Green Card Lottery

**BULLETIN** The 2013 diversity lottery will be open from October 4, 2011 at noon EDT until noon EDT November 5, 2011. Applicants must submit applications electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov . No paper applications are accepted and there is no fee to apply. Applicants may check the list of winners beginning May 1, 2012 using their unique confirmation number. Winners are not notified by the Department of State. Winners may apply for visas or adjustment of status beginning October 1, 2012.

Once a year during the fall the Department of State sponsors a Green Card lottery. Fifty thousand visas are available to people chosen at random by a computer drawing. Winners are notified the following spring, and the actual visas are issued during a one year period beginning the following October 1. The spouses and minor unmarried children of winners may immigrate as well.

Only people born in certain countries are allowed to enter the lottery. Countries that have sent more than fifty thousand immigrants to the United States in the last five years are not eligible. For the 2013 lottery, natives of the following countries have been excluded: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Mainland China, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatamala, Haiti, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Persons born in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are eligible. There are certain exceptions to the nationality rules. For instance, if your spouse was born in an eligible country, you can apply for the lottery even if you were born in a country that is not eligible.

Each person can submit only one entry. Married people may each submit one entry. Each person that enters must have either a high school degree (or its equivalent); or two years of work experience within the previous five years, in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience. There is no age limit.

All entries for the lottery must be filed electronically through the lottery website at www.dvlottery.state.gov . The application must include digital photos of the applicant, spouse, and minor children. The pictures must meet exact technical requirements. Entrants must check the results themselves at www.dvlottery.state.gov . Persons are not notified individually.

Not all lottery winners will receive green cards. Winners are subject to all the usual U.S. immigration requirements, such as medical, criminal, and security restrictions. The three and ten year bars for overstays also apply. In addition, in order to assure that all visas are used, there are more winners than available visas. Winners are ranked, and the ranking numbers qualifying to finalize the process are announced each month through the Visa Bulletin. It is important to file quickly for a visa or adjustment of status, if you are a lucky winner.

There are many technicalities in the lottery. Consult with an immigration attorney, especially if you are a lottery winner.