U.S. Citizenship For Dummies. Jennifer Gagliardi

expansion of an existing business through a 40 percent net increase in its net worth or in the number of employees

Check the USCIS website EB-5 Investor Program at www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program for more information.

      Winning the green-card lottery

      Entering the Diversity Visa Lottery Program can speed up your chances of receiving a visa, especially if you find yourself in one of the lower preference categories. Even if you’re currently on a waiting list, you have nothing to lose by entering the visa lottery — it’s easy, and it costs nothing but your time and the price of a few USCIS-style photographs. (Find out more about taking a good photo USCIS-style in Chapter 4.)

      If you receive a visa through the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, you will be authorized to live and work permanently in the United States, as well as bring your husband or wife and any children under the age of 21 along with you.

      

Each year 55,000 immigrant visas become available to people who come from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The qualifying countries can change from year to year, so check with the Department of State (www.travel.state.gov) to get the latest list of qualifying countries and detailed instructions for applying.

      The Department of State randomly selects about 100,000 applicants from among the qualified entries. They pick 100,000 applicants when only 55,000 visas are available because they know that not all the applicants will qualify to successfully complete the visa process. After 55,000 applicants have qualified and completed the immigration process, no further diversification lottery visas are issued for that year. The following year, the process starts all over again — so if you didn’t win this year, try again next year, and if necessary, the year after that, and so on.

      Visa lottery winners wanting to adjust their status must still meet the normal adjustment criteria, including lawful status at the time of adjustment.

      

Many unscrupulous companies prey on the insecurities of noncitizens. They charge big bucks for the service of helping them fill out their visa lottery applications. Don’t pay it! Filling out the visa diversification lottery application is one of the easiest things you’ll do during the entire immigration process. If you have doubts about your ability to fill it out properly, you and an English-speaking friend or family member should be able to figure it out in less than 20 minutes.

      

Even though filling out the form is easy, be sure to read and follow the instructions carefully. If you don’t do everything as required in the instructions, your application will not be considered.

      UNDERSTANDING THE PRIORITY DATE

      In the case of a relative immigrant visa petition, the priority date is the date on which the petition was actually filed. In the case of an employer-sponsored petition, the priority date is the date the labor certification was filed with the Department of Labor or, if no labor certification is required, the date the petition was filed.

You can track changes in priority date availability with the Visa Bulletinhttps://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html.

Waiting for a Visa

      Several factors influence how long the process of getting an immigrant visa can take.

      The U.S. government does not impose a limit on the number of immediate-relative visas that can be issued in any given year. Therefore, USCIS workload permitting, processing often begins upon receipt.

      On the other hand, preference categories for both family and employment visas are numerically limited. A visa must become available before the Department of State can start to process the case or before you can apply to adjust status in the United States.

      The reason for lengthy waits — priority dates that are months or several years away — is that each year many more people apply for immigrant visas than can be allowed to enter the country under the yearly preference limits set by law.