Green Card Lottery

The State Department has announced that the FY 2009 lottery will be open from October 3, 2007 through December 2, 2007. Click here for more information about the 2009 lottery.

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. For instance, those who apply in October 2007 and win will be notified beginning in May 2008,  may receive visas beginning October 1, 2008, and must complete the process by September 30, 2009 (this is the US fiscal year 2009). That is why people apply in 2007 for the DV-2009 lottery! The spouses and minor unmarried children of winners may immigrate as well.

Winners are sent letters by the Kentucky Consular Center with instructions for applying for immigrant visas. Losers are not notified.

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. In recent years, natives of the following countries have been excluded: Canada, Mainland China, Columbia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, 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. The application must include digital photos of the applicant, spouse, and minor children. The pictures must meet exact technical requirements.

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. It is therefore 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.