Kenya to Manhattan: Peris' Green Card journey

Kenya, Tanzania, UK: Green Card winner Peris Semiti Apia had been living in many countries when she finally got the chance to make her childhood dream come true: living in the USA! In our interview, Peris shares her transformative journey from the heart of Africa to the bustling streets of Manhattan.

Dear Peris, we would like to hear the story of your winning notification!

I remember that moment quite well. I was in the car with my son. He was doing the driving, and I was just checking my phone. A notification came up saying, “You are a winner!” So I opened the email and, I swear to God, the words just jumped out at me: “You are one of the lucky winners of the Green Card Lottery!”

I was shocked! And at the same time, I wasn’t! I was just going through so much emotion and wanted to make sure I was reading it right. So I read it again, and again, and again, when I finally realized that we had, actually, won! So I turned to my son and said, "Guess what? We won!”

Peris won the DV-2023 Green Card Lottery and moved to the place of her dreams.

And he's like, “We won what, Mom?” And I'm like, “We won! We won!” I was just hysterical! I started releasing my joy, still trying to explain what it meant, and at the same time, I was just screaming! I did a dance in the car, punching the air, and honestly, the confusion I caused my 18-year-old was hilarious!

He didn't understand the magnitude of it at first. But yeah, later we both got very excited. So, long story short: I was in the car when I got my winning notification, and my response was very interesting, to say the least!

Peris's son Jimmy Junior was 18 years old at the time of the Green Card win. Today, they enjoy the American lifestyle together.

Were you not a bit scared?

I don't think I was scared. You see, I was living in the UK at the time, so migration was not a new concept to me. I'm such a mix, I'm half Kenyan, half Tanzanian, lived my early years in Tanzania and then to Kenya, back to Tanzania and this was — say — 23 years in Africa. I then moved to the UK where I spent another 24 years.

Of course, different continents have different approaches to migration challenges. However, the idea of going to America was a childhood desire. Before I came to the UK, I had been trying to go to the USA for quite a while. So I think for me, the fact that it finally looked possible replaced any fear at that moment.

Before winning the Green Card Lottery, what had you tried to make your American dream come true?

My attempts had been many and had not worked out. First, I tried it via school, this was when I completed my high school and pre going to college. Then I tried a visitor's visa while in Africa, but early family visitor invites were declined. However, my niece was getting married in the US and was invited over. So I came to visit my sister and family and went to my niece's wedding as well as visited my aunt and uncle and other family members. I was even sent here for work for a very short time, however, immigration didn't work out.

Peris was stationed in New York City on business when she received the winning notification.

During my visits, my interest to migrate to the USA grew, and I began asking for avenues from a work perspective. In parallel, I started the Green Card process once, but I had not been successful. However, when I finally won the Green Card Lottery after three years of playing, I was right in the middle of a project for my current company that focused on their USA operations!

What a coincidence!

It was! My employer is a German company that also has offices in London and the USA. Sometimes, when deemed suitable, they bring in people from other regions to work. While on the USA project, I was hinting that I wanted to live and work in America permanently, but they were making it clear that it was a difficult process.

Peris won the Green Card Lottery DV-2023 and got her winning notification from The American Dream

So it was just a beautiful coincidence that I won the Green Card during this time, and really, thank God! And obviously, whatever blessings are out there — whatever, whoever you believe in, I feel my case is a divine intervention!

And, of course, I thank the team of The American Dream. I think it's a phenomenal role that you play because you help provide the information and support. The Green Card process is overwhelming if you go through it without an agency or support.

Can you share your experience with the immigration process?

It was super amazing to have that support from your team. My contact was a lady named Karolina, and isn't she amazing! She was kind, supportive, and most of all very reassuring because of the amount of panic on my side.

Karolina walked me through all the requirements, checking all the information I was providing and telling me what the next steps were. I completely took advantage of the full package because it meant she was just a phone call and an email away.

Maybe because I'm an auditor by nature, I like things to be very clear and straightforward. Questions like “Where in the process are we now?”, “What have we accomplished yet?”, “What needs to be done next?”, “Do you need anything else?”, “I sent you this — have you seen it?”, were our daily business.

You should have seen my immigration file! It was so big when we went to the interview appointment at the embassy! We wanted to make sure I could give them all they required, just in case they had any doubts. Karolina and I worked well together. She was very forthcoming and helpful.

I had one or two complications, to be fair. One of them was when we went to the doctor’s appointment. You get a list of all the things that are required. We had done all the essential things like vaccinations, but some new rules had been introduced in between. Luckily, we were able to salvage the situation quickly because Karolina walked me through how we could address this.

Peris had some complications in the process but could rely on the help of her emigration advisor Karolina.

