Posts Tagged ‘American Dream’

This is for everyone who is a winner of the DV-2011 and is right now nervously waiting for his or her interview date at the US consualte in Frankfurt. Our date there was nearly exactly one year ago and now Flo and I can laugh about it! I already told you that our interview wasn’t very nice, but hey – it all worked out positive in the end and we now are proud owners of our very own Greencards.

You shouldn’t let yourself get freaked out by that date. The most time of it you will be sitting there and wait anyways! But there are a few things that you can do to prevent the worst. First you should have all certificates, passports and other stuff required with you and more important organized and by hand all the time! Make sure to have the money in cash, to have pictures of yourself and to have copies of everything as well! If you are well prepared you are on the safe side I would say! You should also bring some money, something to drink, something to eat and perhaps a book to read. You are not allowed to bring a mobile phone, a laptop or any other electronic devices with you so make sure to leave those things at home or in your car!

If your english is not very good, you should ask for a person to translate everything to you. This is your right! Even if the consulate staff doesn’t recommend it! If you aren’t very secure with speaking english, you should print out some sentences and learn them. You will be asked after your education, your work situation and your plans for everything regarding the US. Make sure you are able to answer questions about that topics!

As you know I didn’t win the Greencard myself – my husband did. At the consulate I wasn’t treated as a actual winner, but only as the wife of my husband. I wasn’t allowed to speak, if I weren’t addressed specifically be the consulate staff. So if you are not the Greencard winner but “only” a spouse, try to keep yourself low profile. If anyone wants to know anything from you, he’ll ask!

I don’t want to scare anyone away or make you insecure about your interview, but always have in mind: The US doesn’t give away those Greencards for fun! They only want to give them to people who are serious about an emmigration and who will follow their dreams in the near future! So even if that may be the case don’t act insecure about your emmigration at the consulate or even come up with your doubts about the whole thing! Because this will not help you at all!

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask and I’ll try to answer them! You also may check the American Dream winner forum, which actually helped us a lot with our questions!

I wish everyone with an upcoming interview the best of luck, I keep my fingers crossed for you guys and am looking forward to meet you all in the US one day!

Many of you have won a Greencard this year. So I thought it would be nice to tell you guys what you can expect the following months to be. First you should either stay calm or begin packing your stuff. We chose the first option, because we were sure, that we would let some time pass by before moving. Than you have to wait for your American Dream package to arrive! What comes in the big brown envelope are a lot of forms you have to fill out. To be prepared you can arrange a detailed CV, make a list of all of your US visits, get a biometric passport (if you don’t already have one) and get some biometric pictures.

Some weeks (or even months) after you’ve send the forms to the Department of State in Kentucky you will receive an invitation to your interview in Frankfurt. Before that interview you should visit the doctor. You can do that afterwards, too, but this will lengthen the time till your Visa arrives. We visited the doctor a week before the interview. In our case the doctor took an X-Ray of our lungs, checked our bodys for diseases, took blood for the HIV test (I think you don’t have to do that anymore), checked our urine for drugs and asked us about our disease history. We also had to affirm that we didn’t get our tattoos at jail or some shady place. Before you go to the official doctors appointment you should get all the required immunizations. You will find a list of the required immunizations in your American Dream package. Note that you can’t get all of those immunizations at one appointment, so try to start as soon as possible!

To your interview at the consulate you have to bring along your birth certificate, all of your education certificates, a confirmation from your current employer, your criminal record, statements of account, (if needed) your marriage licence and the birth certificates of your kids, your passports, passport photos and dollars. I hope I didn’t forget anything, but you will get a complete list from The American Dream anyways.

It actually took us quite a while to get together all the certificates and all the other stuff, so I recommend that you start with that as soon as you receive your winners package!

So much for the abstract part, next time I will tell you about our interview at the consulate!

I check the Facebook page of the American Dream on a regular basis and it kind of amazes me how serious this years lottery entrants are about winning the Greencard. I told you before that I only got it through my husband and that I never joined the lottery myself. It also was Flo’s first time as an entrant. When he received the winner notification, it totally took us by surprise, because we hadn’t talked or thought about the lottery for ages. To us it was fate that chose us to win. Had Flo won the Greencard only a year earlier, we now wouldn’t have the chance to make this dream come true together. And he actually doesn’t know, if he would have moved to the US alone!

I don’t want to destroy anyones dreams, but this whole thing isn’t just about winning. It is about changing your whole life! It is about pain, about loss and about having to start all over! You have to give up your whole life in Germany (or any other country you happen to live in), get a new job, a new home, new friends and so much more! When we won the Greencard we didn’t expect what we had to deal with after it! This whole Greencard process isn’t easy! I often wonder, if we are doing the right thing and it nearly breaks my heart when my family members and my friends tell me how afraid they are of letting me go some day.

I really wish everyone who wants to win a Greencard a lot of luck! But I hope that you all are aware of how much this will change your life! And that you know that winning a Greencard is not only a dream coming true, but a lot of struggle, work and sadness! So, let fate decide, if you are ready or not! And make the best of what happens – no matter if you win this year or not!