Chapter 10 Getting a Green Card Through the Diversity Visa Lottery

• Library: U.S. Immigration Made Easy (Nolo) (2023 Ed.)

CHAPTER 10 Getting a Green Card Through the Diversity Visa Lottery

A. Are You Eligible for a Green Card Through the Lottery?

B. Quick View of the Application Process

C. Step One: Registering for the Lottery

D. Step Two: Your Application for Permanent Residence

1. Adjusting Status in the United States
2. Consular Processing

E. Step Three: Immigrant Visa Holders Enter the U.S

The Immigration Act of 1990 created the diversity visa immigration category to benefit persons from countries that in recent years have sent the fewest numbers of immigrants to the U.S. (See I.N.A. § 203(c), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(c).) You can enter the diversity visa lottery if you are a native of one of these countries and meet certain educational and other requirements. Different qualifying countries are selected each year, based on how many of their citizens immigrated to the U.S. during the previous five years, in proportion to the size of their populations.

The total number of diversity visa winners every year is 50,000 (it was formerly 55,000, but 5,000 of these are now reserved for applicants under a different program called NACARA). These 50,000 are distributed by dividing up the world into regions and allocating varying percentages of the total green cards to each region. Additionally, each qualifying country within each region is limited to no more than 7% of the available lottery green cards per year (or 3,850).

Because the method used to select winners of the diversity visa is a random drawing, it is popularly known as the green card lottery. However, this name is somewhat misleading, because not all winners succeed in receiving a U.S. green card. The problems are usually due to delays or because the lottery winners are found to be inadmissible to the United States. This chapter will explain who can become eligible for a green card based on the diversity visa lottery, how to apply, and how to increase your chances of success.

Key Features of the Diversity Visa

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the diversity visa:

• The initial registration is free.
• The minimal requirements to qualify for this visa help people who might not fit into any other green card eligibility category.
• Winning the diversity visa lottery doesn't guarantee you a green card—you must, for example, show that you're not inadmissible to the U.S., including that you'll be able to support yourself in the United States.
• If you win, your spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 may also get green cards as accompanying relatives.
• As with all green cards, yours can be taken away if you misuse it—for example, you live outside the U.S. for too long, commit a crime, or even fail to advise the immigration authorities of your change of address. However, if you successfully keep your green card for five years, you can apply for U.S. citizenship.

RESOURCE

The diversity visa rules and deadlines change every year, usually around September. To make sure you're getting the latest version, check the State Department website at https://travel.state.gov. (Click "U.S. Visas," then "Diversity Visa" under "Immigrate.")

SEE AN EXPERT

Do you need a lawyer? Entering the lottery is fairly simple and doesn't usually require a lawyer's help. The State Department strongly encourages people to complete the entry form themselves, without a "visa consultant," "visa agent," or other person who charges money to help. You might, however, need help with some of the technological parts of completing the application, which requires Internet access and digital photos. If somebody helps you, you should be there to make sure the answers to the questions are correct and to get the confirmation page and your unique confirmation number. Once you win the lottery, a lawyer's help can be well worth the investment, to make sure that government delays don't end up wasting your winning lottery ticket.

A. Are You Eligible for a Green Card Through the Lottery?

To enter the lottery, you must be from one of the qualifying countries and must have either a "high school" diploma (or foreign equivalent education) or a minimum of two years' experience within the last five years in a job that normally requires at least two years of training or experience. An offer of a job in the U.S. is not a requirement. A "high school" education means successful completion of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to completion of a 12-year course in the United States.

Only formal courses of study meet the requirement, so correspondence programs or equivalency certificates (such as the General Equivalency Diploma or "G.E.D".) are not acceptable. Your diploma must qualify you to study at a higher level, so if you have a trade school diploma, consult with a lawyer before relying on it to qualify.

Whether the type of work you've been doing for two years qualifies will be determined based on a U.S. Department of Labor database at www.onetonline.org. Only certain specified occupations qualify you for a diversity visa.

Only lottery winners—not their spouse or children—need to meet the educational or experience requirements.

However, to maximize your family's chances, a spouse or child who does meet these requirements should apply separately. (It's okay to be listed on a parent or spouse's application at the same time you file your own.) There is no minimum age to enter the lottery. Nevertheless, the requirement of a high school diploma or two years' experience usually keeps out anyone under the age of 16.

CAUTION

The lottery requirements are different from the green card requirements. Entering the lottery is just the first step. When it comes time to claim your green card, you will have to show that you are not inadmissible, which includes showing that you can support yourself financially in the U.S. or that someone there is willing to support you. It also includes showing that you haven't committed certain crimes, been involved in terrorist or subversive activities, or become afflicted with certain physical or mental defects. Also, if you are living in the United States illegally, it might be impossible for you to collect your green card anytime soon. Procedurally, you would (unless you fall into an exceptional category) have to leave the U.S. for an interview at a consulate outside of the United States. At that point, however, you could be barred from reentering the U.S. for three or ten years, depending on the length of your illegal U.S. stay. (See Chapter 3 on inadmissibility.)

There is a lottery every year, usually occurring in early fall. For example, the application period for the 2024 lottery (called "DV-2024," because 2024 is the federal fiscal year in which the visas will actually be given out), ran from October 5, 2022 to November 8, 2022. Applications (also called "registrations") submitted one year are not held over to the next, so if you are not selected one year you need to reapply the next year to be considered. You won'tbe eligible for a diversity visa if you are a native of one of the countries from which a lot of people come to the United States. Your "native" country is the one where you were born—it doesn't matter what your citizenship is or where you live now. (But see "Using a Family Member's Birthplace as Your Native Country," below.) For the DV-2024 lottery, the only countries not qualified were:

Bangladesh	India
Brazil	Jamaica
Canada	Mexico
China (mainland born, though persons born in Macau SAR and Taiwan were eligible)	Nigeria
	Pakistan
	Philippines
	South Korea
	United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories
Colombia
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Haiti	Venezuela, and
Honduras	Vietnam.

If you are from a country not named on the list above, you could potentially have applied for the lottery that took place beginning in 2022.

Most of the same countries reappear on the list year after year. Winners of DV-2024 would find out by going to the Entrant Status Check website at https://dvprogram.state.gov starting May 8, 2023.

B. Quick View of the Application Process

Getting a green card through the lottery is a three-step process:

1. You register for the lottery, which simply means filling out an online application that places your name among those who may be selected through the lottery drawing system. If you've won, you can find out online within approximately six to eight months. (Winners are no longer personally notified.)
2. Winners can—as soon as a visa becomes available based on their registration "rank number"—proceed to filing a green card application, together with their accompanying relatives, if any.
3. Unless you were eligible to apply for permanent residence from within the U.S., you must enter the U.S. with your immigrant visa, at which time you become a permanent resident.

If your permanent residence cannot be approved by the end of the lottery (fiscal) year (September 30), your application becomes invalid and you lose your chance at a green card. This happens to thousands of people every year, and became a particular problem owing to consulate closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. It might not be within your control.

C. Step One: Registering for the Lottery

The rules for registering yourself in the lottery drawing change every year. For the latest, check the State Department website at https://travel.state.gov (click "U.S. Visas," then "Diversity Visa" under "Immigrate" for the latest announcement). There is no fee to register.

For the 2022 lottery (DV-2024) applicants were asked to fill out a form online and attach digital photographs meeting certain specifications. The information requested in the online form is included in "Sample Information Required in Lottery Application," below. Failure to list your spouse and all eligible children will result in disqualification for the visa. In fact, you'll need to fill in every answer on the...