Each year, the United States of America opens the door to tens of thousands of foreigners residing in the United States who wish to become citizens of the country through a US Green Card Lottery (formerly known as the Diversity Visa Lottery). . On average, 50,000 candidates applying worldwide receive such a “privilege”.
While this is a good effort by the United States to compensate for America’s strict immigration measures, not all countries can make this request. The list of countries and their eligibility status changes each year with each application and can only be confirmed by the US Lottery official website at the time of application.
Green cards, also known as permanent residence cards, are issued by the United States federal government and entitle immigrants to legally reside, study, and work in the country.
The Immigration Act was introduced in 1996 in the spirit of the increasing multiculturalism of immigrants in the United States and although it is governed by the principles of chance, it is not as simple as the Sunday lottery, since buying a ticket is not enough to take part to be able to participate.
While the United States Department of State, the company in charge of the lottery accepts one application each year. There is no set time for this, but online registration for the green card lottery usually begins towards the end of each year, around the first week of October, and lasts until the first week of November.
Read more: Countries Nigerians Can Travel To Without Visas
It then randomly selects names of people from countries currently underrepresented in US immigration.
The Diversity Visa Lottery allows a maximum of 50,000 randomly selected applicants from qualifying countries to have the opportunity to live and work permanently in the United States and be granted US citizenship. Entry is free and application forms are officially completed online at the US Department of State’s website at www.dvlottery.state.gov. Eligibility criteria, including eligible countries, can also be found at this link.
The online form completed by an applicant is called Form DS-5501 or Electronic Diversity Visa. It is only available during the open diversity visa registration period and cannot be downloaded and completed as paper submissions will not be accepted.
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, those who win the lottery must live outside the US and should visit their country’s consulate if they wish to immigrate to the US.
Requirements for a US Diversity Visa Lottery (US Green Card Lottery)
As part of the application, you would need to fill out an online form that includes:
PART 1 – Participant Information
* Your Full Name * Date of Birth * Gender * Place of Birth * Country of Birth * Country of Birth * Country of DV Program Eligibility or Chargeability
* Participant photo. (Include a compliant and recent digital photo. Photos require close attention to ensure they meet required specifications.)
* Postal address * Country where you live today * Telephone number * E-mail address * What is the highest level of education you have reached to date?
* What is your current marital status? *Number of Children
See also: Countries where South Africans can travel without a visa
PART TWO – Derivatives
* Spouse Full Name * Date of Birth * Gender * Spouse Place of Birth * Spouse Country of Birth * Spouse Photo.
* Name of first child * Date of birth * Child’s place of birth * Child’s country of birth * Child’s photo
NOTE: You or your spouse must be a resident of an eligible country. You can also apply if one of your parents was born in an eligible country.
When you are done fill in all the required fields then you can send your online form to the web address which will give you a unique reference/serial number to remember as you will be given the result of your application time will check.
Any applicant can check the status of their application at www.dvlottery.state.gov, usually beginning May 1 of the following year.
In general, more than 150 countries are eligible to participate in the US DV Lottery program while there are some that are not eligible; One of the reasons for ineligibility is that in some of the following countries, more citizens have immigrated to the US in the last 5 years: Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, El Salvador, Nigeria, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland), Canada , Haiti, Pakistan, Vietnam, China (Mainland), India, Peru, Colombia, Jamaica and the Philippines.