Chasing the American Dream: 9 Reliable Ways to move to the USA

Every second, if not every first inhabitant of the post-Soviet space dreams of getting a green card. And there are chances! The main thing is to choose for yourself the most suitable option out of nine possible immigration routes to the United States.

But it's better not to cheat. For this, not only the refusal of a residence permit is threatened, but also a ban on entering the country even as a tourist.

To move to the United States, you need to get a green card that gives you the right to reside. With this document, you can live in America, work (but not in senior government positions), travel to other countries and return back.

The owner of a green card can not only vote in elections, otherwise he does not differ from an ordinary American. However, after a few years of living in the United States, you can get citizenship, which will already give you all the rights. But this is not about that, let's talk about ways to get the coveted green card.

This is the easiest and one of the most popular ways to get documents. But one wedding is not enough — after the wedding ceremony, you need to fill out and submit a package of documents to USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Service). Here is their list:

The documents are considered for several months, and then the spouses are invited to an interview with the immigration service to check whether their union is fictitious. There they look at joint photos, ask all sorts of questions about the life and habits of lovers, relatives and how the couple met.

In general, marriages for the sake of a green card can be quite sincere, and sometimes fictitious. And both have their advantages.

A love marriage usually occurs between a lonely Russian girl who dreams of a better life and an American who is unclaimed among his compatriots, sitting on dating sites in search of his "Natasha".

If romantic feelings really exist and no one pays anyone for love, the petition will be approved quickly. The advantages of a love marriage with an American are a quick and simple procedure, a low probability of refusal for an interview and a green card in a year and a half.

Now about the fictitious marriage. Americans agree to such an adventure for 20-40 thousand dollars (1.2-2.5 million rubles). For this, you will get several years of marriage, seemingly quite happy.

An immigrant receives a green card, waits for another year or so to remove suspicion and gets divorced for some household reason. Everything would be fine, but a fictitious marriage in the States is a federal crime. If the secret is revealed, the foreigner will be deported, and the valiant American will go to prison. And yes, after that you can get a lifetime ban on entering the United States.

By the way, in recent years, marriage interviews have been conducted much more carefully, the spouses are even divided into different rooms to compare their testimony.

You can go to the United States in search of protection — this status is given to a person who has proven that he is being systematically persecuted in his homeland because of his race, nationality, religion, political opinion or belonging to a social group, and the government of this country cannot and does not want to protect him.

After receiving refugee status in a year, you can get a real American citizenship.

To request asylum, you must come to the United States and submit Form I-589 to USCIS, as well as a history of harassment and any documents, certificates and certificates that confirm it. All materials must be correctly translated into English.

Previously, refugee applications were considered for years — an invitation to an interview could be received in 3-5 years. But since January 2018, the procedure has significantly accelerated and the consulate is invited in a month.

By the way, about 90% of applications for political asylum are based on fiction, in fact, no one is persecuting anyone. I just want to go to America.

A representative of the LGBT community can get a real case for asylum. In the CIS countries, such people are really being bullied, and in the USA they know about it.

Almost any gay, transgender or lesbian from a low-developed country can get asylum in the United States if they seriously study the issue and start acting.

Many Russians and residents of neighboring countries are sure that asylum can be obtained even in case of disagreement with the policy of the authorities. And as evidence, reposts from the VKontakte page with thirty subscribers and photos from rallies are used.

But this is not quite true. Asylum for political reasons can only be granted to well-known opposition politicians and journalists, high-level businessmen with political ambitions and active members of civil society who flash in the news.

The statistics of the decisions of all judges on cases of political asylum are open — you can't see them here.

With a real case, it is quite possible to get approval, and the terms of consideration are fast. One of the disadvantages is the chance of refusal and return to your homeland, where you can be killed or imprisoned.

Nowadays, the industry of fictional cases for political asylum is flourishing. You can hire a lawyer, and he will create a turnkey biography for a fee with a history of persecution, false documents, certificates, and sometimes a change of passport. You can even go as far as injuring yourself, if only the plan would work.

There are disadvantages here, the main one of which is to make a folding story out of a tall tale without internal contradictions and weaknesses — a very difficult task that an immigrant cannot cope with on his own, and lawyers will take tens of thousands of dollars and several years.

And again, this is a federal crime, followed by deportation and a lifetime ban from entering the United States.

The advantages of a green card for political asylum: you can try it if no other method of immigration is suitable, such applications are quickly considered and they have a good percentage of approval. Well, everything is free if you prepare the case yourself.

Since January 29, 2018, applications are considered in the direct order — the earlier you submitted, the earlier you received a response. The average waiting time for an interview is a month. With the arrival of Trump, refugees often complained about the constant refusals and the stricter attitude of officers reviewing cases. But, according to statistics, the number of refusals has increased insignificantly.

And since June of this year, victims of domestic violence and organized crime, including drug cartels and gangsters, cannot claim refugee rights.

