What is the Green Card Lottery?

Each year the US State Department holds the Green Card Lottery, also known as the Diversity Visa Lottery. The lottery is designed for applicants from countries with historically low immigration to the US to have the chance to receive a permanent residency visa. If your country qualifies this year, then it gives you the chance to apply and receive a Green Card, which allows you to live and work in the United States. Not only do you receive a green card, but you get them for your spouse and dependent children too.

The State Department receives millions of applications a year, with only 50,000 visas available for the lucky winners. The winners are chosen at random through a computer-generated lottery draw. Technically everyone has an equal chance of winning, but only if they file the application properly. Mistakes on the application will disqualify you from being entered into the lottery, thus ruining your chances of success.

The visa lottery was made possible thanks to the Immigration Act of 1990, and it was signed into law by President George Bush. Since it began properly in the fiscal year 1995, people have been applying and hoping to secure a visa for their family and a future for themselves in the United States.

While it is possible to apply for the lottery yourself for free through the State Department, we highly recommend getting a paid service to help you with you Green Card Application. Each year, millions of applicants are disqualified from the lottery due to making simple errors in their original application. A paid service won’t cost too much, and the price of their services is offset by the benefits of having an application that is sure to pass the initial screening. They present the best chance of winning the diversity visa lottery.

There aren’t many barriers to making that initial application, but there is some work to be done if you succeed. If you are chosen to receive a diversity visa, then you will be subjected to additional security and background checks, as well as health screenings and interviews. Once you receive your visa you are given lawful permanent residence status in the United States, giving you the legal right to live and work in the country permanently. After spending some time in the country you can apply to become a full citizen if you so choose.

There are some restrictions to the diversity visa lottery. The main one is that the applicants have to come from a country with historically low immigration to the United States. Only countries that have sent less than 50,000 people in the past five years are eligible. That means that people from places such as Canada, Mexico, and India would not be eligible. This list of eligible countries also changes year by year based on the latest immigration data. Sometimes countries become disqualified – such as Bangladesh in 2011 and Nigeria in 2013 – and sometimes countries become eligible again – such as Poland in 2012 and Russia in 2008.

And finally look at our TOP 10 reasons why you should move to USA

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