THE Golden Ticket to USA — dedicated for Sri Lankans
First of all I would like to introduce my self in briefly, I’m Aravinda Rathnayake who is working as a Software Engineer in Sri Lanka and during my leisure time I work as a community advisor for Diversity Visa program and helped many Sri Lankan winners to smoothly go through with the application and visa adjudication process since 2019.
Brief Introduction
Okay Here is the summary, There is many pathways available to immigrate to USA and from that one of easiest, less costly and fastest way to immigrate method is Diversity Visa (DV). It’s basically a JACKPOT!.
The Diversity Visa program is runs by the US government and administrated by the Department of State (DoS) which gives you a once in a life time opportunity to work and lives permanently in USA and few years after you can apply for the Naturalization process (US Citizenship).
The offering residence status is also known Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), Green Card and some people called it as a ‘Golden Ticket’.
In every year this program runs and randomly select and gives opportunity to immigrate 55,000 of global individuals who won the lottery program. However, It excluding list of countries (india, china, canada etc.) from the eligibility which already immigrate more than 50,000 individuals during the last five years.
Keep calm, Sri Lanka still not in the list and therefore eligible to apply if you are a born Sri Lankan ;).
If you got SELECTED, there was a document verification and interview procedure for you and your family to determine eligibility for grant a diversity visa.
I was planned to discuss another topic by dedicating selected Sri Lankan winners on MAY 2022 by publishing another article ;).
How to Apply
The applying process is really straightforward and totally FREE of charge and you won’t PAY for anyone during the process. There is only one way to enter the program and check results is using following link.
ALL OTHERS ARE SCAMS! or COSTS to YOU. It’s also a privacy threat which allow people to know your sensitive details.
Program LINK: https://dvprogram.state.gov/
You can apply for the program in every year October → November period and starting and ending date is vary in every year, In this year It’s Oct 6th 09:00 PM (IST) to Nov 9th 2021 10:30 PM (IST).
DoS usually make available the exact date on every year September on their website and their US consulate websites social media accounts, and you can check whether you are a lucky selectee of the program in every year MAY first week.
Before you apply, you should know you are a qualifier or else it was a SAD, if you got selected. Because there is NO WAY to get approved your Green Card petition, If you couldn’t verify your eligibility.
How do I know I’m a Qualifier?
You can qualified to the program based on your education or work experiences currently you have. The most easiest and convenient way to become a qualifier to the program is your Education.
Remember you can either be qualified by Education or from your Work Experiences.
01. Qualify by Education
It’s the simplest method, According to the Sri Lankan Standard, If you are having a 3 Passes for G.C.E Advanced Level (not Including General English) or having a Bachelors Degree CONGRATULATIONS! you are a QUALIFIER.
Keep in mind they DID NOT accepts Diplomas, Higher Diplomas or even any other NVQ Level programs. They simply needs your AL/s or your Bachelors on hand.
02. Qualify by Work Experiences
If you are qualifying for the program through your work experience without having your required education levels, it is bit hard to prove your eligibility. Because you must have two years of experience within the last five years in a occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience that is designated as Job Zone Four or Five, classified in a specific Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP) rating of 7.0 or higher from the U.S Department of Labour.
What is my Job Zone and SVP Rate
If you are an employee and would like to know your Job Zone and SVP Rate simply, visit the following Link and enter your occupation on “Occupation Quick Search” bar.
LINK: https://www.onetonline.org/
Now Let’s move to an example.
According to my employment designation I’m a software Engineer but there is no occupation which directly matched with “Software Engineer” in their database. So what i did was select the most appropriate occupation that suits to my Job Description.
If you got your occupation in first search ignore this section :).
Then what i need to do is go through with each occupation and check any “Sample of reported job titles” are match with my occupation. So based on the Skills and Tasks, I selected “Software Developers” occupation.
Under the occupation, “Job Zone” section you can found your Job Zone and SVP Rates.
If you got Job Zone Four or Job Zone Five and your SVP Range is higher than 7.0, CONGRATULATIONS! you are eligible for apply and get approved a Diversity Visa under your work experiences.
Application Prerequisites
Now all your initial applying requirements are fulfilled, now you need to get those compulsory things ready.
01. Each individual recent Photographs — You and all accompanying members of the family, including unmarried children’s age under 21 years should be take a photograph under the US Visa Photo Requirements. Visit following Link for sample acceptable photographs and in detail instructions.
LINK: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/photos.html#DV
You can use the following official tool to crop your digital photo under the required requirements.
LINK: https://tsg.phototool.state.gov/photo
Either you can take a photo in a Studio or you can take it by yourself. Keep in mind to not digitally alter the taken photographs.
02. Valid and Unexpired Passport — If you did not have your passport right now, get it before it is too late because there is a considerable rush on the passport offices these days.
Passport is only needs for Main Applicant only.
It’s all good?
Then simply just visit PROGRAM LINK and fill what they ask without noticeable errors in Names, Date of Birth, Passport Details, Derivative details, Email address etc.
MAKE SURE TO DOUBLE CHECK BEFORE APPLICATION SUBMITS.
For more detailed instructions that you may need while filling the application you can visit:
INSTRUCTIONS LINK: https://lk.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/149/DV-2023-Instructions-English.pdf
DV HELP LINK: https://dvprogram.state.gov/Help.aspx
Once you applied, you should at least wait until next year MAY for the results. Until then you must keep your Submission Confirmation Page that you will receive after a successful entry.
SOME FAQS
01. Can I apply multiple entries for me and my derivative?
YES, If you are married you can apply for two applications, there is no harm and your chances of getting selected is DOUBLE!.
02. Can same person re-apply twice in a year?
DO NOT APPLY TWICE FOR THE SAME PERSON IN A SINGLE YEAR, AND YOU WILL GET DISQUALIFIED FROM THE PROGRAM.
If you having any issues or doubts to get clarified before apply, just simply put a comments over here. I’m always pleasure to help you :).
OR FOUND ME ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN USING HANDLER: @aravindakr95
THANKS FOR READING AND ALL THE BEST WITH YOUR DV APPLICATION! :)
