The 1999 lottery has expired. Please click here for information on the 2000 visa lottery.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program provides foreign nationals a
way to immigrate to the United States that does not require the
sponsorship of a family member or employer.
The program is
commonly referred to as the "Green Card Lottery" and is
administered by the U.S. Department of State.
The purpose of this
page is to advise you about the program in the event you or
someone you know would like to participate.
The lottery is designed to benefit natives of "low admission"
countries from which immigration was lower than 50,000 over the
preceding five years.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service
determines which countries are "low admission" and "high
admission."
To be eligible to participate in the lottery, an alien
must not only be a native of a designated state, but must also have
at least a high school education or its equivalent, or, within the
past five (5) years, worked at least two years in an occupation
that requires at least two years of training or experience.
An alien is considered to be a native of the country in which he or
she is born.
Citizenship is not determinative.
However, an alien
ineligible solely due to country of birth who is the spouse of an
otherwise eligible alien may also register under the "cross-
chargeability" provisions of the program.
Additionally, an alien's
spouse and dependent children under the age of 21 are also included
should the alien's application be selected.
Children under age 18
without a high school diploma or equivalent should not register as
they are precluded from obtaining an immigrant visa due to the
educational requirements.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has determined that the
following countries are "high admission" countries and its natives
are therefore excluded from participation in this year's program:
Canada
Colombia
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
India
Jamaica
Mexico
Philippines
Poland
Taiwan
South Korea
Vietnam
United Kingdom
China (Mainland)
While natives of the United Kingdom (including its dependent
territories) and China are ineligible, natives of Hong Kong and
Northern Ireland are eligible to participate.
Further, no country
may receive more than seven percent (3,850) of the available visas.
The registration period commences at Noon on Friday, October 24,
1997 and closes at Noon, Monday, November 24, 1997.
Applications
submitted outside the registration window will be rejected.
Only
one application may be submitted by each applicant.
Once all eligible applications have been registered, a computer
will randomly select approximately 100,000 persons (including
registered aliens and their dependent family members).
The
Department of State has selected this number to ensure that all
available visas are issued as they cannot be "carried forward" to
the next fiscal year.
Issuance of visas under this program will
begin on October 1, 1998.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS PROGRAM IS A LOTTERY AND
MUST BE CONSIDERED AS SUCH. SIMPLY PUT, IT IS A LONGSHOT. THERE
IS NO GUARANTEE OF BEING SELECTED AND ULTIMATELY OBTAINING AN
IMMIGRANT VISA.
