Foreigners looking to settle permanently in the U.S. generally must be sponsored by their U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident relatives or by U.S. employers. But not all the foreign nationals have relatives in the U.S. to sponsor them. Similarly, it not possible for all the citizens of foreign countries who wish to settle in the U.S. to get job offers in America. The green card lottery program, conducted by the U.S. Congress every year, gives such individuals an opportunity to get green cards.
Diversity Visa (DV) lottery or green card lottery makes available 50,000 immigrant visas per year. Winners of the lottery will be selected through a random drawing. Not all the winners will be issued immigrant visas. Only those who meet the eligibility requirements under the U.S. law will be issued immigrant visas.
To take part in this program, applicants need to hold high school diplomas or must have worked for at least two years within the last five years. Likewise, only those who belong to countries that have sent less than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. over the past five years can enter this DV lottery program.
To participate in the lottery, applications must be filed online. Many believe that their chances of winning the lottery will increase if they submit more than one application. But that is not true; people who submit more than one application will be disqualified.
Applicants must see to it that they do not file incomplete forms as incomplete entries will be denied. Once they complete their applications online, they will be directed to a confirmation page with their names and confirmation numbers. DV lottery entrants will be able to check the status of their applications through the Entrant Status Check on the U.S. Department of State’s website, using the confirmation numbers. Without their confirmation numbers, they will not be able to check the status.
