When you enter on your valid diversity immigrant visas and are admitted, you can begin settling in Georgia: handle the immigrant fee and Social Security numbers, enroll children, and use free job-search help and English classes.
“I am moving to Georgia from Ukraine with my family on an immigrant visa (Green Card lottery). What initial paperwork do we need to handle upon arrival, and how can we find entry-level jobs and affordable ESL classes?”
Summary
You do not have to wait for the plastic Green Card to start looking for work after admission. The urgent things are the expiration on each visa, a reliable U.S. mailing address, and keeping each person’s arrival documents safe.
The Social Security step depends on what each person requested on their immigrant-visa application.
Social Security should mail that person’s card to the U.S. address supplied during the visa process; its guidance says to contact the agency if the card has not arrived within three weeks of entry. [d_200.s_14-22]
Social Security recommends waiting 10 days after entry before applying independently. Start the free first-time request at https://www.ssa.gov/number-card/request-number-first-time, then complete the in-person step with original or certified identity and immigration documents within 45 days of starting online. [d_200.s_25-30] [d_467.s_30-33] [d_467.s_58-65]
Neither branch requires an eligible adult to wait for the plastic Green Card before seeking work: the endorsed immigrant visa in a passport is temporary evidence of permanent residence. [d_199.s_5-6]
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Watch out for
Next steps
Work through these steps in order, while starting school, job, and English-class arrangements as soon as your family has an address.
Before departure
Travel before each visa expires
Apply for U.S. admission no later than the expiration printed on each visa. The principal diversity-visa applicant must arrive before or with derivative family members. Bring the address where USCIS should mail each Green Card; if it changed since the interview, give the new address to the officer at admission. [d_264.s_35] [d_264.s_38] [d_198.s_45-49]
Requirements
At and immediately after entry
Keep each endorsed passport safe
After admission, retain each passport with its endorsed immigrant visa. For an adult seeking work, the passport with the endorsed visa is evidence of permanent residence for one year from admission; a separate work-permit application is not needed just to start ordinary employment as a permanent resident. [d_199.s_5-7] [d_197.s_65-66]
Requirements
Preferably before travel; otherwise after entry
Pay the USCIS immigrant fee if it remains unpaid
Pay $235 for each immigrant at https://my.uscis.gov/accounts/uscis-immigrant-fee/start/overview; USCIS permits one payment covering multiple family members. Payment after entry is allowed, but USCIS will not issue the plastic Green Card until the fee is paid. [d_403.s_392-393] [d_198.s_18-20] [d_198.s_30-40]
Requirements
After admission
Complete the Social Security step for each person
If the person requested an SSN on the immigrant-visa application, watch for the mailed card and call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 if it has not arrived within three weeks. If not, Social Security recommends waiting 10 days after arrival, then starting the free application at https://www.ssa.gov/number-card/request-number-first-time and completing the office visit within 45 days of starting online. [d_200.s_14-30] [d_467.s_30-39] [d_467.s_58-65]
Requirements
Within 10 days of a move
Update USCIS if your U.S. address changes
Submit the address change at https://www.uscis.gov/addresschange within 10 days of moving. A postal-service change of address is not a substitute and does not reliably forward a Green Card. [d_271.s_7-11]
Requirements
Once you have a Georgia address
Enroll school-age children in your local public school
Use the school district serving your home address; Georgia’s enrollment guide is https://georgia.gov/how-do-i-enroll-child-public-school. Its listed records include age, residence, and required health documentation. Do not delay school registration just because a child’s SSN card has not arrived. [d_195.s_29-39] [d_467.s_8]
Requirements
Optional local ID
Get a Georgia identification card if you need one
For a state ID, use the Georgia Department of Driver Services instructions at https://dds.georgia.gov/georgia-licenses-ids-and-permits/new-license-id-or-permit/how-do-i-id-card. The standard ID fee is $32. DDS lists immigration-status, Social Security, and Georgia-address evidence; the state ID is useful but is not a prerequisite for starting a job with acceptable federal employment documents. [d_261.s_45-47] [d_262.s_45-48] [d_262.s_82] [d_386.s_67] [d_199.s_6]
Requirements
As soon as you are ready
Search entry-level jobs with WorkSource Georgia
Create a job-search profile at https://worksourcegaportal.com and search entry-level openings by location. also offers career-center help with résumés, applications, and training options; find the statewide service list at https://www.tcsg.edu/worksource/worksource-georgia-services. [d_266.s_5-8] [d_267.s_39] [d_194.s_3-4]
Requirements
Alongside your job search
Find a free adult English class nearby
Find local adult-education English providers in the Technical College System of Georgia directory at https://www.tcsg.edu/adult-education/program-directory. For example, if you settle near Clarkston, Georgia Piedmont Technical College advertises free ESL classes at 1085 Montreal Road, Clarkston, GA 30021; contact 404-297-9522 ext. 4011 or esl@gptc.edu. [d_268.s_4-5] [d_332.s_13-14] [d_332.s_20-21] [d_332.s_32-33]
Requirements
Legal sources
This answer draws on the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, federal regulations, and Georgia’s education and workforce agencies.
Department of State, After the Interview
Your actual entry deadline is printed on the issued visa.
You must arrive in and apply for admission to the United States no later than the visa expiration date printed on your visa.
Department of State, After the Interview
The principal diversity-visa applicant cannot enter after their derivative family members.
When traveling to the United States, the primary (or principal) applicant must enter before or at the same time as derivative family members with visas.
Department of State, DV-2026 Selected Entrants
The DV-2026 cutoff concerns obtaining a visa or status, not the printed expiration of an already-issued visa.
Selectees who do not receive visas or status by September 30, 2026, will derive no further benefit from their DV-2026 registration.
Department of State, Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance
The later, dated update on the State Department notice supersedes its retained pause language about new visa issuance.
As of August 28, 2026, in accordance with the Court’s order in Medani et al. v. Trump et al., the December 2025 pause of diversity visa issuance is no longer in effect.
Department of State, Diversity Visa Issuance Updated Guidance
The issuance guidance did not itself cancel visas already issued.
No diversity or other visas have been revoked as part of this guidance.
USCIS, Temporary I-551 Stamps and MRIVs
An endorsed immigrant visa and passport provide temporary evidence for employment while the card is pending.
The employee’s foreign passport with the MRIV is evidence the employee has permanent residence status for 1 year from the date of admission.
8 CFR 106.2(a)(3)
Federal regulations set the USCIS immigrant fee at $235.
(a)(3)
For DHS domestic processing and issuance of required documents after an immigrant visa is issued by the U.S. Department of State: $235.
USCIS Immigrant Fee
USCIS permits payment of its immigrant fee after entry.
You may also pay the fee after you arrive in the United States.
USCIS Immigrant Fee
Not paying holds up production of the physical Green Card.
You will not receive your Green Card until you have paid the USCIS Immigrant Fee.
USCIS Immigrant Fee
An unpaid immigrant fee does not itself cancel permanent residence.
If you do not pay the fee, it will not affect your status as a lawful permanent resident.
SSA, Social Security Numbers for Immigrants
Social Security explains the different steps depending on whether an immigrant requested a number during the visa application.
Social Security number
SSA Publication EN-05-10096
A child need not wait for a Social Security number to register for school.
You don’t need an SSN to get a driver’s license, register for school, get private health insurance, or apply for school lunch programs or subsidized housing.
USCIS, How to Change Your Address
Permanent residents must report a subsequent U.S. address change to USCIS promptly.
Additionally, all aliens in the United States must report a change of address to USCIS within 10 days of moving.
ORR Policy Letter 22-13
This Ukrainian-specific eligibility policy describes humanitarian parolees, not everyone arriving from Ukraine.
Citizens or nationals of Ukraine who the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has paroled into the United States between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2023, due to urgent humanitarian reasons or for significant public benefit, known as Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees (UHPs).
Georgia DDS, Fees and Terms
Georgia lists the standard state identification-card fee as $32.
$32
Georgia.gov, Enroll a Child in Public School
Georgia provides instructions and required records for enrolling a child in public school.
Enroll a Child in Public School
TCSG, WorkSource Georgia Resources for Job Seekers
Georgia’s state workforce service offers job-search and career assistance.
WorkSource Georgia
TCSG, Adult Education Program Directory
Georgia’s adult-education directory identifies local English-class providers.
Adult Education
These are the official rules and services reflected in the cited publications as of their stated dates; rules and local offerings can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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