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.
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