There have been several questions revolving around getting a spouse, about the names and how they affect the DV lottery. We have several types of affidavits that you might come across during the DV lottery process.
Types of Affidavits
Below are 4 major types of affidavits that you might come across during the DV lottery process.
- Affidavit of Name
The first one being an affidavit of name. The affidavit of name becomes important when you have issues regarding your names or the names that you use.
If you have names on one document differing from those on the other document, and those documents are critical in the DV lottery, then you need to confirm to the embassy or the relevant bodies that you are the same person with those different names, like for example, if you have two names on one document and three names, that is the two plus a different one on the other document, then you have to show them that you are the same person with those names, and you do so by acquiring an affidavit of name.
Another way: Maybe your name is incorrectly spelled on some documents, while on others it is correctly spelled. For example, you have a name that has an “I”, but on another document it has not. How do you merge the two?
For you to prove that you are the same person with those incorrectly spelled names, what you need to acquire is an affidavit of name.
Another issue is when you have changed your name. Maybe some individual along the way, they can decide to change the name because of one reason or the other. So after changing the names, then you need to prove to the consulate or the embassy or the consular officer that you changed the names. And that’s why there are different names on different documents.
Anything that makes your name differ from another one on your document, you only need to acquire an affidavit of name for that matter.
- Affidavit of Marriage
The other affidavit that we have is an affidavit of marriage. You applied for the DV lottery, but at the time of application, you had someone that you call your spouse, but you are not holding anything to prove your relationship, your union, and therefore you get selected and you are preparing to get to the interview.
In this scenario, you are supposed to get the marriage certificate, that is without a doubt. Even if you don’t have, you need to get. And how do you get? This is by getting an affidavit of marriage that you will use to prove to the relevant body of your country, that is the registrar of Marriages, and then they go ahead to issue the marriage certificate.
So that same document that you used to get this marriage certificate, the affidavit of marriage, that same document, you are needed or you are required to come with it during the interview. That is among the proof documents that will second your marriage certificate. So you go with the original marriage certificate, the certified copy, the affidavit of marriage. You go with those three documents.
Also, maybe you got the marriage certificate after getting selected, that means you need to prove on another level of your existence relationship, even before you applied for the DV lottery. What are the things to prove your union, before the application? You might use many things like the photos, bank statements, the joint accounts, many things that you did together even before this. Something to solidify that this marriage is not a fraud. It is legitimate.
So you need to go with the affidavit of marriage, the marriage certificate, both the original and the certified. And also you go with the things to prove that this is legitimate and not fraud.
- Affidavit of Support
The other affidavit that you need is an affidavit of support. You might need the affidavit of support, though it’s not needed by all embassies. But majority of the embassies will request of the affidavit of support.
It is better that you have one, if you are not sure that your embassy is one of those that don’t request. So just get it and be with it. In case you asked for it, then you provide.
What is an affidavit of support?
This is the document that you get from someone who has agreed to give you sponsorship once you land in the United States. This might be your host or someone else apart from your host, the one that agrees to give you monetary support or financial support as you start life in the new country.
It will simply prove to the consulate that you are able to sustain yourself as you begin life there, and you cannot become a public charge. By becoming a public charge, what it simply means is becoming dependent on the public or on the government for support, depending on the food stamps, for example.
So you will need the affidavit of support to prove to the consular officer that you are able to sustain yourself and you will not become dependent on the public.
- Affidavit of Birth
The other affidavit that some countries will require you to have is the affidavit of birth. For example, if you come from the East Africa, the country called Somalia, all individuals from Somalia will by default be scheduled for their interviews at the Nairobi Embassy and what the Nairobi embassy needs from the people coming from Somalia, the Somali, is an affidavit of birth, not the certificate of birth.
So you come with the certificate of birth together with the affidavit of birth. Those two documents, what they trust is the affidavit of birth. So some embassies will ask for the affidavit of birth on top of the birth certificate, especially for the foreigners, people not from the same country where the embassy is.
Those are just four types of affidavits that you might come across in the DV process.
DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. This site is not offering any Diversity Visa and is not the official site for DV Lottery program. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you have any questions about the DV lottery, please contact an immigration professional/officer or a licensed attorney.