Sometimes I feel like Flo and I actually live the dream of someone else. Yes, we both always wanted to move to the US. Yes, we are more than overjoyed to get this opportunity. But no, we didn’t wait desperately to get this chance. The moment we read this mail telling us that Flo won the Greencard, kind of blew us over. As I already told you, Flo took part in the lottery for the first time and I never took part in it. So it wasn’t as if Flo and I waited for this chance for the last 20 years.

Yesterday we met a guy, that has been visiting the US up to three times a year for the last 20 years and took part in the lottery ten times more than we did. This guy already is half American and would move right now, if he got the chance, too. He actually thinks about trying to get a Visa on another way and I guess would fit in the US better than any American.

Seeing this sometimes makes me feel bad, because the Greencard kind of come to us via fate and not via hard work. We didn’t pray for this for the last 20 years. We didn’t cry over negative notifications for the last years. And we didn’t leave the US after a holiday with the desperate urge of just running back.

I somehow believe in fate and know that this chance is a chance we just HAVE to take und that we will make something good out of it. But it is a strange feeling to know that there are people out there that want this chance so badly! If I could, I would give those people a tiny part of my Greencard to live their dream as well. But I can’t. So I feel like I have to make this chance – at least to not be a burglar of someone elses dream!

Our interview date at the american consulate in Frankfurt was in October 2009. It didn’t go very good, but please don’t be scared. We talked to a lot other Greencard winners after it and it turned out that our horrible interview wasn’t like the average interview at all. But let’s start at the beginning.

Our interview was at 8.15 am. We arrived at the consulate at about 6.45 am which was a very good idea, because there already were tons of people waiting in line. You are not allowed to bring any technical devices into the consulate, so leave your mobile phones and laptops in the car or even better at home. When you enter the consulate you have to go through a security check like you do at the airport. We had a bottle of water with us (which you are allowed to), but to prove that I didn’t carry any poisonous liquids in there I had to drink some of it and wait for 30 seconds to prove that I was still alive. Then you enter the waiting room, which is a huge hall with tons of people waiting in there.

You will spend the most time waiting from that point on. So bring time! We didn’t leave the consulate until 12 pm that day! First you have to go to a window, where you have to hand over your passports (they will stay at the consulate) and your id pictures. The woman who talked to us there was a bit annoyed, because she thought Flo had only brought pictures of him wearing his glasses along. But he had ones without the glasses, too, so we were done there. Next you have to go to a window where you pay the money. We had to pay 775 dollars each (I am not sure if it is the same this year). Remember to tell that officer that you won the lottery. We didn’t know that and annoyed him by not telling him!

When you enter the consulate you get a list, in which order you have to arrange your documents. Do that immediately, because it will spare you trouble and you really shouldn’t wear out the consulate staffs nerves! At the next window you have to hand over all your documents, tell the officer how much money you will bring to the US and tell them about your education and your job. Note that you have to bring the originals and copies of all your documents!

If you are done with that, you are ready for your real interview! In our case the most horrible part of that day!

To be continued…

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!