Halo Guys
I know I have been scarce on this forum but believe me (ti kwenda gwakwa) our internet connection is infested with viruses that ground us most of the time.
When some of us are seeking information we start jumping from one message board to another. (Believe me I have met one or two kikuyus in very remote forums)
I noticed that other forums try to educate their fellow citizens on the happenings in areas that may change their lives. I have read Tanzanians, Australians and other message boards and to quote one, look at this extract from a Tanzanian forum.
Quote
Green card, Green Card, Green Card!! Mbona wabongo hii kitu tunawaachia wenzetu tu jamani. Usiende mbali – hapa tu Kenya: Wakati wameshinda Wakenya 17,768 kwa miaka mitano - 2000 mpaka 2004, wabongo walioshinda kwa kipindi hicho ni 1,554 tu!! Tumelala wabongo pamoja na ujanja wetu wote. Wewe Mtanzania hasa uliyeko Tanzania usikose kucheza hii kitu mwaka huu. Hii lottery inachezwa sasa na mwisho ni December 4th 2005. Tumekurahishia mambo. Angalia hii site http://www.marekani.net upate kujua mambo yote muhimu kuhusu hii lottery na ujue tunaweza kukufanyia nini -- hasa kama uko Tanzania. Wakati ni kweli kuna faida binafsi za kuishi States sisi tunaona faida ambazo tunaweza zipata kwa pamoja kama watanzania - ni nyingi na hasa ukiwa nah ii kitu: Green Card. Tafadhali chezeni twende na hawa wenzetu sambamba mara hii! Nafasi ya kushinda unayo!! Soma kwenye http://www.marekani.net upate data. Ipandie Green Card yako. Good Luck!!
Unquote
Anyway the idea here is not to apportion blame (I know Kenyans are well informed) but to say guys lets encourage fellow Jamhurians to take advantage of such opportunities.
For those Jamhurians who need to know, the lottery is on. For info you can start at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html
This will go on until December 4th so hurry.
There are several computer colleges and Cyber cafes offering the service in most major towns in the country. If you need more info, just ask.
And for those who have successfully gone thro the process please avail your experience and advice to fellow Jamhurians who need help.
cheers

Rishadi,
Kusema kweli nawahurumia ndugu zetu watanzania, kwa sababu wanaojifanya eti kuwasaidia wanataka kuwaibia hela zao bure. hamna haja ya kutumia hawa ma-consultancies kwa sababu hawawezi kukusaidia kwa chochote. Kama mtu ana kompyuta yake, sioni ni kwa nini ahitaji msaada wa mtu anayelipisha ada ya kukujuazia unayoweza kujijazia mwenyewe.

Na kwa hayo machache wanaJamhuri, watu watumie wavuta rasmi wa serikali ya Marekani, uliopendekezwa na ndugu Rishadi, lakini si kufuata wajuaji wanaojaribu kutumia uswahili.

kiria jamba ici cia tanganyika ci ngenagia ni kuiringithania na ithui ndiui niki kmaturaga ni andu ega no nimari gachigo naithui ona makiaria iguru ria githweri na east african community.matuitaga kupe uria monirio ni ithe wao!

Thanks Rishadi for the information,as for me and a few kenyans here in singapore,we got a rude shock when we applied and received calls to give our credit card numbers over the phone being told it was secure.We had used the green card application on yahoo(the pop up),a call to the us embassy termed the website fake and the told us not to pass any information on that site like Credit card details,we will try your suggested website and and see how it goes.Hope its real?

SAJINI
Nakubaliana na wewe kwamba hakuna haja ya kutumia huduma za kulipwa. The loterry is free and what many kenyans lack is a computer connected to the internet and a digital camera to take the photos. That is why I suggested a cyber cafe.
NGII NDUNE
Ni ma kanda ici ciendete muno gucompete na ithui. It doesnt help coz we are more of team mates than rivals.
GACHOKA
I hear you. Please do not give your credit card numbers, that must be a agency trying to do things for you. Please try the official site starting at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html Read the requirements and follow the links. If you have the digital camera to take the photos then nothing else should cost you.

Goodluck

Thanks Richard for that link. I guess it is a real site as I had seen it last year in the papers. The ingenious Kenyans as you say have established all that under one roof. You take a photo and access the website and apply online in no time. That will be the major business of cybers in Nairobi and other major towns for a while.

I have never applied for it but I can tell those who would like to apply that all it takes you is an internet connectivity, a camera and you are game! You do not need any middleman/woman.

Good luck those who will apply!

NGUNJIRI
Thanks men for your encouraging remarks. To those Jamhurians who wanna try, dont go adventuring aimlessly in that site, like doing a test run. The thing is you are allowed only one attempt per year. If you send 2 applications in one year you are disqualified. So do your homework, arm yourself with a photo in a diskette or a flash disk Coz you will be required to attach a digital photo(first read the photo requirements carefully), get all other details like address, bio data etc then go for it. So far I know more that 5 lucky Jamhurians who have won in different years.
Luck luck luck.

I have also seen my friends apply and win that lottery and when I ask them, they say they just walked to a cyber which had everything together. I have also seen friends going through the so called "agents" and lose a lot of money in the process. I have a case in mind of this boy who was possessed with a ghost (allow me to call it that way) of immigrating to wherever and he kept on coming to me for translation of documents sent to him in french from these agents. I faithfully did but when I saw a line saying he was to pay a certain ammount for processing his docs, I had to let him know a piece of my mind. He unfortunately did not listen to me and he regrets to this day. He paid a lot of money to these non existent agents and you know what, since the only link between some of them and you is email, they will disable the email account and that's the end.

There are others who will say they are charging for helping you put the docs in order but I tell you what, what they can do you can do. In any case since the format changed to online application, the cyber cafe attendants have become experts in that and will offer you the appropriate guidance simply because you are their valued client at that moment in time.

Again, go for it those who will and good luck!

Ngunjiri you are very right. Statistics has it that approx 80 million applications were received every year when this process was done by normal mail. For the last two years, these guys have become netzines so the application is done online. Perhaps that did put off a lot of applicants who could not access internet. The last statistics that I remember reading regarding the netzine era was 30 million applications were received in that year and only less that 100,000 applicants were lucky to receive a reply that is called notification letter. Out of this 100k only 50,000 people will actually get the green card.
So nobody can guarantee you anything like success in this lottery. These Jamaas don’t know the kitu kidogo business so why pay more than just that photo and internet access?
Like we said here before, if you have the digicam and internet connection, this game is free for you so lets keep trying the cheapest way possible.