The Green Card Lottery is officially known as the Diversity Visa Program, or the Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery. Selected winners will receive the right to apply for an immigrant visa to establish legal permanent residency in the United States and obtain a Green Card. The first step to participate is to submit your entry online, the second step is to wait until May 1st of the following year to verify online if your entry has been selected for further processing. If your entry is selected that doesn’t give you automatic right to receive a green card, you need to schedule an interview at a local U.S. consulate or embassy to apply for an immigrant visa. During the immigrant visa application the U.S. consulate will verify that you qualify and are eligible for the Diversity Visa Program. Succesful applicants will have their application aproved and receive an immigrant visa to travel to the United States to establish their permanent residency and receive a green card. There are requirements and limitations to participate in the Green Card lottery.

DV Green Card Lottery Registration

One way to take part in the Green Card Lottery is to fill in a registration form or a statement on the U.S. government website. The initial filling the electronic application form for participation in the annual Green Card Lottery Program is free of charge. Requirements for completing the online application process are extremely simple.

Participants must be born in a country that has the right to participate in this year’s Green Card Lottery. If you are a native of a country that does not have the right to participate in a given year, then you still have the option to participate in the Green Card Lottery.

At the moment the following countries are excluded: Brazil, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland), Vietnam, Haiti, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, India, Canada, China, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Ecuador, South Korea, and Jamaica.

The Green Cards are distributed in six main geographic regions, and higher amount of visas are going to areas with lower rate of immigration to the United States. On each area, there isn’t a single country that would receive more than seven percent of the Green Cards.  Countries that are sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. during the last five years are not eligible to win the Green Card Lottery.

Requirements for participants

If the participant is born in a country that does not have the right to participate in the lottery, and his / her spouse in a country that is eligible, he / she can participate in the Green Card Lottery, indicating in the particular column the spouse’s country of birth (if provided that you will enter together the United States in case of winning in the Green Card lottery).

The participant must meet the requirements of education or work experience, and he/she must have at least completed secondary education or 2 years of work experience in the last five years in the profession.

General prohibitions

Medical contraindications:

  • The presence of socially dangerous diseases or mental disorders;
  • The use of drugs or psychotropic substances;
  • Lack of vaccination.

Problems with the law and the legislation of the visa:

  • Socially dangerous crime;
  • Deportation or illegal presence in the United States;
  • Fraud (a fictitious marriage or providing false documents).

Order the DV Green Card Lottery Guide to learn how to apply.

Disclaimer: We are not affiliated with the government, we are a private publisher of information guides. This product only includes instructions, it does not include filing fees, or any other charges to submit your application.