It has also become more difficult for other refugees to obtain status because of an additional wording that says that the United States can accept a person if the government of his country not only "does not want" or "cannot" protect him, but also "in every way promotes" or "encourages" his persecution. And to prove it oh how problematic.

If you have a relative in the States, you can get a green card by submitting a family petition. However, this applies only to parents, children, spouses, as well as siblings. Grandmother will not be able to move her grandchildren to America anymore.

The American sponsor must submit the following forms: I-130, I-485 and I-864. It all depends on the proximity of family ties — parents, children under 21 and the spouse of an American citizen can get a green card within 6-18 months.

And children over the age of 21, brothers and sisters wait much longer, and the waiting list can be 10-25 years, depending on the degree of kinship.

Among the advantages: simple form, no additional requirements except relatives, low cost and quick consideration for close relatives.

What happened with the arrival of Trump? The waiting time for a green card for some categories of relatives has exceeded 20 years and continues to grow. And Trump also calls family immigration "chain" and proposes to reduce it several times, leaving the possibility of reunification only for spouses and children under 21.

The easiest way to get to the USA is to win the lottery. 50 thousand green cards are played annually. To become a lottery participant, you need to fill out a simple questionnaire on a special website from October to November, the results are announced in May.

The chances of success will increase if you fill out forms for all members of your family. And it is even better to fill out the form yourself, without intermediary offices. The fact is that in case of winning, these offices often blackmail the winners by offering to buy a unique application number known only to them — you can't get a visa without it. Sometimes they ask for 10 thousand dollars for this.

You can participate every year, but the probability of winning is low - less than 1%. Besides, you can play all your life and not win, but you can become a winner the first time.

And now Trump. He is sure that terrorists get into the country with the help of the lottery and it should be canceled. But there were no real bills on this topic.

A visa can be obtained by qualified specialists from other countries who are necessary for the American economy and have a job offer in the USA.

This document is both immigration and temporary. This means that a person can either temporarily work in the country and leave it, or, under certain conditions, receive a green card in the future through an employer.

So, how to get an H-1B visa: we get a specialized education, gain years of experience in our field and become a sought-after specialist, consult with an immigration lawyer, start looking for a job in the United States, find a job, pay for the services of an immigration lawyer, apply to USCIS and get a visa.

In fact, only a few categories of specialists can get a work visa: engineers, programmers, microbiologists and some other smart guys. An experienced painter can hardly count on immigration.

Form I-129 is used to submit the application.

Now about the innovations. The minimum wage requirements in the United States for an applicant have been increased, and may be increased even more. Petitions for the extension of an H‑1B visa are being approved less and less often when a person is already in the United States. And with such a visa, it has become more difficult to get a green card.

The method is very similar to the previous one, but differs in that a person receives a green card through work, already being in the USA, and not coming here on a work visa.

This scheme works something like this: a person receives an education in the USA (preferably a Master's Degree or PhD), finds an internship during OPT, becomes a valuable employee, asks the employer to issue him a green card and thus remains in the country forever.

But here it is very possible that after graduating from university and completing an internship, the graduate will leave the United States, since the student visa is not an immigration visa and does not allow you to live and work in the United States when the training is completed. Among other disadvantages: the unpredictability of the process, the low probability of a positive outcome and high requirements for candidates.

If you are a genius, then you are here. The O‑1 visa can be obtained by people with extraordinary abilities: singers, musicians, athletes, scientists, actors, public figures and other talents. Form I-129 is used to submit the application.

But this is not a green card. That is, you come to the States on a visa and are already trying to get a residence permit there, but not everyone succeeds, and the talents return home.

The applicant for an O‑1 visa must prove that he has extraordinary abilities in some field, and in this field he is among 1-5% of the best specialists in the world, and is also going to work in the same specialty after arriving in the United States for the benefit of the American economy.

The visa is suitable for people working in a management position in a large company that has representative offices both in the United States and in their country. Such a person can be transferred to work in an American office — he will receive an L‑1 visa.

The visa is also suitable for some owners of small or medium-sized businesses. If your project is developing both in your home country and in the USA— there is an opportunity for you to get an L-1 visa and move to the USA as a director of this business.

But it's not just like that — even before you move, the business process in America should be established, and in your home country, the business should have a significant turnover, show profit and a serious organizational structure.

With this visa, you can get a green card in the future, and Form I-129 is used to apply for L-1.

Immigration for the rich on an EB‑5 visa. Then you can get green cards — also, of course, in exchange for investments.

The entry threshold is quite high, because to get a green card you will have to invest from $ 1 million and create at least ten new jobs for American citizens and residents.

The exception is investments in depressed regions through special distribution centers — in this case, only 500 thousand dollars will be needed.

There is no way to do without a good lawyer and accountant, and the main disadvantage of this option can be called non-fulfillment of the stated business plan, which will lead to a refusal to issue a green card.