I tell everybody who wants to immigrate to the USA, “Go through an agency! I swear to God, they helped me a lot!” Some say they don’t like paying for services, but this also means they’re not increasing their chances. At the end of the day, everything has a price. And the price can be much higher if you try to immigrate without the proper knowledge. I tried to do it in Canada once. I paid £ 2,500 and got nowhere! I was so devastated.

Even if you're not paying for expert services, you're paying in other ways. So you have to choose your priority. Do you want to lose your mind in the process, or do you want to achieve your goals? Money will come back to you. So I was happy to pay for your services, and I tell a lot of people about you guys. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.

Thank you so much! So after finally moving to the USA, what was your fresh start like?

I started in Manhattan, and I was there for about a month. Got an apartment through my work. I don't take it for granted — I was very lucky. Then I was given time to find something. Now I work in New York, but I live in New Jersey.

I came at a bad time. It was post-COVID and the rents had gone through the roof. For me, the trick has been to find areas of compromise. But this is only my sixth month here.

For the start, Peris was given an apartment in Manhattan by her employer. Later, she moved to New Jersey.

What is it like to live in the USA?

My family members aside, I think one of the things that I find very attractive about America is the variety of things you might desire here. If you want very cold weather, you can get it. If you want warm weather, you can go to Florida or Down South. If you're interested in preserving a simpler way of life, like living in the countryside or suburbs or city life, all that is an option here.

I just like the fact that the country accommodates the different changes and desires you might have in your life during any period. It allows me to change settings at a fraction of the price. I feel like there's more opportunity now.

Also, I like the openness and general acceptance of people. All the cities and people are different, of course, but overall, I feel like it's very friendly and welcoming. Everybody talks to everybody. There's just a general friendliness that I find enlightening.

Peris works in Manhattan and enjoys the many new opportunities in the USA in her free time

Then, there is this feeling that anything is possible and there's so much going on all the time in all the industries. If you're a night person, there's work for you. If you are a day person, there is plenty of work for you during the day. If you want to retrain in something and change industries, there just seem to be opportunities. That's what I feel.

And people aren't necessarily very conventional. If you want to be different, figure out what works for you. I'm not sure if there's a better place to do that than the USA.

Has living in the USA changed you as a person?

Oh, it has definitely lifted my spirit. Without giving too much away, I'm approaching 50 at some point. And I think, when you get to a certain age, you may feel a little drained out of life. I had raised my two kids and worked really, really hard up to that stage. I had gone through a lot of challenges, and I just needed something new to inject into my life.

Let’s say I required some kind of new direction to have this new energy. And honestly, being here in the USA made me feel a lot happier and ready to face this next phase of my life. I wanted to be a little more adventurous and do things that I haven't necessarily done before because I've been busy raising the kids while, of course, working.

I used to say to my kids, “When I’m done raising you, let's just say I will go and explore life!” I'm still making sure they're good. And I have grandchildren, too. They're all fine. But now I have time to do things for myself.

After many years of hard work, Peris now has time for herself and her own personal dream.

What advice would you give to other people who are still dreaming of a Green Card?

The one thing I have to stress is that people should not underestimate the Green Card application process. Just look at the DS-260 form. It is so long and requires so much information. And accuracy is very, very important here.

The worst thing you can do is not fill out your forms properly because, I don’t know, you may have made changes in your history, or you’re forgetting one of your middle names. There are people on YouTube talking about the kind of challenges they had going through the process.

Even being in good hands, there were one or two surprises along the way. So that's what I'm saying: Yes, it's a straightforward process with straightforward requirements, but people's circumstances are different, and that's where the complications can come in.

And especially for people like me. I've lived in Kenya, in Tanzania, in Britain. So, for example, when it comes to providing the police certificate, you have to provide one for all the countries you've lived in over a period of time. And this is hard to do in some places like Kenya and Tanzania.

It was helpful to have a consolidated list and to know that these kinds of documents take a long time, so you need to prioritize them. Karolina brought my attention to all these niche areas so we could do things in a timely and smooth manner to eliminate complications down the line.

It's worth pursuing for different circumstances, whether it's school for kids, whether it's increasing your opportunities, whether it's going in a different direction. It's definitely worth it. Do you have to make that journey alone? It's a personal decision, but I don't recommend it. There's going to be bumps along the way, there's going to be confusion, and you won’t be sure what to do then. It's worth talking to experts.

The challenges are high. Even with everything prepared, my life turned upside down. I was lucky and had some people that I was connected to. I had a good support network from my family and friends. My work was also very supportive because I had it set up before I came.

So what I'm saying is that you should prepare some things because it's going to be challenging. I also recommend that you stay connected with people and prepare yourself mentally. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you on this side of the world!