to go and work.
Trying to find out information is a bit like when the ESTA was introduced, lots of websites claiming to assist you for a small fee when you could apply on the US gov website for free.

[COLONEL_SMITH]

Matt Harper said:

I understand your frustration - there is SO much misinformation and conflicting information on this subject.

Unfortunately, reliance on the Diversity Visa lottery is something of a long-shot - and is also a program that our current President wants to abolish, so factor that into your hopes and plans.

I am not a legal professional, but I have quite extensive experience (as do several others, who help with these types of questions). I won't sugar-coat any responses, but if you have specific questions about immigration to the US, I'm happy to help, if I can.

Thanks for the offer of help, I am sure I will have lots more questions if we continue with trying to move.
We are fully aware the lottery is a long shot but at the moment it’s probably the only way we could do it. We work for a company that has a us office but the jobs we do are not required over there nor are they really specialised enough for other companies to sponsor us.

[COLONEL_SMITH]

The Moose said:

If your spouse is eligible for the diversity visa lottery and wins, you get your green card also (assuming the application wasn’t screwed up, you were listed etc).

Not only that, but you can apply due to her eligibility.

Where was your wife born/what gives her eligibility to apply?

She is Lithuanian, not sure how accurate the data is but only 184 Lithuanians have won a green card through the lottery.

[COLONEL_SMITH]

The Moose said:

That being the case, you and she are both eligible - if you would like to move here, then it’s a no brainer to enter the lottery. You should both submit an entry. It’s free to enter.

My brother in law won the lottery a few years ago now.

There are a certain number of GCs allocated to (I think it’s) 6 regions of the world. Europe is one, for example.

If you have an alternate route, I would suggest pursuing that as the Diversity Visa chances are very slim, especially in Europe.

I think the Diversity Visa is our only option. We both work for the same company that does have some offices in the USA but currently they are not doing the type of work we do here over there so our skills are not required.
If you know of any other legal ways please do let me know.
My other option is doing winning the actual lottery and buying the green card. It was half a million dollars last time I looked but not even sure you can do that now.

[COLONEL_SMITH]

Matt Harper said:

I know of two couples in the area I live in who have utilized an E2 Treaty Investor visa to set up in business here. One of them bought an existing Subway sandwich franchise (for less than $100k) and another who established a pool-care business with an investment of around $70k. The Subway guys are not doing so well, but the pool people are killing it.

E2 does have some punitive restrictions, but may be an option, depending on how determined you are to make the move...

I was just telling my wife about the English pool guy that cleaned our pool when we rented a villa for a holiday back in 2006. That probably explains how he was living out there. At least we have some other options to think about now.

I am trying to find the official diversity visa application website and can only find this one
https://www.dvlottery.com/
Is that the genuine government site?? To check a status of a past application you get directed to a website with .gov in the address. Just checking as I don’t want to hand over all of our personal info to a dodgy site.
Do I apply separately from my wife or does shy apply and adds me as her husband? Don’t want to mess the application up.
Thanks

[COLONEL_SMITH]

It looks like 2021 applications have not started yet.
Going through that link ends up at the page I found earlier. Just says 2020 submission period has ended and gives a link to check your status.
I guess we will have to keep checking back to see when they start 2021 applications

[COLONEL_SMITH]

Looking for some guidance on the best way to apply when the lottery applications open next month.
My wife had not changed her Lithuanian passport yet so is in her maiden name. She cannot get an appointment at the embassy to change it until after we apply for the lottery.
My question is she has to apply with the exact names on her passport(her maiden name) but when she changes the passport for her married name will that mess up the application?

[COLONEL_SMITH]

I hope that is the case as she i don’t think she can get it renewed before Christmas unless she goes back to Lithuania to do it.
I have asked the US embassy the question but got my doubts I will get a reply.

[COLONEL_SMITH]

The Moose said:

Read the instructional document cover to cover. It's hugely helpful and answers almost all questions you could have.

I was reading some of it yesterday but could not see anything about changing names during the application. It mentioned just about everything but I could not see anything about that. I will print it out and read it through properly.
Have you applied for one?

[COLONEL_SMITH]

We submitted both of our entries last night so we are officially in the Diversity Lottery for 2021