The Diversity Visa (DV) program, commonly known as the Green Card lottery, is a program that provides an opportunity for people from eligible countries to apply for permanent residency in the United States.
This program offers a simple way to migrate to the United States, but it requires thorough research and preparation to increase the chances of success. It is a dream of many people who each year try their shot at a better life in the land of milk and honey that is the United States.
In some cases, there are people who have tried for the Green Card for more than ten years without success. Now imagine, trying for the Green Card in your first try and winning it. Then just as you think that your dream of relocating from Kenya to the United States is about to come true, everything comes crashing down and you are refused entry visa at the embassy during your interview!
This was the bitter ending for one Kenyan living in Nairobi. In 2013, this Kenyan known as Eddy and his family won the DV lottery and were overjoyed at the prospect of immigrating to the United States.
However, as Eddy shared publicly on his YouTube Channel, they made several mistakes during the application process that cost them the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immigrate to the US.
Eddy first learned about the DV program while running an internet café. A client who was applying for the program guided them through the application process, which was simple and straightforward.
However, Eddy and his wife failed to do enough research and did not know about the necessary requirements and documentation.
They hastily took passport photos at a nearby studio and submitted their application. Months later, Eddy checked the results of the lottery and found out that he was among the winners.
He received a special link from the Kentucky Consular office which provided guidance on the rest of the application process, including the medical checkup, interview preparation, and payment instructions.
Eddy and his family incurred significant expenses during this period. He had not applied for passports for himself, his wife and kids. There were also medical examination and interview costs which he also needed to meet. However, these costs could not compare to the joy of moving abroad and the opportunities that awaited him in the US.
Eddy says that their first major mistake was falling for a passport agent’s scam, who promised to help them obtain passports urgently but extorted them for more money than they had agreed upon.
Additionally, they made mistakes on the passport application, and when they received their passports, they discovered that some of the information was incorrect. They contacted the Kentucky consulate for guidance on how to rectify the mistakes.
Despite the challenges they faced, the Eddy and his family persevered and were ready for the visa interview, which was scheduled for August 11, 2015.
They arrived early but had to wait in a long queue. When they finally got to the reception, a staff member requested to review their documents before they met their interviewer. The staff member double-checked their passport and birth certificates. She realized that names on the birth certificate of one of Eddy’s kids did not match his surname.
“She was my step daughter and even though my wife’s name was on the birth certificate, she still had the surname of her biological father,” said Eddy.
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Eddy was asked to produce adoption papers or an court decree that he had assumed full parental responsibilities for the girl. He did not have one. They were also asked to show proof that the girl’s biological father had signed a decree allowing for the immigration of the girl with them. They didn’t have one.
Matters became complicated when the staff reviewed their marriage certificate. It had been applied for and certified after their Green Card win. According to her, this could be misconstrued to mean that the marriage was not genuine and had been entered into for the purpose of immigration.
In a bid to save their day, the staff advised the that only Eddy should go in for the interview. He stood the biggest chance of immigrating.
“She said that from her analysis, I was the only one qualified to immigrate,” he said.
However, Eddy and his family decided to take a bold step of faith and went in altogether for the interview.
“When we met the interviewer, he keenly looked at our documents and said that he could not grant us a visa because of my daughter’s birth certificate and parental responsibility status, and the timing of our marriage certificate,” said Eddy.
When Eddy asked how he could remedy the situation, he was told to try again for the DV Lottery in the coming year. Over ten years later, he has not been lucky.
“I have been trying but I haven’t been lucky yet,” he said. He recalled how he left the US Embassy crestfallen. “We were so sad that it really showed on our faces. The taxi driver we hired to take us back home was so empathetic that he did not charge us anything,” he said.
That fateful morning, Eddy and his family had walked into the US Embassy hoping to walk out and purchase traveling suitcases for their journey to the US, but unfortunately, they walked out with crashed dreams and a bitter tale of how close they were to moving to the US.
Here’s the full story as Edday shared publicly on YouTube:
