US Immigration Reform

The Diversity Lottery or Green Card Lottery is held annually by the Department of State under the purview of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). It is open to people who would like to become legal residents of the US provided you are not a citizen of the countries already declared as ineligible to participate.

Eligibility

Each applicant is screened for eligibility and must meet requirements that are set by the State in order to be granted residency in the Green Card Visa Lottery. Citizens of countries who have sent over 50,000 immigrants to the US during the past five years no longer qualify for the lottery. They can opt for other immigration options instead like having a spousal visa, family sponsorship, etc.

The 50,000 immigrants are just a partial representation of the total immigrants from each country since this number only comes from family-sponsored, employment, or immediate relatives of U.S. citizen categories. Other mode of entry classifications such as being among refugees, asylum seekers, NACARA beneficiaries, or previous diversity immigrants are not on the list.

Here is a list of countries who are presently eniligible to send participants for the Diversity Lottery:

• Brazil
• Canada
• China (mainland-born)
• Colombia
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• India
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Pakistan
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• South Korea
• United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories
• Vietnam

Every applicant must meet requirements set by the Department of State. Presently, the administrators require having a higher level of education with a minimum of a High School diploma or have a minimum of two years of working experience on a job that needs a minimum of two years training. Aside from that, the winning participant must also pass a series of interview.

Entering the Immigration Lottery

All applications are done electronically. An applicant must fill out the electronic forms available on the U.S. Department of State website on the period of registration—and for FREE. If someone is asking you to fill out the application forms on a different website, it is already an obvious scam even if they have not asked you money. Sooner or later, they will.

The Selection Process

The selection process is computerized. Equal opportunity is one of their concerns. Hence, regions with fewer immigrants in the last five years receive more diversity visas. No country shall also be awarded 7% of the total lottery visas.

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