:: What is a green card? ::

A green card is a stay and work permission document for all states of the United States of America.

The old name of the green card was form I-151. The card has a green background - thus the name "green" card. The modern green card contains a photograph, finger prints, security hologram, the BCIS number and the expiration date on a white background.

But a green card has some restrictions too:

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service will only issue a green card if you can demonstrate that you want to reside in the United States for an indefinite period of time. That means you will need a home address in the U.S. or you risk losing your green card.
As a green card holder you are committed to file your taxes every year in the U.S. according U.S. law.

If you commit a crime, you could loose your green card and be deported.

In the past (until september 1989) the green card was issued for an indefinite period of time.
These days, a green card expires after 10 years and must be renewed if you don't want to become an Amercian citizen.

You can apply for an American citizenship after 5 years.

:: When do I need a green card? ::

If you want to enter the U.S. you will need a visa.

With a normal temporary visa you are not allowed to go to work. Holding a job during a vacation or internship (unpaid employments too!) is normally not allowed.

With a green card you have permission to hold employment. You can enter the U.S. anytime and stay as long as you want.

Temporary employment, internships, full-time employment or self-employed is no problem with the green card.

:: How can I get a green card? ::

The easiest way:Take part in the annual green card lottery. Every year the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service raffles 55.000 green cards. If you win the lottery, you must prove that you will not become a welfare case directly after entering the U.S.
According to experience, you should prove that you have least $5.000 U.S. cash or stock investments per person.

The other way: You must take an English test and provide a reference from an American company or university.

If you want to become self-employed you usually have to prove you have a capital of $1 Mio US.

:: Who can participate in the lottery? ::

Anybody from a qualifying country who has a high school education or its equivalent, defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education OR two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience.
It is not necessary to be of a minimum age of 18. 

Your spouse and any unmarried children under 18 years old automatically qualify and will get a green card if you win!

You can double your chance to win if your spouse participates in using a separate application form.

:: Who can not participate? ::

Countries from which large numbers immigrate to the U.S., called "high admission" countries, are barred from the green card lottery.

"High admission" countries are those countries which have immigrated more than 50.000 people to the U.S. during the last 5 years because sponsoring relatives in the U.S., family reunification or with a working permit.
Every year the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service counts the number of immigrants from each country, to determine which countries can not participate in the green card lottery.

Thereby, every year the list of the ineligible countries can change.

For the lottery DV-2005 (submitting period from November 1, 2003 and December 30, 2003) the "high admission" countries were: Canada, China (mainland-born), Columbia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Great Britain (United Kingdom) including dependent areas, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, The Philippines, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam as well as all territories that depend on the above states.
People who are born in Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau S.A.R, Northern Ireland and Taiwan did qualify and could take part on the lottery DV-2005.

:: What does the year after DV means? ::

Every year the green card lottery gets another name, e.g. the lottery starting in November 1, 2003 is called DV-2005.

The year is named based on the fiscal year in the U.S. The U.S. government's fiscal year begins October, 1st and ends September, 30th.
The indication DV-2005 means, that the earliest interview date starts on October 1, 2004.

:: What is the time schedule? ::

All winners will receive a winning notification. Overall 100.000 winning notifications are mailed; therefore, you should send back the forms as quickly as possible.

As early as October 1, 2005, the green card applicants were invited to the U.S. embassy (in Germany: Frankfurt or Berlin) for an interview. On this same day there usually is a medical examination by a public health officer.

After receipt of the visa you must enter the U.S. within the following 6 months to receive the green card(s).

:: What are the photographic requirements? ::

Each submitted photograph must meet the following U.S. Government specifications:

• Applicant must be directly face the camera
• Head should not be tilted up, down or to the side
• Head should cover about 50% of the photo area
• Photo should be taken with a neutral, light-colored background
• Face must be in focus
• Sunglasses or other paraphernalia which detract from the face are not allowed
• headdress (head coverings, hats) are only acceptable due to religious beliefs; the headdress may not obscure any portion of the face

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service requires the following file format, resolution, file size and the color depth for electronic transmission:

• File format is JPG
• Color depth is either 24-bit color, 8-bit color or 8-bit grayscale
• Resolution with new digital photographs (e.g. digital camera) must be 320x240 pixel (wide x high).
  If a photographic print is scanned, the print must be 2 inches by 2 inches (50mm x 50 mm). It must be scanned at a resolution of 150dpi
• File size may not exceed 62.500 Bytes

If your photo is accurate in content, we can modify it to match the requirements of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. For example, in 2003 we received many photos, which had to be changed because the head did not cover 50% of the picture are.
We accept digital pictures in the following file formats which we will convert to match the file format requirements:

• JPG - file size at least 175 KB
• GIF and BMP - file size at least 300 KB

Please be advised that there must be a neutral, light-colored (best is a white) background.

:: Why use a lottery service? ::

• application form was mailed to the wrong address
• application form was mailed in after the send-in period
• application form was mailed using express mail, second day express mail, registered mail or other special mailings
• application form was mailed in a incorrectly sized envelope
• application form contains wrong signatures
• photograph does not meet the required size

The quota of disqualified application forms for electronical transmission is not yet published. Some possible sources for electronic transmission errors are:

• photograph does not meet requirements
• country of birth or spouse must be from an eligible country
• multiple applications will be disqualified
• insufficient information about spouse and/or children
• American spelling of e.g. towns and states

Every year new requirements are published. They could change from year to year.

Our customers get a detailed, updated guide for the green card lottery. All application forms from our customers are verified twice for errors.
After that, we submit your application during the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service specified registration period.

:: How do we keep our prices low? ::

If you check other lottery services you will see, that our prices are low.

Most of the money you pay for green card lottery services is used to cover personnel, facilites overhead and advertising cost.

We provide good service without expensive advertising and high gloss brochures. Our advertisements are well directed and cost-effective.

Our goal is to help you to successfully participate in the green card lottery.

We hope to provide you with a fair and low-priced lottery service solution to participating in the Green Card lottery.

:: What do we offer? ::

• Verification of your application form by two different administrators
  
• Photographic service. We digitize your photograph and change it to the required size.
  You can even send us a photograph in the European format
  
• Online order tracking. You can track your order and see the status of your application form.
  
• Before we transmit your data to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service you will receive an email with your data from our service team. Any changes or errors can be fixed before final submission.

:: How can I pay? ::

Our shop system offers different payment options:

With the documents you will receive a receipt with declared German added value tax (VAT).